Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS*

[daniboun]

Thanks daniboun for all these nice posts and pics.

I just bought a Transcend 16GB Compact Flash x300 by accident - I wanted to buy a Kingston 8GB x266...!

Now that's nice...!

iThinkpad

Which adapter did you get ? It would be nice to bench it once you get your card so that we'd compare... thx

LOL lucky you are
Transcend is the best choice anyway Moreover, this Compactflash is natively detected as a fixed drive

[mikeh]

Please don't tell me that Windoze doesn't do write caching.

Actually, I checked and XP at least disables write-caching by default on removable devices. So if you have a second CF drive that Windows shows as removable, you should change the settings to allow it.

[iThinkPad]

Thanks daniboun for all these nice posts and pics.

I just bought a Transcend 16GB Compact Flash x300 by accident - I wanted to buy a Kingston 8GB x266...!

Now that's nice...!

iThinkpad

Which adapter did you get ? It would be nice to bench it once you get your card so that we'd compare... thx

LOL lucky you are
Transcend is the best choice anyway Moreover, this Compactflash is natively detected as a fixed drive

I've got the Addonics 2xCF>IDE adapter. I bench it as soon as the machine is up and running.
I know that Transcend are natively detected as a fixed drive - that's why I bought one in the first place...!

what setup do you have - FAT32 or NTFS?
did you use nlite? what components have you left out?
what do I have to tweak to get max speed out of the CF?

I like this one here: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Compact_Flash_boot_drive
something else I should know?

[dstrauss]

I've read through all 16 pages (2-3 times for most) and I'm going to take the plunge and replace my 60gb Hitachi with two Transcend 32gb - 133x units (yes, I know not as speedy as the 300x units, but $260 vs. $600 for double the storage). After all that reading, I'm still puzzled by some details:

1. Can you use the IBM restore disks to set up the CF drives?

2. If you do use the restore disks, is there an option to NOT install the on-disk restore partition?

3. Is there a list of IBM crapware (Mossberg's term, not mine) that can safely be deleted to save disk space?

4. Has anyone successfully used one of the Transcend 32gb 133x CF cards in an adapter in the PC Card slot (hint - I may have to switch to a 16gb 300x CF for the boot drive)?

5. Has anyone successfully used a greater than 8gb SDHC card in the SD reader (a generic 8gb is working well right now with SP3 installed on my HDD)?

Obviously, I want to max the storage capacity of the x40, and three 32gb CF cards and the 8gb SDHC gets me over the magic 100gb total (I have obviously become addicted to iTunes).

I am also really interested in more "real life" experience reports rather than just benchmarks. I realize benchmarks are more objective, but I feel the real life impact of the slower write speeds on small files may not really slow down the user. Likewise, is the superior read performance of the 300x cards really noticeable in comparison to the 133x, when you're coming from the Hitachi 4200 HDD.

[iThinkPad]

... Obviously, I want to max the storage capacity of the x40, and three 32gb CF cards and the 8gb SDHC gets me over the magic 100gb total (I have obviously become addicted to iTunes) ...

Why do you want to max the storage capacity of the X40?
Do you ever thought about a NAS or external hard drive?

[dstrauss]

... Obviously, I want to max the storage capacity of the x40, and three 32gb CF cards and the 8gb SDHC gets me over the magic 100gb total (I have obviously become addicted to iTunes) ...

Why do you want to max the storage capacity of the X40?
Do you ever thought about a NAS or external hard drive?

I have both, but when I travel I want to carry my iTunes library as well as offline folders for some of the files on our servers. I don't want to carry an extra hard drive - that's why I'm stepping back to the x40 until we can have the same size device with total SSD storage. The R500 with the 128gb SSD is a good start, but at $2999, when I can get most of the way there with 3 x $129 in CF cards, and a $30 adapter, it is a no brainer. True, the Core 2 Duo processors can juggle more open windows quicker, but having strugggled with a Sony Vaio SZ with 2gb ram, 320gb hd, and Vista Business, it is not appreciably faster than the XP SP3 x40, and hopefully with the CF drives, even less of an advantage.

So, when Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, Apple, or anyone else can get us to 200gb SSD storage on a modern processor, I will jump like a duck on a bug.

