Optimising Samsung SSDs for FS

[martinlest2 58]

Hi. My new system (solely for FS9 & FSX) is basically an Intel i7-4790K@4GHz, an nVidia GTX970 GPU and two Samsung EVO 850 SSDs (500GB each).

 

I wonder if anyone else uses a Samsung SSD for FS and has tried optimising the drive (for performance, reliability, or whatever) using the Samsung Magician 4.6 software.

 

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/whitepaper/whitepaper12.html

 

I shall certainly disable prefetching, indexing etc. (as generally advised) on these drives and wonder whether there would be any point in installing this bit of software in addition.. If you have experience with the Magician programme, perhaps you could advise from your experience?

 

This would indicate a definite performance gain, but wouldFS9/FSX benefit from this? I am mindful of the shortened SSD life if performance mode is selected..

 

http://www.thessdreview.com/software-2/samsung-magician-4-5-rapid-mode-2-1-testing/

 

Thanks,

 

Martin

[Jimm 437]

To be honest, I never gave this much thought when I installed SSDs in my rig.  I have all SSDs, with varying sizes and they all serve their own purpose.  I have one running my OS, another for personal data files and the last one for gaming (for now, just flight simulator).  My rig came with Samsung Magician but I initially made assumptions that once installed, leave it alone and never really investigated it's features and whether or not they would be detrimental to performance.

 

I'll have to take a look at my setup and see if any of the aforementioned features change the way the sim operates.  Thanks for bringing this up.

 

-Jim

[Tokitaumelie 164]

Pls disregard - not sure how to delete the post.

[martinlest2 58]

Hi. I think, from what I have learned, the software is, tweaks apart, at the very least useful for monitoring the usage and the health of the SSDs. I might even be tempted to use the option to tweak the drives for longevity, rather than performance, as I can't imagine that that is going to translate into noticeably lower performance (though I may imagine incorrectly of course). The Samsung drives are so fast anyway that any difference is surely marginal. If I get 55fps instead of 60fps, thats just fine with me!

 

It's texture loading that is the issue, rather than frame rates, though, so yes, I'd be really interested to hear how the options may work out in practice, in the sim. (My new rig won't be delivered for a couple of weeks yet).

 

Thanks!

[RW1 615]

Hello Martin i have 2 SSD`s , one for W7 OS and the other is a Samsung Evo,  The Magician Software is a Must and the optimise feature is liken to the defrag for HDD`s, i use it every week for my FSX and P3d install`s and really keeps them running smooth, i`m set to run the advance optimiser when ever i need for issues like installing/removing large files such as ORBX etc, advance takes about 35 mins too complete.

 

Rick

[Ray Proudfoot 8,944]

I have two Samsung 840 Pro SSDs (1 for Win 7 and the other for FSX) and apart from installing Magician and configuring it once for the optimal settings for an SSD I have not run it since.

 

Indexing, Hibernation Mode and Prefetch are all off. I fail to understand what needs running on a weekly basis to keep them at their optimal performance. I'd be more concerned that unnecessary writes would shorten the life of the drive.

 

No part of an SSD is quicker or slower than another part. My philosophy is leave well alone once the optimal settings are made.

 

Martin, there's no way you're going to get improved fps and even better loading times would be difficult to quantify on such a fast drive.

 

One final point. If you also have a conventional HDD use that for the swap file. Much better than using the SSD.

[Jimm 437]

I have two Samsung 840 Pro SSDs (1 for Win 7 and the other for FSX) and apart from installing Magician and configuring it once for the optimal settings for an SSD I have not run it since.

 

Indexing, Hibernation Mode and Prefetch are all off. I fail to understand what needs running on a weekly basis to keep them at their optimal performance. I'd be more concerned that unnecessary writes would shorten the life of the drive.

 

No part of an SSD is quicker or slower than another part. My philosophy is leave well alone once the optimal settings are made.

 

Martin, there's no way you're going to get improved fps and even better loading times would be difficult to quantify on such a fast drive.

 

One final point. If you also have a conventional HDD use that for the swap file. Much better than using the SSD.

+1 Ray.  Since I have multiple SSDs, the Samsung Magician was already configured to handle the drives appropriately, so I reinforce my recent statement with a "set it and forget it" mentality.  All SSDs have TRIM enabled, as most, if not all of us are running at least Win 7.  If we are also installing our sims on a separate SSD, then that eliminates the need for any special tweaks as most of the time, the data on those drives are just being read, which SSDs excel at.

 

After looking through my Samsung Magician settings, which have accompanying descriptions that help understand what each feature does, my drives are fine the way they are.  Sometimes, enabling a tweak isn't always a good idea when it comes to SSDs.

 

-Jim

[ryanbatc 12,833]

The original reason for the magician was because of the 840 evo issues... Like my drive has. Older data read speeds would drop way off. The optimize keeps everything speedy. If you had an 850 or 840 pro I don't see a need for the magician

[martinlest2 58]

Thanks. No, I will use it for monitoring SSD health and usage only.

 

I don't have any HDDs in the system (to reduce weight, for eventual transport, and to reduce heat as it will sometimes be used in tropical climates), just the two 500GB SSDs. As I have 16GBs of RAM I am going to keep my page file to minimum size (on the C drive), enough for a small dump file (800MBs? Have to look further into that) and that should be good to go.

[lownslo 592]

I use Samsung Magician to check and configure my drives after installation... then I leave it alone.  Samsung designed a nightmare for users with regard to system start-up.  Magiain installs in Task Manager and wants to start each time the computer boots, and then once the application is closed it just sits in the task bar... it must be forcibly closed.  Software developers who create such headaches for end users should be drawn and quartered. :smile:

 

Greg

[davenicoll 104]

Well....at least you didn't hang them first lol

[martinlest2 58]

You can stop the programme from starting (if there's no way to configure this within the programme, or within the Windows startup folder) by using a programme like WinPatrol - a great little freeware programme (unless you opt for the 'PLUS' version) that, among much else, allows you to disable or remove startup items at the click of the mouse. I've had it in all my PCs for years (and you can disable notifications in gaming PCs, or have it not start up with Windows at all, if you prefer).

 

https://www.winpatrol.com/mydownloads/

[gboz 157]

 

 

I wonder if anyone else uses a Samsung SSD for FS and has tried optimising the drive (for performance, reliability, or whatever) using the Samsung Magician 4.6 software.

 

Magician will also take about 10% of the SSD's disk space for it's own use.

 

gb.

[dgraham1284 92]

Magician will also take about 10% of the SSD's disk space for it's own use.

 

gb.

 

Samsung magician isn't using it for it's own use. And that 10% is optional. It's meant to prolong the life of your SSD.

[lownslo 592]

Been a few years since I've used WinPatrol, but will it block Magician from adding an entry to the Task Scheduler? If not, the task must be allowed to place itself in Task Scheduler and then disabled. Tricky Samsung guys.

 

Greg