Phison e12 Slow write speed, not using SLC cache

[jrocket]

I have a Microcenter/Inland branded 1tb Phison e12 based SSD, which normally should get around 2000-3000 mb/s writes, but mine is only getting around 1000 mb/s. I did some research and it looks like this speed is the drives write speed without SLC cache, so it looks like my cache is full and can no longer use it. Question is, how can I move this data out of the cache so it can be used again? The drive is about half full after using it for 1 year. I have tried running Optimize Drives from Windows, but to no avail. Should I try moving or deleting a bunch of stuff, or backing up data to another drive? Reformat entirely?

 

[TheLostSwede]

Half full wouldn't prevent the SLC cache from stopping to work, so something else is going on here.
Try running a manual TRIM of the drive and see if that sorts it out. Note that it takes some time after you execute the TRIM command until the drive is back to its full performance.

 

[newtekie1]

The cache is managed by the drive itself, it's invisible to the OS. So there isn't anything you can do to force the drive to use it. The controller on the SSD will just empty the cache when the drive is idle writing.

 

[TheLostSwede]

The cache is managed by the drive itself, it's invisible to the OS. So there isn't anything you can do to force the drive to use it. The controller on the SSD will just empty the cache when the drive is idle writing.

Except if the drive is full of garbage data that for some reason isn't being trimmed automagically. This could block the SLC cache space. It's not very likely, but could happen, especially if TRIM isn't working for some reason.

 

[Vario]

I have the Inland x4 NVMe 1TB drive and it is quite fast. Possible culprits might be the motherboard M2 slot or it could be the x2 variant of the drive. Also TRIM didn't seem to work well on Windows 7 with that drive but it TRIMs correctly in 10 LSTC.

 

[harm9963]

Sabrent Rocket 512 GB, Phison controller G3X4, in bios if on auto , it will vary from x2 to x4, have it manually at x4 , also make sure install in right slot.

 

[jrocket]

It is using PCIe 3.0 x4 mode according to CrystalDiskInfo. Getting some really weird results like random 4k writes being faster than sequential. I know CrystalDiskMark 7 changed the default queue/depth settings, but the older version isn't any better. I guess I'll just idle this thing for a while and hope it fixes itself.

 

[ymbaja]

Having the same issue (1TB inland Premium - Phison e12). I was getting 3,000 seq writes 8 months ago. Now it's around 1,000. Wondering if the cache died?

Today...

VS Dec 2019..

Tried updating the firmware from 12.2 to 12.3 in the hopes that would "unstick' something, but unfortunately it was no better. I've come across random forms where others have mentioned a similar problem (maybe 2-3 cases where write speeds droped down to around 1,000 - reads speeds remain fine in the 3,000+ range). At this point I'm starting to think it might be a hardware issue with the drive - maybe some thing is screwed up with the catch? I'm also considering it could possibly be a driver issue with the more recent W10 version (2004) that was installed. I'd like to wipe the drive and do a clean install, but not certain I feel like taking the time out to do that quite yet. I've also tried forcing a TRIM, and waiting with no luck. Let me know if you happen to come across a fix.

 

[Vario]

Here is my result, I left 1/4 of the drive empty when I formatted it. I think I have been running it for about 2 years. I am using Win 10 LTSC so you could try that if you want to avoid the W10 2004 update.

 

[ymbaja]

So I finally slapped in another drive with with W10 1809. Ran crystaldisk on the inland drive with the same results (3.5k reads 1k writes). Also ran it on an old Samsung 840 and got 500 sequential reads and 130 on writes (over 200 slower on writes than about a year ago). I’m at a loss, maybe they both have a screwed up cache? Also did a lot of large file copies and speed was all over the place for both. Losing faith in long term performance on ssds.

 

[Hardcore Games]

Windows 10 disk optimizer can trim a SSD properly so use that and then let the machine idle so that the SSD can clear the cache and do some wear leveling etc.

