Intel soups up 34nm SSDs
Write-boosting tweak works on XP, Vista as well as 7
Intel has updated the firmware installed in its 34nm X25-M SSD line, claiming the new code helps deliver a sequential write speed boost of up to 40 per cent.
We'll be conducting tests on the new X25-M firmware in due course to see how accurate that claim is.
In the meantime, we can say the new software adds support for the Sata command Trim, which is an SSD-oriented option that helps the operating system write data to the drive in large chunks, allowing it to leverage Flash memory's high sequential write speeds rather than fall back on much slower random write speeds.
Intel said the new software will bring a performance increase to PC users running Windows XP and Vista. Windows 7 supports Trim natively, but Intel has separately released a utility called SSD Optimizer which adds Trim to the older operating systems.
SSD Optimizer and the new firmare - for 34nm X25-Ms only - is available respectively here and here. ®
COMMENTS
Best not to install it just yet
As it looks like the firmware has been pulled...
Comprehensive benchmarks
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667
Implements the TRIM command?
I read that and wondered if, since TRIM is a standard command, implementing it in XP and Vista using their "SDD Optimiser" fix could benefit non-Itel devices too. "How uncharacteristically generous" thought I.
So I pulled the Intel white paper. Ho hum. It doesn't implement TRIM in XP or Vista per se. It's a seperate utility that allows you to update block usage on SSDs (and they have to be Intel ones), using the TRIM command, to match the O/S opinion of use either manually or on a scheduled basis. Normal levels of generosity are resumed.
Typo
'buy Intel has separately released a utility called', should probable be 'but Intel has separately released a utility called'
This utility
This utility sounds like what we used to call a "device driver", but the word doesn't appear
in the documentation. Oh God, Windows Seven must have abolished Device Drivers, now they are probably Feature Capability Accessors. If you add a new feature to your computer ("device" in the old terminology, something that comes in a box and isn't software), you need to realize ("install") a Feature Capability Accessor obtained from the feature publisher ("manufacturer") Browser Active Content Provider ("web site"), or your computer won't boot any more.
I could have gone with a four-figure rude word, but I figured best not for several reasons.
