Photofast G-Monster V4 ZIF SSD User Review

[tilleroftheearth]

Nando4, what? I don't win anything then?

davepermen, lol (You can't see her, but she's hot!)

[rmjanzen]

I see a big difference in write performance in the 512 and 4k compared to the runcore... IS this something that is down to the fact of the 16mb instead of the 64mb or maybe even beta firmware ?

[nando4]

Originally Posted by tilleroftheearth

Nando4, what? I don't win anything then?

How does a free pat on the back for a good guess based on the specs sound?

Originally Posted by rmjanzen

I see a big difference in write performance in the 512 and 4k compared to the runcore... IS this something that is down to the fact of the 16mb instead of the 64mb or maybe even beta firmware ?

rmjanzen, I too noted the lower random write performance querying Photofast to see whether a newer firmware or bigger cache would see improvements. The following was their response:

Random write is just what your benchmarks shows. We should have firmware improve it but I’m afraid that takes time.

One thing we have tried in lab is put 64MB onto it. And the performance doesn’t improve because of larger cache. The reason we used 64MB is user/buyer usually preferred larger cache even they don’t really work faster.

As a comparison point, netbook news GMonster V4 IDE video saw slower random 4kb/512kb CrystalDiskMark writes on UDMA6 than I achieved on the slower UDMA5 interface, presumably with the full 64MB cache.

That aside, there is plenty to like about the Photofast V4 ZIF SSD. Low power consumption, 4kb random reads and sequential read/write putting it in the top 3, the hardware garbage collection making maintenance easier, a native PATA controller ensuring high levels of compatability.

I figure it's pricing will be the critical factor on which way users/buyers swing here.

[laser21]

I just preordered the 64gb for 290€ including shipping. The 50 pin IDE version, since I have that connector.

We will see...I was told, that I should be receiving it before Christmas.

[confusium]

@laser21: Did you get the SSD? How is it?

[BASpro]

Hello Nando4:

Thanks for the great review! This assisted with my purchase of the drive.

I purchased the Photofast 50-IDE V4 128 GB and installed it on my Dell Latitude X1 with Intel Pentium M ULV processor 1.1GHz running at 1.1GHz, 2mb L2 cache, Intel 915GMS chipset, 2.0GB DDR2-400 RAM, UDMA Mode 5 IDE, Windows XP SP3 with write caching on the drive enabled. Overall, the SSD is a great product with noticeable improvement in performance over the original drive.

However, my CrystalDisk2.2 sequential write scores are less than half of the results posted above - for a computer of similar technology. Here are the results:

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------
Sequential Read : 86.118 MB/s
Sequential Write : 34.786 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 79.451 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 21.350 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 11.815 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 1.964 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2010/01/23 1:21:57

Do you have any thoughts how I can increase my sequential write speed? I performed a PerfectDisk defragmentation on a clean OS installation.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

All the best, Mass

[nando4]

Originally Posted by BASpro

However, my CrystalDisk2.2 sequential write scores are less than half of the results posted above - for a computer of similar technology. Here are the results:

The Photofast V4 does GC during other writes so should clean up a dirty drive to improve performance. If not I can suggest two things:

- perform a Tony Trim, ie: consolidate free space followed by AS-Cleaner to write "0xFF" (nulls) to free space, effectively doing a manual GC.
- Check that you are not running 33Mhz timing mode, as shown here. Appears to be set when the bios detects a 40pin cabling mode.

[BASpro]

Originally Posted by nando4

- Check that you are not running 33Mhz timing mode, as shown here. Appears to be set when the bios detects a 40pin cabling mode.

Hello Nando4:

Thanks for the lead.

I checked the above bit settings by using Bar-edit and they are all set to ATA100 timings with 80pin cable (according to the Intel 82801FBM ICH-6M controller datasheet for my Dell Latitude X1). I then tried: enabling modes ATA33 and 66, disabling bits 12 and 13 (for ATA100), setting 40 pin cable, in a whole lot of different combinations and I was not able to get above the 34MB/s sequential write speed.

I can assume the drive is operating at ATA100 since I'm getting read speeds of 85MB/s. There must be something in the bios, IDE controller or SSD that is preventing write speeds greater than 34MB/s.

Any thoughts where to check from here? Thanks.

All the best, Mass

[nando4]

One thing I did notice last time I had the GMonster V4 in the system was that linux reported write caching disabled by default. Worth manually checking in WIndows (with hdparm) and switching write caching on:

hdparm -i /dev/sda
hdparm -W1 /dev/sda

Did you also do the Tony Trim as suggested in my previous post? If done those three things with no write performance improvement, then I'm at a loss as to what is the cause of the slower than expected writes.

[BASpro]

Originally Posted by nando4

... Did you also do the Tony Trim as suggested in my previous post? If done those three things with no write performance improvement, then I'm at a loss as to what is the cause of the slower than expected writes.

Hello Nando4:

I confirmed write cache is enabled. I download As-cleaner, but, it won't run - I get the error "The application failed to initialize properly. Click ok to terminate..." I Also tried running it in Admin mode, and with Microsoft KB934205 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934205) installed. As-cleaner will not run.

Any thoughts on how to get it running? Thanks.

All the best, Mass