 

[suraswami]

I have noticed something similar with my 256GB Inland NVMe, after few months of running W10, writes came down to 250 MB/s from 1.2GB/s using a PCI-E NVMe adapter on an old 990FX mobo. Format and re-image and performance goes back to where it should be, after few weeks back to same crap. W10 Trim on latest update(2004), doesn't seem to work properly. I use 3rd party software to manually initiate Trim and it gets better. If I boot with another 2.5" SSD which had older image of W10 and run trim on this 256GB drive, then the drive's performance goes back to peak. Boot the NVMe and goes back to crap.

So don't know what is going on.

 

[jrocket]

What third-party software do you use for TRIM? I'm running it on Windows 10 1903 and doesn't seem to help in my case.

 

[suraswami]

This is what I use and it seems to be helping, but I might be wrong.

SSD Tool

Formatted the drive and boom back to normal.

BTW, do you overclock your system? Did the OC fail and windows crash?

The SSD started to perform crap after the OC fail and windows crash for me.

 

[ymbaja]

I have in the past and now that you mentioned it I do recall some blue screens which was part of the reason i removed the OC . Unfortunately i'm not sure when the issue (slowness) began because i hadn't tested in a long time. I will say the system has since been wiped an reloaded so if there was any corruption on the drive it should have been wiped out - unless the drive itself became damaged, which i doubt. According to the SMART data everything is fine.

So I do have some developments though... After testing on W10 1809 i reran TRIM multiple times (in 1809 with out a noticeable difference). I then switch back to the NVME (inland) W10 2004 a day later and ran Crystal disk mark. Surprisingly i got a 3,000MB/s sequential write, I ran a few more times and got the following on sequential writes. 3,000MB, 2400MB, 1080MB, 1080MB, 1080MB. I tried again today and got 3k, 3k, 2.4k 2.4k,2.4k (in MB). I did a 26GB file copy and then ran CDM again and got a 1080MB sequential write. My suspicion was the cache was quickly being exhausted and the speeds dropped.

oh, one other thing I did was to disable power save on the drive and changed the scheduler to run TRIM every day. So i'm feeling like things are looking up, speculating that If i run it again (about 10 mins later) the cache will have cleared up a bit a speed will have increased... So I do and and then i get this...

I'm ready to call it a day, but the OCD in me continues to test. 15 minutes later i'm up to 1020MB (seq write), another 10 minutes and i'm at 1435MB, 10 minutes later I get 3051MB/s. I'm speculating that the cache is slowly being zero'd out to eventually give me 1-2 good runs before degrading again. At least TRIM or the controller is finally cleaning out the cache now - even if it is a minuscule amount. (final run 5 mins later was back down to 2400MB).

 

[Hardcore Games]

I am using windows 10 version 2004 which supports DX12 ultimate

 

[suraswami]

Either there is something wrong with Windows constantly thrashing these drives or Inland drives not so good for constant Windows OS usage. I had similar experience with Inland 240GB 2.5" SSD. It did the same thing until I re-imaged it.

Got tired of it and Bought the WDC SN730 (SN750 Black's little brother), 256GB. Imaged from Inland 256 NVMe and few days in seems to be holding up. This thing runs HOT!!

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I had to install a heat sink to get it cooler.

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Gaming and drive testing will run it to 61C. Last night just testing the drive with the new heat sink it didn't go more than 39C. But A/C was running so need to test it now to see where it is. right now idle is at 42C, sitting next to Video card, so it will get hot I guess.

Gigabyte 990 + FX-8350:

WDC Brand new, formatted

With Heat sink and OS,

Latency

Imaged the OS from my Dell Ryzen laptop to the Inland 256GB NVMe and this is where it is

Earlier I had the Inland 512GB NVMe, will all the OS updates and almost 9 months of light use , before pulling out,

I didn't have a heatsink on the drive before but for the 256 Inland I attached this and it keeps it cool around 41C when testing.

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512GB Inland will be the new game and video editing drive.