ErikPshat
09.07.2012, 09:26
Тут я поломал голову с этим ASUS SSD Caching. В инете просто завалено инструкциями по головным болям с обращением с этими SSD твёрдотелыми и толстолобыми девайсами. Но толком никто по нормальному ничего не может разжевать.
В инструкции к матплате Asus P8Z77-V_Deluxe написано коротко:
4.3.7 ASUS SSD Caching7245
7246
This feature boosts system performance by using an installed SSD with no capacity
limitations as a cache for frequently accessed data. Harness a combination of SSD-like
performance and response and hard drive capacity with just one click. No rebooting is
needed with instant activation for complete ease of use.
Launching ASUS SSD Caching
After installing AI Suite II from the motherboard support DVD, launch ASUS SSD Caching
by clicking Tool ASUS SSD Caching on the AI Suite II main menu bar.
Configuring ASUS SSD Caching
1. Connect one HDD and one SSD to the Marvell® *SATA ports (SATA6G_E1/ E2). ASUS SSD Caching automatically detects the HDD and SSD.
2. Click on Caching Now! to initialize the connected disks. Initialization status is shown on the program interface.
3. Caching function will be activated once initialization is complete.
4. Click on Disable when deactivating SSD caching.
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During initialization, you can proceed with doing any system operations. You can check the caching status later or wait for a pop-up message notifying that initialization is completed.
For regular usage, the SATA6G_E1/E2 connectors are recommended for data drives.
After disabling SSD Caching, the SSD will become a non-configurable disk in Windows OS. To use the SSD again for normal functions, go to Disk Management to reconfigure the SSD.
7248
То есть, не понятно, если диск в случае с технологией Asus, этот диск SSD не используется напрямую, как диск, а только как кэш.
Поэтому возникает вопрос: "Какого объёма достаточно для этой функции?"
Никто толком об этом не говорит, а на форумах обсуждают только вопрос по использованию SSD в качестве основного раздела для ОС Windows.
Но здесь несколько иное предназначение, когда Винда не пишется на SSD, она так же устанавливается на обычный HDD, но просто кэширует данные для загрузки туда и возможно использует кэш для работы программ.
Я тут почитал немного на забугорных сайтах и нашёл, что на чипсете Z68 (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2) была внедрена эта технология в матплаты, но от Intel ("Intel Smart Response Technology". Она не позволяла использовать SSD больше 64 Гб, т.к. типа больше не требуется. А вот начиная с Z77, Асус внедрила свою технологию ASUS SSD Caching и открыла возможность кэширования на больший кэш, т.е. 128 точно поддерживается, как видно в обзоре ниже. И тут ниже чел один написал небольшой ФАК (источник (http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/50312-asus-sabertooth-x79-motherboard-review-15.html))
Ещё ссылки по теме:
http://rog.asus.com/tag/ssd-cache-drive/
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1767/
7250
ASUS SSD Caching
Many users have found caching to be a key feature for the Z68 chipset as it allows for installing a smaller (and much cheaper) SSD which allows for faster boots and application load times when paired up with a mechanical drive or RAID array. Since Intel did not provide this feature with the X79 chipset, ASUS went ahead and developed their own version of SSD caching using a Marvell controller and a utility built into AI Suite II. The question is how much additional performance does the ASUS version provide and is it worth using?
First of all, ASUS claims up to three times faster performance with ASUS SSD Caching but we weren’t really sure what that number was even referring to so it may be difficult to test this claim. We can however compare ASUS SSD Caching performance to mechanical hard drive performance as well as standard SSD only performance.
