Which NVMe Drivers are the best (performance related)?

Important Drivers Specific: NVMe Drivers
41

@Fernando only samsung Nvme driver!!! OFA driver without your mod is stable or not?

42

New and latest Samsung Nvme driver NVMe 3.1 (3.1.0.1901) :

Changelog :
*********
FIXED : INTERNAL_POWER_ERROR with Windows 1809 (Redstone 5)

https://www.touslesdrivers.com/index.php…e=3&v_code=7342

direct link :
https://www.touslesdrivers.com/php/const…160&v_langue=fr

43

Please try it yourself and report here your results.
I doubt, that there is a difference regarding the booting/shutdown procedure between the original and the mod+signed OFA driver.

44

As of those drivers compiled for Windows 2003 server, maybe TRIM is intentionally disabled because Windows 2003 was not aware of SSDs and TRIM. The normal version 1.5 should support TRIM properly, of course - that would be major dealbreaker on any of todays SSDs and OSs.

45

Hello,

just letting you know that I just tried the OFA signed driver downloaded from these forums and it seems to work on old z77-ds3h and Kingston SSD without reboot/shutdown problems. I will see over next days/weeks how it works in longer timespan.

Many thanks for maintaining these forums and issues, Fernando.

46

Unfortunately, I just realized that while shutdowns and reboots are fine, in some cases the sleep S3 mode is not working well (reboots/hangs after wake up etc.). A pity, since the performance of those drivers seems very good ……

47

@jumpingjackflash5 :
Thanks for your report.
We need a newer/better OFA NVMe driver without severe bugs, but I didn’t yet see any.

48

Thanks for reaction. Yes it would be great if the Nvme consortium updates their driver more frequently. I have Kingston KC1000 which is otherwise supported only by Microsoft’s driver.

49

The modern Intel RST v16 platform drivers do support all NVMe SSDs, but the installation has to be forced by using the “Have Disk” button. The related INF file is named iaStorAC.inf and you should choose the “Intel(R) NVMe Controller” as device name. You can ignore the warning message. The Intel RST driver will be installed fine and will run without any issue.

50

Thank you very much. Yes it seems to work, I did not know that Intel 16.x drivers can work with older chipset. Sleep mode also seems to work OK. I will see how they will behave in longer time span, and how is their performance, both benchmark and multitasking (responsiveness).

1 Like
51

By the way, those drivers below do not work? Unless confirmed, I probably won’t try them because if they are not suitable OS needn’t boot. And they mention only some Intel drives as compatible.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloa…s?product=35125

52

@jumpingjackflash5 :
Intel’s specific NVMe drivers (currently latest: v4.2.0.1002) only support NVMe Controllers of SSDs, which have been manufactured by Intel, whereas the v16 platform Intel RST drivers are usable with all NVMe SSDs.

53

Thank you very much for quick response. So I won’t try them. Currently I am testing 16.8.0.1000.

Generally, storage performance is essential for responsiveness of Windows. So it is very important to have forums like this, especially when the manufacturer’s support is inconsistent. Relying on Microsoft drivers is not solution for every scenario. And usually they are a bit slower, because of their universality.

54

Hello,
after multiple hours I have sucessfully got Windows 7 to run on my Corsair MP510 NVMe SSD with Windows Nvme-Driver (KB-Fix).
However, Im not able to read any S.M.A.R.T./Health data (for example with CrystalDiskInfo). This would be important for me, especially the written bytes so far, because i have bought the ssd as second-hand product.
I guess thats a driver problem, the windows nvme-driver from kb-update does not pass through smartdata.
Can u explain me if I can use another driver and if yes which?
Thx a lot & sry for my bad english.

55

@godmodeUser23 :
Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum!

Since the SSD manufacturer Corsair doesn’t offer any specific NVMe driver, you have to use one of the generic NVMe drivers, which are delivered by Microsoft, OFA (Open Fabrics Alliance) and Intel.
Please read the start post of this thread carefully.

Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

56

Hello,

as I said, Microsofts driver update works but shows no SMART data or temperature.
installing OFA bricked my PC (bootloop to systemrestore - when doing F8 and “disable driver signature enforcement” boot crashes with BSOD)…

Intel’s driver are not usable with Win7, only 8 and above.

So any solutions for SMART and temp monitoring data with Microsoft driver??

57

@godmodeUser23 :
If the generic OFA and Intel NVMe drivers do no work resp. are not usable with your system, you may have to stick with the generic MS NVMe driver and to do without S.M.A.R.T. and Temp monitoring.

58

I have been using the OFA driver for about 5 months without any problems or errors.
Superior benchmarks, no problems with Boot, Shutdown, or Sleep.

Here is my system configuration
SSD: Samsung SM961 - MZVPW256HEGL-00000
FIRMWARE: CXZ7500Q
NVME: 1.2
DRIVER: OFA 1.5.0.0

SYSTEM: Latitude e5570
CPU: Intel i5-6440HQ
GRAPHICS: Intel HD 530
BIOS: AMI 1.19.3
INTEL ME: 11.8, Build 3510, Hot Fix 55
OS: WINDOWS 10 BUILD 18836.1000

I use this laptop to test builds released in the Windows Insider Program, so it gets a new Build every couple of weeks… and the OFA driver has never had an error.
If there is any system setting you would like to know about that might shed light on why the OFA driver works so well for me, I would be happy to help.

59

@snowl07 :
Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum and thanks for your interesting report.
Which OFA driver variant did you use and where did you get it?
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

60

I am using:
64bit OFA NVMe Driver v1.5.0.0 for Win10 x64 mod+signed by Fernando.rar,
file date:
1 NOV ‎2018, ‏‎11:17:22 AM

I downloaded the file from the link that was posted (at the time) on Win-RAID