[daniboun]

I've got the Addonics 2xCF>IDE adapter. I bench it as soon as the machine is up and running.
I know that Transcend are natively detected as a fixed drive - that's why I bought one in the first place...!

what setup do you have - FAT32 or NTFS?
did you use nlite? what components have you left out?
what do I have to tweak to get max speed out of the CF?

I like this one here: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Compact_Flash_boot_drive
something else I should know?

Hi amigo
I am waiting for your bench so... I just wanna know if the addonics performs better than the PACF18H one. Both supports UDMA mode, mine is running in UDMA mode 4 but I just noticed a medium performance concerning the write speed (about 25 MB/S in ATTO disk Benchmark). Let me know your score please.

Concerning the OS, I am using a very good version of Windows XP SP3 (Windows Trust 2.5 SP3) this is the best unattended Windows that I know. This version has been designed by a French team and is a light and smooth version of Windows XP. It supports EEE PC from Asus as well.
Take a look here for details :
http://www.xtaze-board.net/logiciels/10 ... 5-sp3.html

img]http://images3.hiboox.com/images/1808/rp9ihjt0.png[/img]
img]http://images3.hiboox.com/images/1808/zwtgy3a8.png[/img]
img]http://images0.hiboox.com/images/1908/2f96cxyz.jpg[/img]
img]http://images3.hiboox.com/images/1808/vun3rbrw.png[/img]
img]http://images0.hiboox.com/images/1908/xk2ylaif.jpg[/img]

I setup it with FAT32 partition since NTFS Swaps more, so I get better performances this way. I highly recommand Windows Trust 2.5 for any laptop it kicks some major [censored] lol

Keep me informed

Note from Admin: No warning in the subject line = no inline images.

[dbregman]

I've read through all 16 pages (2-3 times for most) and I'm going to take the plunge and replace my 60gb Hitachi with two Transcend 32gb - 133x units (yes, I know not as speedy as the 300x units, but $260 vs. $600 for double the storage). After all that reading, I'm still puzzled by some details:

I would really recomend against using a slower card. I tried my Kingston 266x before my Transend 300x arrived and it was very slow. Slower by far then the HDD. The Transend 300X is, on the other hand much faster. I would get more speed and less capacity if cost is an issue.

[iThinkPad]

Hi amigo
I am waiting for your bench so... I just wanna know if the addonics performs better than the PACF18H one. Both supports UDMA mode, mine is running in UDMA mode 4 but I just noticed a medium performance concerning the write speed (about 25 MB/S in ATTO disk Benchmark). Let me know your score please.

Concerning the OS, I am using a very good version of Windows XP SP3 (Windows Trust 2.5 SP3) this is the best unattended Windows that I know. This version has been designed by a French team and is a light and smooth version of Windows XP. It supports EEE PC from Asus as well.
Take a look here for details :
http://www.xtaze-board.net/logiciels/10 ... 5-sp3.html

I setup it with FAT32 partition since NTFS Swaps more, so I get better performances this way. I highly recommand Windows Trust 2.5 for any laptop it kicks some major *****Expletives removed by Moderator***** lol

Keep me informed

Hm - this Windows Trust 2.5 SP3 - is it in French? Is it possible to change the language?
The link is down...!
Do you trust these guys...?

I try to setup my system tomorrow and put up some benchmarks.

[dstrauss]

I've read through all 16 pages (2-3 times for most) and I'm going to take the plunge and replace my 60gb Hitachi with two Transcend 32gb - 133x units (yes, I know not as speedy as the 300x units, but $260 vs. $600 for double the storage). After all that reading, I'm still puzzled by some details:

I would really recomend against using a slower card. I tried my Kingston 266x before my Transend 300x arrived and it was very slow. Slower by far then the HDD. The Transend 300X is, on the other hand much faster. I would get more speed and less capacity if cost is an issue.

In your experience, would the 16gb 300x for boot drive and the other for data make an acceptable compromise?

[dbregman]

In your experience, would the 16gb 300x for boot drive and the other for data make an acceptable compromise?

