Do I need the SATA RAID software within Windows?

[Craig321]

Hi,

I'm just wondering if I actually need the Intel Matrix Storage manager (the 24.77MB file under the SATA RAID section here: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=2624)?

Are the 'F6 during startup' drivers sufficient?

[Edit]
Not sure if this should go in software...

Thanks,
Craig.

 

[rpstewart]

You can get away without it but it has it's uses - making sure that the caching is properly enabled for one.

 

[Craig321]

Yeah, used it before for that in my previous install, I'd prefer to keep the safety rather than the ~7MB/s more it gave me. Does write-back caching make much difference 'behind the scenes' ?