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Groups > comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage > #2254

Re: IDE or AHCI ?

Date 2012-01-04 08:53 +0100
From David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com>
Newsgroups comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Subject Re: IDE or AHCI ?
References <jdvhfu$5o3$1@dont-email.me> <4f03de83$1@news.bnb-lp.com>
Message-ID <hPWdnT07Memqm5nSnZ2dnUVZ7oadnZ2d@lyse.net> (permalink)

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On 04/01/2012 06:07, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> On 03/01/2012 1:30 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> What is the fastest hard drive access method for Windows 7 x64, IDE
>> or AHCI ? I have a WD 1 TB caviar black, a Gigabyte z68xp-ud5
>> motherboard and a Intel I3-2500K with 8 GB of ram.
>>
>> I see these thoughts:
>> http://expertester.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/ahci-vs-ide-%E2%80%93-benchmark-advantage/
>>
>>
>>
>> http://tweaks.com/windows/44119/improve-sata-hard-disk-performance-convert-from-ide-to-ahci/
>>
>>
>
> I did the switch to AHCI back in the Windows XP days. At that time it
>  was a difficult transition as there were no default AHCI drivers,
> and switching to AHCI without doing some preparation meant that your
> OS would not boot. It's still not an easy switch with Windows 7
> either, you basically have to install Windows 7 with AHCI already
> enabled or else it'll default to IDE and not include the AHCI drivers
> in the install. Otherwise, switching to AHCI after installing Win 7
> is already installed is nearly as difficult as XP. Linux could use
> either type transparently, not sure why Microsoft didn't make it as
> simple with its own drivers.
>

It's hard to comprehend MS's difficulty here.  There is little 
measurable difference in performance between IDE mode and AHCI mode, but 
people often /perceive/ "native SATA" mode as newer and faster than "IDE 
emulation" mode.  So even if you can't measure a difference, it still 
seems absurd that you have to jump through hoops to run "native SATA".

> After doing the switch, I find absolutely no difference in
> performance. However, I do have an external eSATA drive which can be
> enabled and disabled on the fly just like a USB drive. I think if I
> were still using IDE drivers, that wouldn't be nearly as easy
> though.
>

There are two main differences in practice between SATA and IDE modes. 
One is hotplug, as you mentioned, and the other is NCQ - native command 
queueing.  (There are also a few other SATA commands, such as SSD trim 
and secure erase.)

NCQ won't make a significant difference in Linux, since it has always 
had good algorithms to order disk accesses to minimise head movement. 
It will sometimes make things worse, such as when the OS wants to 
enforce a particular order (for transactions to filesystem journals, for 
example).  And NCQ doesn't help windows much either - after all, it only 
applies when you do more than one thing at a time.

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Thread

IDE or AHCI ? Lynn McGuire <lmc@winsim.com> - 2012-01-03 12:30 -0600
  Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-03 21:05 +0000
    Re: IDE or AHCI ? "arno fucker" <af@arnofucker.com> - 2012-01-04 12:41 +1100
  Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-04 12:58 +1100
  Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-04 00:07 -0500
    Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2012-01-04 08:53 +0100
      Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-04 20:32 +1100
        Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2012-01-04 14:44 +0100
          Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-05 07:37 +1100
            Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-04 22:56 +0100
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-05 09:48 +1100
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Ed Light <nobody@nobody.there> - 2012-01-04 21:40 -0800
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-05 05:37 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-05 17:37 +1100
      Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-04 09:29 -0500
        Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2012-01-04 16:04 +0100
          Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-04 19:19 +0000
            Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-04 23:14 +0100
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-05 08:47 +0000
          Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-05 07:51 +1100
        Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-04 19:16 +0000
        Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-05 07:41 +1100
          Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-05 14:44 -0500
            Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-06 17:35 +1100
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Krypsis <krypsis@optusnet.com.au> - 2012-01-07 00:05 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-06 20:04 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-06 21:13 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? cjt <cheljuba@prodigy.net> - 2012-01-06 20:42 -0600
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-07 13:48 +0100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-07 14:09 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-07 14:36 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Krypsis <krypsis@optusnet.com.au> - 2012-01-08 02:11 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-09 12:06 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-09 16:27 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-09 17:36 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-09 17:41 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Winniethepooh@100acrewoods.net (GMAN) - 2012-01-09 19:07 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-09 20:12 +0100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-09 21:00 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-09 11:31 -0500
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-07 17:10 +0100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk> - 2012-01-10 14:18 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-09 11:23 -0500
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-09 16:30 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-09 20:16 +0100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? cjt <cheljuba@prodigy.net> - 2012-01-09 17:13 -0600
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-07 08:11 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Krypsis <krypsis@optusnet.com.au> - 2012-01-08 01:23 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-08 06:43 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? JW <none@dev.null> - 2012-01-09 05:23 -0500
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-09 10:24 -0500
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-10 09:34 +1100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-09 20:04 -0500
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2012-01-10 15:33 +1100
            Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-06 09:48 +0000
              Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-09 11:35 -0500
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? David Brown <david.brown@removethis.hesbynett.no> - 2012-01-09 20:23 +0100
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-10 11:31 +0000
                Re: IDE or AHCI ? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2012-01-20 06:54 -0500
      Re: IDE or AHCI ? Arno <me@privacy.net> - 2012-01-04 19:14 +0000

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