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Sandisk flash accelerator card and OS/2-eCS?

Started by BigWarpGuy, 2007.11.14, 19:03:12

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BigWarpGuy

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34838/135/
Could this be used to speed up/shorten the boot time for OS/2-eCS?  ???
"Sandisk announced a new NAND flash PCI Express card that is designed to hold operating system and frequently accessed files to speed up a PC."

http://investor.sandisk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86495&p=irol-newsArticle
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4040
"SanDisk Mobile Card, SSD and New Vaulter PC Accelerator are Named Honorees in CES Design and Engineering Awards"
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4043
"SanDisk Offers New Flash-Based Accelerator to Speed Up System Performance in Consumer Laptops and PCs"
8)

Saijin_Naib

#1
Interesting... Assuming OS/2 can see the card, why not? Make that your base OS install, and put programs on your HDD. Sounds good. Have you seen the difference a SSD (solid state drive) makes on winXP boot times on this laptop? It went from 40 or so on one to 19 on the SSD one! It was insane!

Laptop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOB19x-QUJI

Detailed Comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJMGAdpCLVg

Laptop Side by Side:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt6VbOY3xE0




BigWarpGuy

I will check out the links. Thank you for the information.  8) It would be nice to have available to the general public.  ;D

Saijin_Naib

No problem!
I wish that SSDs were in the IDE format for 3.5in drives so I can use it on my desktop :|

RobertM

Quote from: Saijin_Naib on 2007.11.14, 22:42:25
No problem!
I wish that SSDs were in the IDE format for 3.5in drives so I can use it on my desktop :|

Well, SATA should work fine if you can get a hold of a SATA controller (assuming your machine doesnt have one - which if it is based off the Asus P4V533MX, then yeah, it didnt come with one). Grab a cheap Promise controller, make sure that you are using the latest DANI IDE drivers, disable any RAID features in the SATA Controller BIOS, and all should be well.

The other option is to get a SATA to IDE converter - which while cheap, are near enough to the cost of an actual SATA controller to usually make it a plan only worthy of consideration if you dont have any empty PCI slots for an actual controller (and of course a SATA controller will also allow you more expandability, and have a separate interface for the drive, instead of sharing an interface with an existing drive on an existing IDE chain).

I've seen Promise SATA controllers for $10-50 (used on eBay - new from NewEgg.com including shipping). While others should also work with the latest Dani Drivers, it is probably best to stick with the Promise (or I think VIA) line since most boards out there seem to come with a variant of those chipsets built in, and they have been known to work with the Dani Drivers.

-Robert


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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Saijin_Naib

Thanks for the info robert :)
I dont have much room in my case because I will not put anything in the PCI slot below my 7600GT because I do not want to restrict airflow to it.

Do the SATA-IDE adapters work well? Or are they shitty enough that they will ruin whatever performance gain I would have from the SATA drive?

If they dont degrade performance, I would love to get my hands on a WD RaptorX 80GB.

RobertM

#6
Quote from: Saijin_Naib on 2007.11.14, 23:11:27
Thanks for the info robert :)
I dont have much room in my case because I will not put anything in the PCI slot below my 7600GT because I do not want to restrict airflow to it.

Do the SATA-IDE adapters work well? Or are they shitty enough that they will ruin whatever performance gain I would have from the SATA drive?

If they dont degrade performance, I would love to get my hands on a WD RaptorX 80GB.

Hi,

Other than using them for data backup, I have little experience with them. I would suggest to stay away from the overly generic ones as they may not allow busmastering and such on the drive (much like some of the compact-flash to IDE adapters) - and lack of those features will make any drive near unusable (performance-wise) compared to even the slowest IDE drives out there. As an example, I tried a 120X CF card on a cheap CF to IDE adapter (which lacked busmater support) and the performance was worse than using an old 80GB IDE drive - while someone else on the forum (using a decent CF to IDE adapter) noticed marked improvements in performance.

So, simply check what the adapter claims to support, you definitely want something that supports all of the features of the IDE interface (busmaster, DMA, ATA-100/133, etc), and all should be well.

Now... will you get the same performance out of it as you would from a SATA card? No. Especially if you are talking about a very fast drive (such as a flash drive or very high speed SATA300). Your performance will be limited by multiple factors:
(1) the speed of the actual IDE interface
(2) what else you have on the IDE interface (preferentially, nothing else on that cable)
(3) how well the SATA to IDE adapter supports the IDE function set
(4) The actual speed/throughput of the drive you are connecting to it (for instance, if it's flash memory based, dont expect to get anything near it's full capabilities - the IDE interface just wont support such speeds).

If you find a SATA to IDE adapter out there that DOES NOT SAY what features it supports, my advice is to NOT buy it, and look for another one that clearly states what it does support - then do a web search to see what feedback others have left for it (because some of them, even claiming to support the full IDE feature set, do so poorly).

For instance, here's a cheap one I would NOT buy. It will make your SATA drive work with your IDE interface - but my guess is that is ALL it will do (thus losing you the benefits of the faster drive):

http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_to_ide_adapter.html
(Note the lack of any sort of chipset to translate the SATA features/capabilities to their closest IDE equivalent)

Here's two that MAY work reasonably well:
Intel Adapter
Addonics Adapter

I have NOT tested either, so that may not be the case. I am basing it off the specs indicated, as well as my familiarity with the brand names and the actual inclusion of a chipset (to presumably handle the "advanced" IDE functions) - which you will note are NOT on the board for the first link I posted. Before buying either, I would definitely research them on your own for reviews and more detailed specs (sorry I dont have the time to do so right now, or I would have and posted what I found).

-Robert


Hope that helps,
Robert


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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BigWarpGuy


Saijin_Naib

GAH. Expensive!
I will save the SSDs until such point as the performance will be noticeable, I have put too much money into this current build and I dont think the extra data access speed will make TOO much a difference. The RaptorX however, will be a good investment because I need more room, and I can always use it on my next build.

Someone, buy an SSD and tell us how fast it makes eCS boot!