p4c800-e deluxe slow pata

[Kyle Peterson]

I have an Asus p4c800-e deluxe with a 2.8ghz p4 800mhz FSB. My primary
drive is a Maxtor SATA drive and its performace isn't too bad (120MB/s
burts with hdtach 3). I also have a 40GB ATA-133 Maxtor that is on the
primary pata controller and it is very slow...52.3MB/s burst and 32MB/s
random read. Why am I getting such poor pata performance? I am using
80 conductor IDE cables too. Thanks

Specs:
p4 2.8ghz 800 fsb 512 cache 1023 BIOS
2x512 ddr400
radeon 9800 pro
windows xp sp2 pro

 

[Paul]

I have an Asus p4c800-e deluxe with a 2.8ghz p4 800mhz FSB. My primary
drive is a Maxtor SATA drive and its performace isn't too bad (120MB/s
burts with hdtach 3). I also have a 40GB ATA-133 Maxtor that is on the
primary pata controller and it is very slow...52.3MB/s burst and 32MB/s
random read. Why am I getting such poor pata performance? I am using
80 conductor IDE cables too. Thanks

Specs:
p4 2.8ghz 800 fsb 512 cache 1023 BIOS
2x512 ddr400
radeon 9800 pro
windows xp sp2 pro

Is a cache disabled on the drive ? It looks like it is bursting
at the head rate. The ICH5 has a 100MB/sec read and 89MB/sec write
limit on PATA, so it looks like the cache on the disk is being
disabled.

(ICH5/ICH5R datasheet. PDF page 183 gives specs.)
http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/25251601.pdf

Paul

 

[Kyle Peterson]

Is a cache disabled on the drive ? It looks like it is bursting
at the head rate. The ICH5 has a 100MB/sec read and 89MB/sec write
limit on PATA, so it looks like the cache on the disk is being
disabled.

(ICH5/ICH5R datasheet. PDF page 183 gives specs.)
http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/25251601.pdf

Paul

How do I check to see if the cache is enabled? I can't find anything on
maxtor.com about that. Thanks for the input!

 

[Paul]

How do I check to see if the cache is enabled? I can't find anything on
maxtor.com about that. Thanks for the input!

Go into Device Manager, select the drive, look in properties for
"Write Cache enabled" checkbox ?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;233541

Paul

 

[Bob Willard]

I have an Asus p4c800-e deluxe with a 2.8ghz p4 800mhz FSB. My
primary drive is a Maxtor SATA drive and its performace isn't too bad
(120MB/s burts with hdtach 3). I also have a 40GB ATA-133 Maxtor
that is on the primary pata controller and it is very slow...52.3MB/s
burst and 32MB/s random read. Why am I getting such poor pata
performance? I am using 80 conductor IDE cables too. Thanks

Specs:
p4 2.8ghz 800 fsb 512 cache 1023 BIOS
2x512 ddr400
radeon 9800 pro
windows xp sp2 pro

That's about right for some MAXTOR 40GB U/133 HDs, but rather slow for
others.

Since you have HDtach, use its database to compare your results with
similar MAXTOR
HDs. Note that the capacity does not matter; you only need to compare
with the
same HD family for HDtach comparisons.

Also note that HDtach needs to be run very close to standalone to get best
results. If any app (or the OS) is touching the HD or another device on
the same
PATA channel, the HDtach results will be affected; if any app is even
using the
CPU during a HDtach run, it may matter.

I don't think caching is the cause of your problem (if, indeed, you have
one),
since the only XP control is to enable/disable *write* caching, and you are
reporting HDtach's read results.

Finally, I complain again that MAXTOR does not even give STR data on its
website.
Yuck! Do they have something to hide? {You can get max. STR data for
some HDs
at www.StorageReview.com.}

 

[Kyle Peterson]

Go into Device Manager, select the drive, look in properties for
"Write Cache enabled" checkbox ?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;233541

Paul

Ok yeah that is turned on for all my drives. I also tried turning it
off and I still get crappy speeds on my one drive. I believe it only
has a 2MB cache and the test I was using in hdtach was the 8MB test,
could this explain why hdtach reports it as so slow? I am also starting
to think maybe the drive is starting to go bad because sometimes it will
start clicking and then my system will hang. It hasn't done that since
I did a low level format on the drive (i used powermax for this).

 

[Kyle Peterson]

That's about right for some MAXTOR 40GB U/133 HDs, but rather slow for
others.

Since you have HDtach, use its database to compare your results with
similar MAXTOR
HDs. Note that the capacity does not matter; you only need to compare
with the
same HD family for HDtach comparisons.

