After having recently published the benchmark results I got with my Z97 system running a big variety of different AHCI drivers, I was wondering regarding the results I would get with my old Z68 system using the same driver versions, the same SSD and the same OS. Yesterday I did the related benchmark tests. The test results I got were absolutely surprising!
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
new: benchmark results with my old Z68 chipset AHCI system (single 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSDs) running Windows 8.1 x64
I hope, that my benchmark comparison tests will help you to choose the âbestâ Intel AHCI driver version for your special configuration.
Since I am currently not at home, I could not yet test the new Intel RST(e) drivers v13.6.3.1001 WHQL with my Z97 system. Nevertheless I was able to do some benchmark tests using my Intel 8-Series Mobile system (MS Surface Pro 3) running Win10 Pro x64 TP Build 10074 in AHCI mode.
Here are the results:
1. MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI.SYS:
2. Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.2.1001 WHQL:
3. Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL:
Conclusion: The brandnew Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL gives my Intel 8-Series Mobile system a very good performance (better than the Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.2.1001 WHQL and much better than the Win10 TP in-box MS AHCI driver).
Although I am still not at home and have only my Intel 8-Series Mobile system with me, I have done some new benchmark comparison tests using different AHCI drivers.
This was my test system:
PC and chipset: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with an 8-Series Mobile Chipset
OS: Windows 10 x64 TP Build 10125
Tested AHCI drivers:
generic Win10 in-box MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI.SYS
Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL
Intel RST(e) AHCI drtiver v14.5.0.1041
Here are the test results:
1. MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI.SYS:
2. Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL:
3. Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v14.5.0.1041:
Conclusion:
The brandnew Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v14.5.0.1041 is running fine with my Intel 8-Series Mobile system and the OS Win10 TP Build 10125. Although it is the first driver from the brandnew Intel RST(e) development series v14.5, I am impressed about its performance. So we can expect an even better final version of the Intel RST(e) drivers v14.5 series in the near future.
Nevertheless the already well developed Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL gave my Intel 8-Series Mobile system the best performance (slightly better than the Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v14.5.0.1041 and much better than the Win10 TP in-box MS AHCI driver).
Maybe these test results will help you to find the âbestâ AHCI driver for your Intel 8- or 9-Series Chipset system.
hi. Im checking my results with urs and im getting 10219 points in anvil while u have 8363 points with Intel RST(e) v13.1.0.1058 WHQL. Thats weird. Is it win 7 vs win 8 difference? I have win 7.
When I am doing a driver comparison test, my intention is not to break any benchmark score record. All my tests were done under absolute similar, but quite "normal" user conditions (without any special actions like overclocking or additional use of RAM caching to boost the performance). For a driver performance comparison test the amount of the scores is less interesting than the measured differences between the tested AHCI drivers resp. RAID driver/Utility combos.
Yesterday and this morning I have done a lot of benchmark tests with my Z97 RAID0 system running different Intel RAID drivers in combination with the best matching Intel EFI RaidDrier modules.
These were my test candidates:
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v12.0.1.1019 in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.0.0.2075 (a lower version didnât work with my Z97 system)
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v12.9.4.1000 in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.0.0.2075 (a lower version didnât work with my Z97 system)
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.0.4.1000 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.0.0.2075
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.1.0.1058 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.1.0.2126
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.2.4.1000 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.2.0.2134
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.5.2.1000 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.5.0.2164
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.6.3.1001 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v13.5.0.2164
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v14.0.0.1143 WHQL in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v14.0.0.2234
Intel RST(e) RAID driver v14.5.0.1081 Beta in combination with Intel EFI RaidDriver v14,0,0,2234
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
new: benchmark results with my Z97 chipset RAID0 system (2x256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSDs) running Windows 8.1 x64
@ all: Recently I have realized, that the performance of my Z68 system was suffering from not 100% compatible 2x4 GB DDR3 PC1600 memory sticks. After having replaced them by a better matching memory model with the same specifications, I got much better results than before. That is why I have redone yesterday all my previous AHCI and RAID0 benchmark comparison tests using this ârefreshedâ Z68 system.
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
updated: benchmark results using my Z68 system in AHCI and RAID0 mode
new: benchmark comparison of 6- and 7-Series Chipset RAID0 systems
thanks for this great forum! i have also done some testing which confirmed that RST drivers later than 11.2.0 are no longer having any magic boost of write performance. please find my results at: superuser.com/questions/935931
iâm really curious to learn why the later generation of RST drivers no longer improve write speed.
@ paulgutten: Welcome at Win-RAID Forum and thanks for your contribution!
I donât know it either. The presence of the additional SCSI filter driver can not be the main reason, because it will be neither installed nor used by the latest Windows Operating Systems from Win8 up.
I dont know about "iaStorF.sys" - at my work rig with Win8.1, H97 chipset and 13.6 .3.1001 RST drivers I dont see it in drivers for disk drives. But at my home rig with Win8.1, X79 chipset and 13.1 RST drivers I see this driver in drivers for disk drives (including USB ones). Also this driver was the cause of missing "Safely remove hardware and eject media" tray icon: I have discovered that Windows contains "iaStoreA.sys" from 13.1 RST bundle and "iaStoreF.sys" from 4.1 RSTe bundle - and after I replaced "iaStoreF.sys" with right version the tray icon reappeared.
Edit: May be at home rig this "iaStorF.sys" is the remnant of Win7 (I did upgrade from 7 to 8 - not clean installation)⌠Probably I should try to remove "iaStorF.sys" entries from registry (according to v13.1 inf-file)âŚ
I succeeded with iaStorF removal without problems. There were two entries - value "UpperFilters" (or "LowerFilters") in the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4d36e967-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}" and key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorF".
My hope for the case of unbootable system was in the "Last known good configuration" feature. Also there is disk backup image.
