So from your explanation, can I assume that from Windows Vista and above, we do not need to worry about alignment any more for any new SSD during fresh installation, is that correct?

Yes. Windows7 and 8 will auto align the drive at the beginning of the installation.

Reads do not harm SSD life, so this is not an issue.

Writes do exhaust an SSD's limited writes, so this is an issue. However, the probability of normal users exhausting their SSD's write lifespan approaches zero. You need to focus and work hard on destroying your SSD to successfully kill it through write exhaustion before your three year warranty is up. I don't worry about unnecessary writes.

A partition alignment expert already!

Pro-tip: Partition alignment isn't only for SSDs! It also improves write performance by an average of about 5-10% on Advanced Format HDDs, which is roughly all HDDs since January 2011.

Only if "fresh installation" includes wiping the partitions or on unpartitioned SSDs/HDDs. Windows Vista and above only creates aligned partitions if there were no existing partitions. If there exists unaligned partitions, Windows Vista and above will keep these unaligned partitions.

For example, if you default install a Windows XP onto a HDD/SSD, that HDD/SSD's partitions will be unaligned. And then if you clean install Windows Vista/7/8/above on it with format, the partitions will still be unaligned; formatting only isn't enough. You need to delete all the old partitions and then create new ones to get aligned partitions.

Here is the proof.


Default Windows XP installation. Unaligned.
(As a side note, it seems that Windows XP's "diskpart" doesn't report the offset correctly, which can lead to mistaken assumptions.)


Default Windows 7 installation on the same disk. Format is used. Partitions not recreated. Unaligned.

This post has been edited by everling: Aug 2 2013, 07:08 PM

hi,i'm new ssd user here.Just bought plextor m5pro xtreme 128gb.
[attachmentid=3567439]
is this result good??

Install your mobo latest chipset driver! msachi is default AHCI driver from Microsoft, native AHCI driver will improve performance.

i already install latest intel chipset driver download from intel website.how to make sure it use native ahci?

May be you need to install iRST as well, if the mobo chipset driver already included the intel AHCI driver, the info on AS SSD benchmark will change from msachi to iastor.

I have done what you asked and I saw abit improvement.
[attachmentid=3568841]
so the result good enough?

Even on the MSAHCI, it was already good enough. It's practically impossible for an ordinary person to tell the difference between the two without the benchmarks giving out the performance numbers. But it is better now.

This post has been edited by everling: Aug 4 2013, 10:24 AM

Hi all, I have a question about ssd. Let's say for a regular user,whose usage is just normal web surfing, some movie maybe, some uni work(word,ppt). Is ssd needed or worth it in this case aside from the fast boot time?

From what I know, ssd will decrease boot time and application loading time, but since I only use the browser, dont game at all... Is it still worth it to spend so much on an ssd?

If you don't mind drinking a cup of coffee or tea while waiting for the whole system to be fully usable then SSD or not does not matter.
If your time is precious, multi-task and require instant loads of application then YES! SSD will worth your Time (money).
If you needs just faster Windows boot up, latest mainboard UEFI + Windows 8 already considered as the fastest boot up, SSD will double the speed and cut the time in half though.

So if I mainly uses the browser(chrome) only, means theres not much increase in speed other than boot time?

if your computer already fast enough, it may be hard to tell the difference unless the program installation size is large(Adobe CS/photoshop/games/OS ect), or if you frequently save/read large files, then you may need SSD.

jsut buy the cheapest, rm300 something with SATA 6GB/s 128GB should be enough, i have 256GB SSD but only utilized half of it, even with 3 OS installed.
Just install the software you use very frequently on SSD, the rest goes to HDD.

Thing is, its for my gf. But she dont game and she mostly just surf net on the comp. So, I've been wondering whether its worth it to spend extra for ssd or spend extra for a better laptop since im choosing a laptop for her..

Oh laptops, HDD are prone to damage if your laptop fall down/knocked if accidentally, SSD wont, basically SSD will reduce a lot of your headache after prolonged use, compare to HDD(file fragmentation/general slowness).
Or just buy the one with HDD with SSD cache if you can, turn of extra craps that runs on start up will help reduce boot time, and use hibernate, too.

This post has been edited by 1024kbps: Aug 4 2013, 05:11 PM

In other words, it doesnt really help much if its just normal web surfing?

If she's quite rough and no laptop cooler on her laptop then SSD will probably last longer for her and she'll feel very snappy without slowing down, but she'll ("probably") feels annoyed very easily if she does switch to normal PC with the "normal" HDD, believe me, the huge different is just too tempting
But if you have limited budget, just take the normal Core i3 or equivalent then put some into SSD rather than Core i5 of which she'll never use it.

Core i3 3xxxm
4GB RAM
128/120GB SSD (swap with HDD then can use as external using USB adapter)
DVD drive? (well, if she don't use it then can opt for very slim and light profile)
Integrated Intel GPU 3000

All of these should have a budget of around RM2000 and below (SSD included).

nope, very unlikely, but just like i said, SSD wont be damaged by accidental knock or fall down.

Thats what I've been looking for, around 2k with ssd. Where is the speed bump which will be experienced when using ssd? opening files, boot up, and?
besides, she might want to do some little photoshop, so im considering getting an i5..

Apart from the fall damage which might occur to hdd and the faster boot up, not much advantage if her usage is only surfing?

Yup, i still can surf happily with my old dying core i5 460M laptop with slow HDD.
still cam play some light games without much problem.