1819 Firmware and the "performance restore tool'

[nate42nd]

If I understand this right the 1819 F/W makes the Performance Restore Utility not as useful as before. The tool was essentially sending trim commands. The 1819 F/W is much better at TRIM....but there is a trade-off

1571= best performance...not so good TRIM

1819= 10% performance hit...much better TRIM

How about the Wiper.exe (or Performance Restore Utility)...do we still need to run it now and then?

[Joe72]

I don't think it is clear whether or not the newest firmware has garbage collection (NAND laundering) so I think running the wiper too weekly or so may still have merit.

[nate42nd]

I suppose we'll find out in time but on other forums they are saying we really don't need to run wiper very much (if at all)

[BChat]

JMO - There seems to be a lot of good info and "not-sure-info" out there about the SSDs. I'm guessing it is going to be awhile before some of our questions are answered.

Right now we are all part of a group going "where no man/woman has gone before".

The Gods of Hard Drives will protect us.

I'm regularly running the restore utility, just to see what it does, if anything.

[nate42nd]

Maybe I'll try NOT running it for a while and see what that does and we can compare.

[BChat]

Maybe I'll try NOT running it for a while and see what that does and we can compare.

Deal

On my last HDTune benchmark, the average dropped from 201 MBs to 199 MBs since yesterday's f/w upgrade.

[nate42nd]

I am subscribing to this thread so I will remember.

I am kind of surprised my HDTune bench didn't go down with 1819. I though I was suppose to take a "performance hit"

I need to run crystal disk or ATTO. I will get those done today when I get home so I will have some good numbers.

I wish we had the same disk but it will give a us an idea of what's going on...

[Joe72]

Based on other manufacturer drives with the same controller, etc. it does not hurt to run the wiper tool. Again though, I would only run it every few weeks or so. For those that keep running benchmarks over and over, stop. It will prematurely wear your drives.

[BChat]

Based on other manufacturer drives with the same controller, etc. it does not hurt to run the wiper tool. Again though, I would only run it every few weeks or so. For those that keep running benchmarks over and over, stop. It will prematurely wear your drives.

This does make some sense to me.

[Zane]

How about the Wiper.exe (or Performance Restore Utility)...do we still need to run it now and then?
One of the vendors (O** Tech) that released firmware v1819 posted about drive write performance that “Auto TRIM keeps drives at around 80% full speed” while the TRIM utility (wiper) gets it to “around 90%”. In other words, although users could get away with running the TRIM utility a little less often with the v1819 firmware, for best performance they are advising users to still keep running the TRIM utility on a regular basis.

[nate42nd]

I've known this since I first got mine. I don't run benches unless I really WANT to. It has to be almost as bad as any other large read/write. That's what it would have to do to get the numbers....

[nate42nd]

One of the vendors (O** Tech) that released firmware v1819 posted about drive write performance that “Auto TRIM keeps drives at around 80% full speed” while the TRIM utility (wiper) gets it to “around 90%”. In other words, although users could get away with running the TRIM utility a little less often with the v1819 firmware, for best performance they are advising users to still keep running the TRIM utility on a regular basis.

Thanks for the info Zane

[SeaTrane]

I am new to the forum, I have a 64gb torqx with 1571 running on windows 7. Is the Trim command in windows 7 not supported with 1571 but is supported if I do the distuctive firmware update to 1819? The performance restore utility works fine, maybe even better than Trim but I have to do it manually like defragging..Correct? So other than being a tweaker, one who taps his computer nervously each time he passes by it. What great bursts of whatever would I gain by destroying a perfectly good OS to do do this firm ware upgrade? (psssst... I know the os is really just waiting over on my other hdd).

[nate42nd]

I am new to the forum, I have a 64gb torqx with 1571 running on windows 7. Is the Trim command in windows 7 not supported with 1571 but is supported if I do the distuctive firmware update to 1819? The performance restore utility works fine, maybe even better than Trim but I have to do it manually like defragging..Correct? So other than being a tweaker, one who taps his computer nervously each time he passes by it. What great bursts of whatever would I gain by destroying a perfectly good OS to do do this firm ware upgrade? (psssst... I know the os is really just waiting over on my other hdd).

Simply image your OS and do the update, then restore the image. It took me 20-25 minutes to image-update-restore. Not too bad.

[BChat]

And if you don't like 1819, you can go back to 1571 like I did.

[nate42nd]

And if you don't like 1819, you can go back to 1571 like I did.

Are you going to use the 1571 for good BChat? or are you waiting for the reviews to come in on 1819? I'm kinda surprised you went back.

[BChat]

I went back to see if I could. It was a learning experience.
I attend Tweakers Anonymous meetings daily:eek:

There are several on the forum running various hardware/software combos and reporting their experiences here. I think this is how we are all going to learn about SSDs since they are still fairly new.

I like the fact the trim utility runs a whole lot faster, I like the perceived performance w/1571, and I had NO issues with 1571 prior to going to 1819.

I will probably stick with it until the "tweaking" urge strikes again and I want to know if I can go from 1571 to 1819 to 1571 and back to 1819.

"Hi, my name is BChat and I'm a terminal tweaker....."

Never not laugh.

[nate42nd]

I know what you mean. I just got done flashing my BIOS on 2 machines. Every beta BIOS that comes out, I have flashed.