That would be better. I went with the Transend 300x 16gb for Boot and the SanDisk Extreme III 16gb for data. Adorama (www.adorama.com) had the Sandisk extreme III16gb for $99 after rebate right now. You will need to convert it over to fixed - see my post earlier in this thread. You could also go for two SanDisk Extreme III and save some money with out too much of a drop in performance - I posted the comparisons earlier in the thread.

[daniboun]

Hm - this Windows Trust 2.5 SP3 - is it in French? Is it possible to change the language?
The link is down...!
Do you trust these guys...?

I try to setup my system tomorrow and put up some benchmarks

Since I've been living in France, I neved tried other languages...
LOL yeah I trust them and I can ensure that this version is the best I tried without any doubt
You can find it with any rapidshare link, the version is very popular... Thx

[kaotic504]

Hm - this Windows Trust 2.5 SP3 - is it in French? Is it possible to change the language?
The link is down...!
Do you trust these guys...?

I try to setup my system tomorrow and put up some benchmarks

Since I've been living in France, I neved tried other languages...
LOL yeah I trust them and I can ensure that this version is the best I tried without any doubt
You can find it with any rapidshare link, the version is very popular... Thx

did that version of Windows give you full Tablet functionality? how "light weight" is it?

[dstrauss]

In your experience, would the 16gb 300x for boot drive and the other for data make an acceptable compromise?

That would be better. I went with the Transend 300x 16gb for Boot and the SanDisk Extreme III 16gb for data. Adorama (www.adorama.com) had the Sandisk extreme III16gb for $99 after rebate right now. You will need to convert it over to fixed - see my post earlier in this thread. You could also go for two SanDisk Extreme III and save some money with out too much of a drop in performance - I posted the comparisons earlier in the thread.

I'm curious - why would the 266x CF be so slow, but the 300x is faster than the stock HD. Also, have you tried the high capacity CF cards in a PC Card adapter?

[dbregman]

I'm curious - why would the 266x CF be so slow, but the 300x is faster than the stock HD. Also, have you tried the high capacity CF cards in a PC Card adapter?

266X is not so slow - to read - but much slower to write.

See my benchmarks on page 13 of the thread for comparisions between the SanDisk Extreme III, Transend 300x and HDD. As for the PC Card adapter, I can't remember the number, but the throughput is limited - making it slower than the HDD and you can not boot from it as well.

[dstrauss]

dbregman

Thanks for all the help (here and throughout the forum). I think going with the CF cards is going to be great, and with prices slowly dropping, I may just be upgrading the HD as I go. I'm leaning towards the 16gb 300x/32gb 133x inside and another 32gb in the PC Slot - may be slow but would be a good place to store the iTunes library because it will primarily be read not write drive.

Now, where are the $200 64gb/300x CF's we really need?

[daniboun]

Since I've been living in France, I neved tried other languages...
LOL yeah I trust them and I can ensure that this version is the best I tried without any doubt
You can find it with any rapidshare link, the version is very popular... Thx

did that version of Windows give you full Tablet functionality? how "light weight" is it?

This a full version of Windows XP but services, skin, design, updates etc.. have been optimised. It's a fully compatible version of Windows XP SP3 like other Windows unattended ones. It's almost 35% lighter than the Original Windows XP.
For instance, on my IBM X40 Windows takes about 35s to boot on. (using Antivir, Office 2007, IBM Power managment, SoundMax tools)
Moreover this version is 100% stable to the death
This is from far the best Windows I tried.

Enjoy

PLEASE READ THIS :

So that we can compare The Addonics WRITE performances with the PACF18H or other adapters : It would be nice if some of you could upload some results using CRYSTALDISKMARK. This benchmark tool will give the Write speed.

Dowload freeware here :

http://www.infos-du-net.com/telecharger ... -9773.html

It seems that the WRITE speed could change from more or less 40% depending of the adapter you got. For instance I've been reported that the PACF18H (TRUE IDE MODE 4) with the Transcend 300X CF only perfoms 27MB/S Write and about 49MB/S read. The Addonics Write speed is about 40MB/s !!! LET'S CHECK SO

Please post your benchmark results thx

[daniboun]

NEW BENCHMARK PROTOCOL :

Please post your benchmark results this way

Hardware : IBM X40, 1.5GB RAM, CF TRANSCEND 300X With PACF18H Adapter
OS : Windows XP Trust 2.5 SP3

CRYSTALDISK Benchmark with 500MB file.