Also note that HDtach needs to be run very close to standalone to get best
results. If any app (or the OS) is touching the HD or another device on
the same
PATA channel, the HDtach results will be affected; if any app is even
using the
CPU during a HDtach run, it may matter.

I don't think caching is the cause of your problem (if, indeed, you have
one),
since the only XP control is to enable/disable *write* caching, and you are
reporting HDtach's read results.

Finally, I complain again that MAXTOR does not even give STR data on its
website.
Yuck! Do they have something to hide? {You can get max. STR data for
some HDs
at www.StorageReview.com.}

Hey thanks, this is good info. My friend has the exact same drive on
his a7n8x mobo and he gets 120MB/s burst on hdtach. I think maybe my
drive is getting bad. I think its time for a new 300GB sata drive.

 

[Kyle Peterson]

I have an Asus p4c800-e deluxe with a 2.8ghz p4 800mhz FSB. My primary
drive is a Maxtor SATA drive and its performace isn't too bad (120MB/s
burts with hdtach 3). I also have a 40GB ATA-133 Maxtor that is on the
primary pata controller and it is very slow...52.3MB/s burst and 32MB/s
random read. Why am I getting such poor pata performance? I am using
80 conductor IDE cables too. Thanks

Specs:
p4 2.8ghz 800 fsb 512 cache 1023 BIOS
2x512 ddr400
radeon 9800 pro
windows xp sp2 pro

http://www.hermies.net/images/hdtach.jpg

This is a screenshot of hdtach. My drive is the red one. I compared it
to the closest drive in the database. The avg read looks ok, it's the
burst that is so slow.

 

[Bob Willard]

Hey thanks, this is good info. My friend has the exact same drive on
his a7n8x mobo and he gets 120MB/s burst on hdtach. I think maybe my
drive is getting bad. I think its time for a new 300GB sata drive.

You may want to double-check your friend's data. Getting 120MB/s burst
speed with HDtach
sounds a lot like SATA, not PATA.

 

[Paul]

Ok yeah that is turned on for all my drives. I also tried turning it
off and I still get crappy speeds on my one drive. I believe it only
has a 2MB cache and the test I was using in hdtach was the 8MB test,
could this explain why hdtach reports it as so slow? I am also starting
to think maybe the drive is starting to go bad because sometimes it will
start clicking and then my system will hang. It hasn't done that since
I did a low level format on the drive (i used powermax for this).

Well, that would make sense. If you read 8MB of data in a burst
test, 2MB could come from cache, leaving the other 6MB to be
delivered at the head rate. A smaller burst size for such a test,
should yield a higher burst benchmark.

If you have the ability to use SMART and the disk is equipped
with SMART, you might check the statistics and see if any of
them have become critical. (I don't use SMART, mainly because
it is so hard to read and decipher the stats )

Because I don't see a lot of downward spikes in your HDTACH
results, the drive might still be OK. Apparently there is some
failure mechanism for Maxtor drives, caused by their firmware
and a full defect table, so even if the drive is still delivering
and not complaining, you might fire it up some morning and find it
non-communicative. (I suppose any brand could do that.)

http://www.dataclinic.co.uk/maxtor-hard-disk-recovery.htm

If you have time on your hands, this thread has a certain
comic value...

http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=18811

Paul

 

[Kyle Peterson]

You may want to double-check your friend's data. Getting 120MB/s burst
speed with HDtach
sounds a lot like SATA, not PATA.

haha yeah he tested the wrong drive. He tested his 120GB Maxtor. His
one identical to mine scores exactly the same as mine so I guess it's
just a cheap drive.

 

[Kyle Peterson]

Well, that would make sense. If you read 8MB of data in a burst
test, 2MB could come from cache, leaving the other 6MB to be
delivered at the head rate. A smaller burst size for such a test,
should yield a higher burst benchmark.

If you have the ability to use SMART and the disk is equipped
with SMART, you might check the statistics and see if any of
them have become critical. (I don't use SMART, mainly because
it is so hard to read and decipher the stats )

Because I don't see a lot of downward spikes in your HDTACH
results, the drive might still be OK. Apparently there is some
failure mechanism for Maxtor drives, caused by their firmware
and a full defect table, so even if the drive is still delivering
and not complaining, you might fire it up some morning and find it
non-communicative. (I suppose any brand could do that.)

http://www.dataclinic.co.uk/maxtor-hard-disk-recovery.htm

If you have time on your hands, this thread has a certain
comic value...

http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=18811

Paul

Everything on the drive checks out OK. I ran all the maxtor diagnostics
and I even ran the burn in test over night. Everything seems OK. The
transfer speeds I am getting are identical to what my friend gets with
the exact same drive.

Thanks for the input.