Before jumping into test results first let’s have a look at what goes into setting up ASUS SSD Caching.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache1.png
Step one of ASUS SSD Caching setup is to connect a mechanical drive and an SSD to the white Marvell ports on the Sabertooth. Next, boot into Windows, open AI Suite and go to ASUS SSD Caching under the Tools menu. You should see a screen similar to the one above. We should mention here that there are no capacity limitations for the SSD as there are with Z68 (64GB) so our 128GB M4 worked without a partition. The benefit of this is a higher limit on the amount of programs that can be cached on the SSD.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache2.png
In the bottom right corner of the caching screen there is a “Caching Now!” button which can be simply click on and the system will automatically set up ASUS SSD Caching. It will format your SSD so keep that in mind before proceeding.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache3.png
Once initialization is complete you are done! There are no drivers to deal with, no registry hacks, no installing Windows in RAID mode, nothing. You get a popup on the taskbar indicating initialization is complete and caching is ready to go. There is a typo in the software as shown above but in spite of that big points to ASUS for ease of use - SSD Caching is foolproof.
ASUS SSD Caching Performance:
In order to test ASUS SSD Caching, we paired up a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD with a 1TB WD Black 6Gb/s drive and ran tests with no caching, ASUS SSD Caching, and then with the SSD only. All tests were repeated 3 times and the best result was graphed. For ASUS SSD Caching 5 runs were made before the 3 that were recorded in order to allow time for the cache to be populated.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/pcm11.png
The first test we ran was PCMark 7. PCMark7 combines more than 25 individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming so is very reflective of day-to-day PC usage. As you can see above ASUS SSD Caching performs notably better than a mechanical drive alone however not quite as good as an SSD only solution.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/W7.png
Regarding Windows boot time, we found the Sabertooth to be similar to the Rampage IV Extreme which means it was very slow booting even with an SSD installed. Granted we have a ton of devices connected but the board sits for ages in POST mode before starting to load Windows so boot times are slower than what we are used to from Z68. Looking at the ASUS SSD Caching results however we see that it performs on par with a SSD in booting and slightly slower in shutdown.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/Scrystal.png (http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/Lcrystal.png)
CrystalDiskMark performance for ASUS SSD Caching is still a massive improvement over a mechanical drive. However, it just can't touch the SSD performance in reads and writes.
All in all we feel ASUS did an excellent job in implementation but looking at our testing with a 128GB SSD, we feel like users in this category would be much better off buying an SSD up front rather than combining a mechanical drive with a large capacity SSD. However, if money is tight, this feature combined with a lower capacity SSD could provide an excellent starting point for a faster system.
В инструкции к матплате Asus P8Z77-V_Deluxe написано коротко:
4.3.7 ASUS SSD Caching7245
7246
This feature boosts system performance by using an installed SSD with no capacity
limitations as a cache for frequently accessed data. Harness a combination of SSD-like
performance and response and hard drive capacity with just one click. No rebooting is
needed with instant activation for complete ease of use.
Launching ASUS SSD Caching
After installing AI Suite II from the motherboard support DVD, launch ASUS SSD Caching
by clicking Tool ASUS SSD Caching on the AI Suite II main menu bar.
Configuring ASUS SSD Caching
1. Connect one HDD and one SSD to the Marvell® *SATA ports (SATA6G_E1/ E2). ASUS SSD Caching automatically detects the HDD and SSD.
2. Click on Caching Now! to initialize the connected disks. Initialization status is shown on the program interface.
3. Caching function will be activated once initialization is complete.
4. Click on Disable when deactivating SSD caching.
7248
7247
During initialization, you can proceed with doing any system operations. You can check the caching status later or wait for a pop-up message notifying that initialization is completed.
For regular usage, the SATA6G_E1/E2 connectors are recommended for data drives.
After disabling SSD Caching, the SSD will become a non-configurable disk in Windows OS. To use the SSD again for normal functions, go to Disk Management to reconfigure the SSD.
7248
То есть, не понятно, если диск в случае с технологией Asus, этот диск SSD не используется напрямую, как диск, а только как кэш.
Поэтому возникает вопрос: "Какого объёма достаточно для этой функции?"
Никто толком об этом не говорит, а на форумах обсуждают только вопрос по использованию SSD в качестве основного раздела для ОС Windows.
Но здесь несколько иное предназначение, когда Винда не пишется на SSD, она так же устанавливается на обычный HDD, но просто кэширует данные для загрузки туда и возможно использует кэш для работы программ.
