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I use an old P4 desktop as my home file server. Since the MB only has IDE, I use a SIL3114 controller to connect 3 SATA HDDs. Running Crystal DiskMark I get very strange results! Two of the drives (C: + D:) show very low sequential and random/512kB read speeds, while the third drive (F:) performs just fine.

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C: SYS 250GB SAMSUNG SATA/300 7200 8MB
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* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :     5.007 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    55.902 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :     6.663 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    45.679 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.294 MB/s [    71.7 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     1.184 MB/s [   289.1 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.558 MB/s [   136.3 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     1.159 MB/s [   283.1 IOPS]

  Test : 100 MB [C: 29.6% (14.7/49.8 GB)] (x2)
  Date : 2013/04/30 17:22:48
    OS : Windows 7 Professional [6.1 Build 7600] (x86)  

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D: LAGRING 1000GB SAMSUNG SATA/300 5400 32MB
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* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :     4.650 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    40.706 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :     4.266 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    37.208 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.378 MB/s [    92.3 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.929 MB/s [   226.8 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.535 MB/s [   130.5 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     1.039 MB/s [   253.7 IOPS]

  Test : 100 MB [D: 58.3% (543.4/931.5 GB)] (x2)
  Date : 2013/04/30 17:27:22
    OS : Windows 7 Professional [6.1 Build 7600] (x86)

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F: Backup 500GB HITACHI SATA/300 7200 16MB
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* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    67.303 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    61.473 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    18.381 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    28.761 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.189 MB/s [    46.2 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.872 MB/s [   212.8 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.442 MB/s [   107.9 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.884 MB/s [   215.7 IOPS]

  Test : 100 MB [F: 84.6% (394.0/465.8 GB)] (x2)
  Date : 2013/04/30 17:30:44
    OS : Windows 7 Professional [6.1 Build 7600] (x86)

Sad thing is that the fastest drive is my backup drive :( I tried swapping controller ports and checked all SATA-cables. The SATA-controller has latest driver and F/W. No S.M.A.R.T errors from any of the disks. Temps are OK.
All suggestions apreciated!

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  • Drive F is signifcantly faster then either drive and/or has more cache. The problem likely is because of the SIL3114 controller and the use of vastly different hdds.
    – Ramhound
    Apr 30, 2013 at 16:27
  • You don't really ask a question - you might state what you're wanting / looking for
    – cutrightjm
    Apr 30, 2013 at 16:32

1 Answer 1

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Problem solved :) I replaced my Sil3114 SATA controller with a 2-port Promise Fasttrak TX2300 (which I got for 1/2 price), and now I get some 70MB/s consistent read and write speeds for my Samsung-drives. Obviously the Samsung drives are not compatible with the Sil controller. However I still use the Sil controller with the Hitachi drive. It's worth mentioning that I also tried another controller card with a different Sil chipset, but that didn't work either.

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