Solid State Drives (SSD)

[Cr4z33]

As per title...

I just found out reading a topic here that we might get a kit when buying an M4?

What should I do now to get one?

[targetbsp · Accepted solution]

There are different versions of the drive you can buy at different prices.

drive only

drive with 3.5" adaptor for desktops

drive with data transfer kit for laptops

I'm guessing you bought drive only?  If you need to transfer data on a desktop you don't need anything else.  Just plug the ssd in and use this: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

If you need to transfer for a laptop, then if you have access to a desktop you can plug both drives in and use the same as above.

if you need to transfer a laptop and have no desktop then that is where the transfer kit is most useful.

[Cr4z33]

Indeed I bought the drive only.

I actually have Acronis and EASEUS software already, but I was wondering anyway if I was eligible for that kit.

Thanks for clearing things out.

[targetbsp]

If you do use Acronis, make sure it's a recent version.  Bugs in older versions cause ti to mess up the drive alignment as it clones to SSD's which will impact performance.

After cloning you can sure this to check the alignment: http://alex-is.de/PHP/fusion/downloads.php?download_id=9

It will show a number in green and say OK if it's aligned, in red and BAD if not.

[Cr4z33]

Yeah I had to find out by myself that you have to be aware of many things before going to use a SSD drive.

I usually use AIDA64 by running a Random Mode 4K Block test, but here is the result of AS SSD (note that I am on a Marvell 9128 ctrl):

[targetbsp]

It's not so much the benchmarking of AS SSD that's relevant (although it is the most common ly used around ehre so makes comparison easier!) but the diagnostic info it shows in the top left - even if you haven;t run the benchmark.

Such as the storage driver being used (which implies the transfer mode: IDE or AHCI) and the drive alignment.