Я тут почитал немного на забугорных сайтах и нашёл, что на чипсете Z68 (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2) была внедрена эта технология в матплаты, но от Intel ("Intel Smart Response Technology". Она не позволяла использовать SSD больше 64 Гб, т.к. типа больше не требуется. А вот начиная с Z77, Асус внедрила свою технологию ASUS SSD Caching и открыла возможность кэширования на больший кэш, т.е. 128 точно поддерживается, как видно в обзоре ниже. И тут ниже чел один написал небольшой ФАК (источник (http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/50312-asus-sabertooth-x79-motherboard-review-15.html))
Ещё ссылки по теме:
http://rog.asus.com/tag/ssd-cache-drive/
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1767/
7250
ASUS SSD Caching
Many users have found caching to be a key feature for the Z68 chipset as it allows for installing a smaller (and much cheaper) SSD which allows for faster boots and application load times when paired up with a mechanical drive or RAID array. Since Intel did not provide this feature with the X79 chipset, ASUS went ahead and developed their own version of SSD caching using a Marvell controller and a utility built into AI Suite II. The question is how much additional performance does the ASUS version provide and is it worth using?
First of all, ASUS claims up to three times faster performance with ASUS SSD Caching but we weren’t really sure what that number was even referring to so it may be difficult to test this claim. We can however compare ASUS SSD Caching performance to mechanical hard drive performance as well as standard SSD only performance.
Before jumping into test results first let’s have a look at what goes into setting up ASUS SSD Caching.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache1.png
Step one of ASUS SSD Caching setup is to connect a mechanical drive and an SSD to the white Marvell ports on the Sabertooth. Next, boot into Windows, open AI Suite and go to ASUS SSD Caching under the Tools menu. You should see a screen similar to the one above. We should mention here that there are no capacity limitations for the SSD as there are with Z68 (64GB) so our 128GB M4 worked without a partition. The benefit of this is a higher limit on the amount of programs that can be cached on the SSD.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache2.png
In the bottom right corner of the caching screen there is a “Caching Now!” button which can be simply click on and the system will automatically set up ASUS SSD Caching. It will format your SSD so keep that in mind before proceeding.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/cache3.png
Once initialization is complete you are done! There are no drivers to deal with, no registry hacks, no installing Windows in RAID mode, nothing. You get a popup on the taskbar indicating initialization is complete and caching is ready to go. There is a typo in the software as shown above but in spite of that big points to ASUS for ease of use - SSD Caching is foolproof.
ASUS SSD Caching Performance:
In order to test ASUS SSD Caching, we paired up a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD with a 1TB WD Black 6Gb/s drive and ran tests with no caching, ASUS SSD Caching, and then with the SSD only. All tests were repeated 3 times and the best result was graphed. For ASUS SSD Caching 5 runs were made before the 3 that were recorded in order to allow time for the cache to be populated.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/pcm11.png
The first test we ran was PCMark 7. PCMark7 combines more than 25 individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming so is very reflective of day-to-day PC usage. As you can see above ASUS SSD Caching performs notably better than a mechanical drive alone however not quite as good as an SSD only solution.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/W7.png
Regarding Windows boot time, we found the Sabertooth to be similar to the Rampage IV Extreme which means it was very slow booting even with an SSD installed. Granted we have a ton of devices connected but the board sits for ages in POST mode before starting to load Windows so boot times are slower than what we are used to from Z68. Looking at the ASUS SSD Caching results however we see that it performs on par with a SSD in booting and slightly slower in shutdown.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/Scrystal.png (http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/eldonko/X79SABERTOOTH/Charts/Lcrystal.png)
CrystalDiskMark performance for ASUS SSD Caching is still a massive improvement over a mechanical drive. However, it just can't touch the SSD performance in reads and writes.
All in all we feel ASUS did an excellent job in implementation but looking at our testing with a 128GB SSD, we feel like users in this category would be much better off buying an SSD up front rather than combining a mechanical drive with a large capacity SSD. However, if money is tight, this feature combined with a lower capacity SSD could provide an excellent starting point for a faster system.