FYI... SSD, WinXP, and TRIM

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Scataphagos, Apr 6, 2010.

  1. 1. Most SSDs show significant performance decline between a "fresh" drive and and "dirty".... the remedy is TRIM.

    2. TRIM is automatically supported in Vista and W7 on certain SSD models.

    3. WinXP does not support TRIM... so if you want to run an SSD in an XP rig, you should be aware:

    4. Intel's X25-M works very well on an XP rig with little performance loss when the drive gets "dirty".

    5. Intel is the only(?) maker to have the equivalent of TRIM available for "SSD on XP" (G2, models only... with 02HD firmware). Intel has the "SSD Optimizer"... which you can run manually to do a "TRIM clearing" of the cells... takes < 1 minute. Intel recommends you run it "once per week". However, after you've had your SSD for a while, you can determine how long your normal activities take to write the capacity of the drive one time, then run SSD Optimizer after that time. In my case, it's about 10 days. Running it more frequently than it takes to completely write your drive is of no benefit.

    Bottom Line... If you're running XP and you want the benefits of an SSD, look to the Intel G2s first... they may be the only good choice at this time... and, the SSD Optimizer for XP actually works...