As you can see, the PACF18H adapter seems to report a write issue... I got only 27MB/S Write in sequential mode. To be checked so...

[aceo07]

I'm curious about a standard benchmark of the Transcend 300x 16GB and the 8GB. I have the 8GB, but I wonder if the 16GB is faster.

[daniboun]

I'm curious about a standard benchmark of the Transcend 300x 16GB and the 8GB. I have the 8GB, but I wonder if the 16GB is faster.

Bench your card you'll know


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[iThinkPad]

NEW BENCHMARK PROTOCOL :

Hardware : IBM X40, 1.5GB RAM, CF TRANSCEND 300X 16GB with Addonics AD44MIDE2CF Adapter
OS : Windows XP SP2

CRYSTALDISK Benchmark with 50MB file.




# NTFS format
# NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate in registry is set
# Disabled Indexing
# Compressed the drive
# Disabled windows system restore (system properties)

I really don't like the result of this one...! I think I have to try FAT32...!

[daniboun]

NEW BENCHMARK PROTOCOL :

Hardware : IBM X40, 1.5GB RAM, CF TRANSCEND 300X 16GB with Addonics AD44MIDE2CF Adapter
OS : Windows XP SP2

CRYSTALDISK Benchmark with 50MB file.




# NTFS format
# NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate in registry is set
# Disabled Indexing
# Compressed the drive
# Disabled windows system restore (system properties)

I really don't like the result of this one...! I think I have to try FAT32...!

Humm weird... You forgot to change the file size : change 50MB to 500MB which is more representative. But there is something wrong because your read results are disappointing and the Write ones are very low too...

Could you post the new Benchmark with the 500MB file test ? Thx

[dbregman]

Here are my benchmarks with the Addonics adapter - not much difference from the PACF18H Adapter.

IBM X40 2371-J4U - 1.25gb ram - Win XP SP3 nLite'd



This is the Transend 300X 32Gb card.

I also tested the SanDisk Extreme III 32Gb card:


As you can see, for large block there is not too big a write difference - but for small blocks it is half the write speed. All around read is slower.

[gongo2k1]

blocksize makes all the difference in the world. on my pny 266x, i get only 10.1 mb/s with 1k bs writing a 2.5 gb file, but 41.2 mb/s writing the same file with bs=64k.

[iThinkPad]

Humm weird... You forgot to change the file size : change 50MB to 500MB which is more representative. But there is something wrong because your read results are disappointing and the Write ones are very low too...

Could you post the new Benchmark with the 500MB file test ? Thx

No I haven't forgotten it - it took to long...!
And the results weren't better!

I try it with FAT32 - I think this will help.

[daniboun]

NEW BENCH With 50MB size file

Hardware : IBM X40, 1.5GB RAM, CF TRANSCEND 300X With PACF18H Adapter
OS : Windows XP Trust 2.5 SP3

CRYSTALDISK Benchmark with 50MB size file

[daniboun]

blocksize makes all the difference in the world. on my pny 266x, i get only 10.1 mb/s with 1k bs writing a 2.5 gb file, but 41.2 mb/s writing the same file with bs=64k.

I guess that the best way to get good performances with Compactflash cards it's to format its with 64k blocksize and then to reinstall Windows ? I wonder if we can change the blocksize without reinstalling the OS ? any idea ? thx

[dbregman]

Daniboun - can you run Crystal on the Silicon Power 300x you have?

[daniboun]

Daniboun - can you run Crystal on the Silicon Power 300x you have?

Humm just sold it.. But it performs as well as the Transcend.
SILICON POWER 300X: 47MB/s READ
TRANSCEND 300X : 50MB/s READ

[daniboun]

blocksize makes all the difference in the world. on my pny 266x, i get only 10.1 mb/s with 1k bs writing a 2.5 gb file, but 41.2 mb/s writing the same file with bs=64k.

I am going to try with 64K blocksize when formating today. I'll post the new results within this evening (French time)