# ICH9 + limited transfer rates [solved]

## zyko

Howdy!

It has been stated some time ago that the ICH9 SATA controller limits max. transfer rates to ~80MB/s:

 *Quote:*   

> One item of concern from our previous SSD reviews is the performance of the Intel ICH9 and ICH8 chipsets that cap sustained transfer rates at around 80 MB/sec. This performance limitation still holds true and Intel is working on a solution. [Dec 2007 Source]

 

 *Quote:*   

> It has recently been discovered that all Intel ICH9 and ICH9R chipsets which come on the 3 and 4 series motherboards exhibit a bandwidth limit of approximately 80MBps when not operating in ACHI mode (BIOS configuration). Benchmark Reviews has confirmed this with Intel Corporation, who are working on a solution. [Feb 2008 Source]

 

I'm looking into this and can't find an update. There are several anecdotal reports on the web, however some (but not all) ICH9 users can't seem to reproduce/confirm the problem. Can anyone offer some insight? Is there a solution? Does this concern us or might it be just another Windows-specific SNAFU?

The reason I'm asking is that I want to buy a fast (faster than 80MB/s) SSD for use with my ICH9 (Intel P35) mainboard.

Thanks in advance!Last edited by zyko on Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## Monkeh

This only affects those chips in IDE mode. Why, oh why, would anybody use IDE mode over AHCI?

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## zyko

Thanks for your answer.

 *Quote:*   

> Why, oh why, would anybody use IDE mode over AHCI?

 

Well, I currently do it because when booting in AHCI mode, there is a built-in delay of ~10s (after the BIOS is loaded/before grub starts). Even without this delay, the mainboard takes at least 20 seconds until it gets to grub. All I ever wanted in life was a computer that boots really really fast  :Sad: 

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## Monkeh

Shot in the dark: Intel DP35DP? They have horrid slow booting BIOSes. Most boards are fine.

If I were you, I'd live with it; IDE mode is crippling in so many ways it's not worth the saved time.

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## zyko

 *Quote:*   

> Shot in the dark: Intel DP35DP? They have horrid slow booting BIOSes

 

Gigabyte P35-DS3.

Anyway, I'll get used to it. Next time I buy a mainboard, I'll try to find one that boots fast. Thanks again.

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## Monkeh

 *zyko wrote:*   

>  *Quote:*   Shot in the dark: Intel DP35DP? They have horrid slow booting BIOSes 
> 
> Gigabyte P35-DS3.
> 
> Anyway, I'll get used to it. Next time I buy a mainboard, I'll try to find one that boots fast. Thanks again.

 

Got the latest BIOS? I wasn't aware of any issues with those.

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## zyko

I finally got the chance to test my ICH9 controller with a fast SSD (>100MB/s). I can't see any artificial limitations in AHCI or IDE mode. I also looked for an updated AHCI driver, but my board turned out to already have the most recent versions listed on the vendor's website.

/edit: marked this as solved.

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