I'll have to join Tweakers Anonymous I guess....or start working for a tech company where I can do this stuff all day.

[jsterritt]

...first you need to find out if it's broke.

I'm a tweaker in denial. I pretend that, through amazing foresight, diligence and resolve I'm thwarting the possibility of future gear-related frustration. But I'm really just replacing it (or adding to it) with 100% guaranteed gear-related frustration right now. Feels good to say it: I'm a tweaker. It's like a great weight has been....shifted....a little to one side.

I've learned more from this thread than I have from answers to direct questions. Or I think I have. You tell me:

I have yet to even crack the packaging on a new Torqx 128. I can return it with almost no hassle at all. But it's a great drive and not just because of the specs and reviews -- this drive promises real or imagined addressable, manageable, and most importantly, TWEAKABLE problems.

Should I install it (MacBook Pro)? Is one possible outcome flawless performance out of the box? And if there are problems, it's likely that a one-time firmware flash will correct them? And either way I can still second-guess the results and run the restore tool whenever I need a fix?;)

I hope to hear back: return it or dive in?

Thanks one mil.

[nate42nd]

Don't even think about returning that drive. It's one of the best drives you can get right now. (sold out at some big on-line retailers)

Dive in with us. We ARE early adopters and we have all had some issues here and there. The performance gains you get are priceless. It's FUN to try to optimize your OS and flash the newest F/W.

Good luck with the new drive.

[Mazda 3s]

Is there a TRIM/wiper utility for 1819 and OS X?

[earls]

Is there a TRIM/wiper utility for 1819 and OS X?

No, you will have to rely on "idle garbage collection."

[jsterritt]

Patriot support:mad:has undone any of the progress I thought I'd made, failing to answer simple questions like:

Since TRIM isn't an option ON A MAC, does the Torqx 128 with updated firmware have any garbage collection capabilities ON A MAC?

[earls]

Yes, since "Garbage Collection" is hardware/drive based, the operating system/computer model is irrelevant.

[jsterritt]

And the Torqx with v1819 firmware does controller-based GC?

(A Yes or No would make my day -- it's surprisingly hard to find out if this drive has GC or not. I'm really hoping to keep this drive, as its specs and moreover its users' enthusiasm, make it very appealing. Thanks one mil.)

[Mazda 3s]

And the Torqx with v1819 firmware does controller-based GC?

(A Yes or No would make my day -- it's surprisingly hard to find out if this drive has GC or not. I'm really hoping to keep this drive, as its specs and moreover its users' enthusiasm, make it very appealing. Thanks one mil.)
Yes, the 1819 has garbage collection, but Patriot and none of the other SSD providers seem to want to expand upon the answer with anything more than "Yes, there is GC".

I think we need more information like what situations will make GC "active" on our systems and what systems setting (based on what OS you are using) are most effective for allowing GC to work properly.

I don't think this is too much to ask, but none of these manufacturers are giving us any satisfaction.

[jsterritt]

Thank you. Patriot would not even give me "Yes, there is GC." This confirms what I suspected from digesting a lot of forum chatter. In fairness to Patriot, support did ultimately recommend their Torqx for me, although without qualifying said recommendation in any way.

Mac users (especially Macbook Pro) have our own unique set of problems, on top SSD flakiness and, worse, the flakiness of SSD support (SATA II issues, etc...). I will be posting my experiences here to help all of us gain a little more understanding of the technology, relative to each platform.

I've read that GC doesn't work on Mac, because the drive is never allowed to be in a truly idle state (probably because of indexing). I'm pretty sure I can make my drive idle (I'm expert in being idle). We shall see.

[jsterritt]

Next query for all takers:

Since it is unknown what version firmware my Torqx 128 shipped with (we'll find out soon, when I finally install the thing):

Is 1819 the best f/w to use for Torqx 128?
How about on a Mac?

If it has 1571, should I install and see how it goes?

If pre-1571, must I flash to 1571 then to 1819 (sounds like a dumb question, but I'm taking no chances)?

Can I use a Mac, booting from another drive under Windows XP, to run the updater?
How about the restore utility?

Thanks to all y'all.:D

[Mazda 3s]

Next query for all takers:

Since it is unknown what version firmware my Torqx 128 shipped with (we'll find out soon, when I finally install the thing):

Is 1819 the best f/w to use for Torqx 128?
How about on a Mac?

If it has 1571, should I install and see how it goes?

If pre-1571, must I flash to 1571 then to 1819 (sounds like a dumb question, but I'm taking no chances)?

Can I use a Mac, booting from another drive under Windows XP, to run the updater?
How about the restore utility?

Thanks to all y'all.:D
1819 is by far the best firmware to use in a MacBook Pro. I have a 13" MacBook Pro (June '09) and it would beachball and hardlock with the 1571 firmware on the Patriot Torqx. It didn't matter if I was using the 1.6 or 1.7 MBP firmware.

I upgraded to the 1819 firmware while running firmware 1.7 on my MBP. Things were fine for about two days, then it started hard locking again. So as a last resort, I downgraded my MBP's firmware to 1.6 and I've been going strong ever since -- no problems except for the occasional 10-second beachball. But that's still better than the complete system freezes that required a reboot that I was getting before.