First ssd which port to use?

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 19:53

Hi all. I will be getting my first SSD tomorrow and I am unsure on which port to use on my motherboard. Some sources say that marvel is better and some say that intel ports are better. Which one will be the best to use with a Crucial M4 256 gb

?

pastymuncher · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:03

Your board uses the same Marvell 9128 controller that mine uses. Trust me, it's crap!! If you use the Marvell controller you will get slightly faster read speeds compared to the Intel sata 2 controller but your write speeds will be around half that of the Intel sata 2 controller. After running several comparisons i went back to the Intel controller.

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:08

Thanks for the reply

. The intel port is the white one isnt it?* Before I install Windows 7 I change a setting to AHCI and then I'm all set for sweet sweet SSD goodness?

*This is a guess lol

kiel367 · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:11

im pretty sure the white ones are the marvell controller ones and blue are the intel

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:13

Doh! Thanks for telling me. I will put the SSD in the Sata2_0 slot and then put my other Sata 2 mechanical drives in the Sata2_1 and Sata2_2 slots and everything will be ok? I know I need to disconnect the other hard drives before installing Windows on the SSD, is there anything else I am missing

?

kiel367 · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:18

sounds good, you should be able to just switch them round as and when you please and the pc should automatically find it, and yes switch ahci on before you install windows, dont clone windows either, fresh install is better on an ssd plus it takes about 20 mins in total on an ssd lol

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:21

I have no idea what BIOS my motherboard has, I bought the I7 mobo and ram bundle in 2009 from Overclockers and I havent changed any of its settings before. With this 2009 BIOS will the SSD be ok? Im dreading the thought of the BIOS not detecting the SSD and then having to learn the process of flashing a new one on lol.

This is my last noob question for tonight

kiel367 · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:23

dont worry, flashing a gigabyte board is fairly simple, just make sure your electricity isnt going to go off midway haha, it should recognise the ssd fine though

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:26

Wicked. I'll update the thread in a day or two when its all setup and let you know how it went

. Thanks for the help.

wazza300 · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:29

You'll lose all your oc settings when you flash the BIOS,take pics of all the BIOS pages beforehand,try the ssd first you might not need to update the bios,remember to set the ports marvell or Intel to ahci before you install windows

Andy Pandy · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:36

Just checked and I have version F6. On the website the newer versions dont mention anything about SSD support so I should be good to go. :cool:

Andy Pandy · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:26

I've just put the ssd in my computer and installed windows. But every time I restart the computer it keeps instslling the ahci files. And since plugging in my old drives again it isn't even loading windows.

I only ticked the first option at top for ahci to begin with and since having windows installed I selected the bottom option to ahci,was that the right thing to do..

Would reinstalling windows help?

wazza300 · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:29

It should work fine plugging in your other hdd's might upset the boot order so make sure you set your ssd as first boot device in the BIOS,save and exit

Andy Pandy · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:34

Yeah the ssd is set at the first to load. Why is it always installing the ahci files when I turn the pc on though. I can't even load windows now since having the other drives in. S
It's trying to fix windows files.

wazza300 · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:45

Take a pic of the bios page with the ahci settings on them,is it an ex58 or ex58a board?

Andy Pandy · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:50

It's just an x58 board. I've unplugged the other drives and am now repairing windows. Atm I have the sata raid/ahci mode set to ahci and the inboard sata/ide ctrl mode set to ahci as well. I can now get into windows with just my ssd but it keeps installing the ahci drivers when I restart.

Andy Pandy · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:52

I've just turned the last setting from ahci back to ide and it isn't I stalling over and over now.. Have I fixed it?

wazza300 · 8 Mar 2013 at 22:57

I thinkso,I used to have the same board as you but can't remember the ahci settings

To be sure your running ahci load as ssd program in windows and it will say green ok if your are and pciide-bad in red if your not in ahci

Download as ssd

Andy Pandy · 8 Mar 2013 at 23:05

I have my other drives plugged in the same sata ports as the Ssd. Is this why I have problems? They aren't SSDs and I'm telling the motherboard to make them ahci. If I put them in the marvell ports and leave that ide, problem solved?

wazza300 · 8 Mar 2013 at 23:10

All your drives will work in ahci mode,if I were you I'd plug your ssd into the Marvell ports and your mechanical hdd's into the blue Intel sata2 ports and set them both to ahci,not raid/ahci