GA-P35C-DS3R, raptor and AHCI help

negger · 26 Dec 2007 at 11:59

GA-P35C-DS3R, raptor and AHCI help *** problem solved ***

I've got a 74gb raptor with a 500gb aaks on a gigabyte ga-p35c-ds3r.
I'm looking to install vista64 and my question is do i need to install the raid/ahci driver prior to installation (to configure the gigabyte sata2 sata controller for ACHI mode) and will this give better performance over just installing straight to the raptor.
The motherboard manual is a little brief on tech explanations, but seems quite good on explaining how to install using this method.
Also if I don't install the controller during vista64 installation can I install later once the os is up and running ?

cheers.

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:05

Turn on AHCI in the BIOS, then install Vista 64. Job done. Vista already has the drivers, unlike XP.

As far as I know, you can't turn it on afterwards.

dokko · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:11

I must have missed this when i installed my Raptor.

I only have one, should i of turned on ACHI before i installed Vista64?

Should i start again?

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:13

dokko said:
I must have missed this when i installed my Raptor.

I only have one, should i of turned on ACHI before i installed Vista64?

Should i start again?

I don't know - maybe you should ask in HDD?

dokko · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:17

WJA96 said:
I don't know - maybe you should ask in HDD?

What does ACHI actually do?

I thought it was just for RAID.

IS it a SATA controller?

helmutcheese · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:21

Its a Mode only on Intels Chipsets and its not good with Optical Drives. (the Drives do not like it and can act up).

http://www.intel.com/technology/serialata/ahci.htm

I prefer to avoid with Mobos I own.

dokko · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:27

I've just read (search on here) that it really doesn't offer too much speed advantages either, i think i'll pass on this one.

Glad i now know what its about though, so cheers people.

helmutcheese · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:38

It offers convenience to get OS installed thats all IMO.

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:42

The single biggest advantage is that it gives you NCQ which may or may not be worth having depending on your application.

The issue with optical drives only arises when you have a PATA optical drive plugged into an AHCI active controller as not having the AHCI active causes the drive to operate in PATA IDE compatability mode (and therefore limits you to 133Mb/s on all connected devices).

If you're doing a fresh install, and you only have SATA devices, or you have two IDE controllers (plug your PATA optical drive into the non-AHCI controller) then it's worth using AHCI for the full 150 or 300Mb/s potential and the NCQ.

BUFF · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:48

WJA96 said:
If you're doing a fresh install, and you only have SATA devices, or you have two IDE controllers (plug your PATA optical drive into the non-AHCI controller) then it's worth using AHCI for the full 150 or 300Mb/s potential and the NCQ.

This is a personal call - but for my 2 cents it's not worth it (particularly on XP where you have to do the F6 driver install rigmarole).
You only get burst speed over 150Mb/s which will be for a tiny fraction of the time & NCQ on a typical desktop often actually lowers performance.
Plus as has been mentioned some people do have problems with SATA opticals on AHCI enabled controllers.

WJA96 · 26 Dec 2007 at 12:54

BUFF said:
You only get burst speed over 150Mb/s which will be for a tiny fraction of the time & NCQ on a typical desktop often actually lowers performance.

So are you saying that enabling the "SATA II" features isn't worth doing?

BUFF said:
Plus as has been mentioned some people do have problems with SATA opticals on AHCI enabled controllers.

I've only seen issues the other way around - PATA opticals don't work with AHCI enabled (as per the original QuadGT BIOS issue, no?)

negger · 26 Dec 2007 at 16:48

Thanks for all the replies, but from reading them all I don't know if i'm any wiser?
I've done a quick install without installing the drivers and windows experience index gives 5.5 for the raptor - seems low?
Also hd tune 2.54 reports the raptor as supporting udma mode 6 (ultra ata/133) but it is only using udma mode 5 (ultra ata/100).

cheers.

negger · 26 Dec 2007 at 22:50

Well for anyone still interested I found the answer !!!
Apparently when you install vista without the f6 ahci/raid drivers vista decides to turn off services for anything other than sata/ide so when you decide later to enable ahci in your bios you get problems.

I found the following registry hack on microsoft's site (so they are aware of the problem) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
My raptor now shows 5.8 in windows experience index and hd tune 2.54 reports the raptor as supporting udma mode 6 (ultra ata/133) but it is using udma mode 7 (ultra ata/512) and it reports the raptor as sataI and the aaks as sataII.

I don't know if i'll notice the difference in real terms but i'm happy it's set up as it should be without doing a reinstall!!!

cheers.

BUFF · 27 Dec 2007 at 09:55

WJA96 said:
So are you saying that enabling the "SATA II" features isn't worth doing?

well, not for me as I run XP.
On Vista where it already has the AHCI driver it's less hassle to install but I'm still dubious over the actual performance benefits (unless you are using eSATA).

I've only seen issues the other way around - PATA opticals don't work with AHCI enabled (as per the original QuadGT BIOS issue, no?)

I think that was more of a JMicron/abit BIOS problem though than necessarily AHCI especially as it was resolved by BIOS update?