RAID 0

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 08:44

Okay guys, I'm taking the plunge and getting a second HDD, because my PC is feeling slower than it used to so I'm giving it a fresh vista install. So I thought I will set up RAID 0 and kill 2 birds with one stone

So basically, would someone be able to give me a step-by-step for how to set up a RAID 0 system, because I am a dummy and never have done it before.

SinaiSound · 24 Oct 2008 at 10:49

What motherboard do you have?

What OS do you intend on using?

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 11:20

Motherboard in sig with Vista 64

rainbow6six · 24 Oct 2008 at 11:24

do you def want to use RAID 0 cause if one of the HDDs dies then the whole things dies too! :eek:

Go for RAID1 instead for safety!

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 11:40

Setup will be 2x500's in RAID 0 and an external 250Gb USB drive for anything important.

Will be perfectly safe for me, but I just don't know how to set it up

rainbow6six · 24 Oct 2008 at 11:43

Depending on your MB, usually there is a key to press (F10?) after the PC POSTs. In there will be the menu to config your RAID, i.e pick the disks to RAID and what type of RAID. Is there no manual with you MB or one you can download from the manufacturer site as they usually go through this. :confused:

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 11:58

rainbow6six said:
Depending on your MB, usually there is a key to press (F10?) after the PC POSTs. In there will be the menu to config your RAID, i.e pick the disks to RAID and what type of RAID. Is there no manual with you MB or one you can download from the manufacturer site as they usually go through this.

I can't find the manual

rpstewart · 24 Oct 2008 at 12:02

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=manual&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1373

uv · 24 Oct 2008 at 12:31

On my MSI board, it's CTRL-I to get to the raid screen after posting.
Change the BIOS options for HDD access from AHCI to RAID

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 12:34

Well.. the manual says you need a floppy with RAID drivers.

My PC has no floppy drive........................ :eek:

Are they on the Vista DVD or something?

jellybeard999 · 24 Oct 2008 at 12:50

MooMoo444 said:
Well.. the manual says you need a floppy with RAID drivers.

My PC has no floppy drive........................

Are they on the Vista DVD or something?

Vista can get them from USB iirc, but it has a lot built in too.

Google your motherboards sata raid chipset and vista and you'll get yourself an answer

bluesouljah · 24 Oct 2008 at 12:51

Tends to be okay with Vista, It's XP you will need the floppy for unless you nlite them into an XP iso.

SinaiSound · 24 Oct 2008 at 15:23

MooMoo444 said:
Motherboard in sig with Vista 64

Got sigs turned off

Anyway, make sure you set the SATA mode to RAID in the BIOS.

When booting you will need to go into the RAID BIOS by pressing CTRL & I when the screen pops up.

It will ask you the create a RAID array and set the stripe size (I use 64kb)

Vista has never asked me for a RAID driver which is handy.

bitterSTAR · 24 Oct 2008 at 15:36

Hefner said:
Vista has never asked me for a RAID driver which is handy.

Vista never needed a driver from me either, but I've always considered it good practice to use the latest driver version for all hardware when doing a fresh install. I've just redone my RAID array though, and found that Vista needed a driver because one of my RAID volumes was bigger than 2TB.

Mike1983 · 24 Oct 2008 at 18:38

bitterSTAR said:
...but I've always considered it good practice to use the latest driver version for all hardware when doing a fresh install...

Hi,

I'm still researching RAID and getting everything right in my head before I go for a fresh install. As you've indicated above, I'm intending on installing the latest drivers at time of install.

I've been on the Intel website (Matrix Manager) and come across 3 files as below

* iata86cd.exe
* iata86enu.exe
* f6flpy6486.zip (Zip filecontaining "F6" installation method files)

Now to do a fresh install I presume I use the drivers / files in the zip file before installing Windows then after that I install the exe files.

I was wondering what the difference is between the 2 exe files though, do I need to install both or is it just one of them and the other is not really applicable?

Thanks

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 19:06

What is the best stripe and cluster size for general use? As in, windows and a lot of gaming?

helmutcheese · 24 Oct 2008 at 19:16

Again, gets asked 100x a month, (16-32KB).

(should be a sticky)

MooMoo444 · 24 Oct 2008 at 19:28

helmutcheese said:
Again, gets asked 100x a month, (16-32KB).

(should be a sticky)

101. I knew already just letting people know who didnt :rolleyes:

helmutcheese · 24 Oct 2008 at 19:43

Sure, next time I will let you use SEARCH.

bitterSTAR · 24 Oct 2008 at 20:01

Mike1983 said:
I've been on the Intel website (Matrix Manager) and come across 3 files as below

* iata86cd.exe
* iata86enu.exe
* f6flpy6486.zip (Zip filecontaining "F6" installation method files)

Now to do a fresh install I presume I use the drivers / files in the zip file before installing Windows then after that I install the exe files.

I was wondering what the difference is between the 2 exe files though, do I need to install both or is it just one of them and the other is not really applicable?

Thanks

The RAID driver is in the zip file, so you just unzip it to a USB drive. When you get to the drive/partition screen in the Windows Installation, there will be a button to load the driver.

Once Windows is installed use iata86cd.exe and iata86enu.exe to install the Intel Matrix Storage Console.

You can then use the Intel Matrix Storage Console to enable "Volume Write-Back Cache" - which will improve performance.