RAID...

AMDX23800+

AMDX23800+

AMDX23800+

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Joined
11 Mar 2006
Posts
673
What exactly is RAID?

Should I configure the SATA hard drive to RAID and install the drivers if the computer has one hard drive? Does it affect performance??

Thanks
 
RAID allows the HDDs to *team up* and work togther for better access speeds as there is no bottleneck or for relibitly purpursoes (mirroiring)

there are like two main types
stripe (this is for speed) but HDDs must be the same spec(raid0)
mirror, this is for relibity it just mirrors all the data from one drive to the over.(raid1)

I think thats about right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels
 
RAID in the motherboard is a mode, and different from RAID in real usage. If you currently have no OS, set it to AHCI if available, RAID otherwise. And if OS is installed, set it to RAID.
 
You shouldn't be running RAID settings on your motherboard unless you're running the drives specifically in that configuration. You have one harddrive, you should have RAID off. Even if you had multiple drives, you should not be enabling RAID mode unless you're configuring them for that stripe/mirror specifically.

Not sure about miniyazz's comment above, that sounds wrong to me.
 
AMDX: I'll have to check it's been a while, but if I remember rightly it maxes at 49/50 on all cores at 100%. I had one of those huge Tuniq Towers before which didn't fit properly in my case, and it's not much different to that performance wise.
 
SATA controllers on motherboards, at least the ICH10R et al, have several modes they can be set to, normally including IDE, RAID, and AHCI. As I understand it, IDE is really for older hardware, so it should be set to RAID/AHCI for most people. You would set it to RAID mode in preference to AHCI when using older OSs (as AHCI needs more driver installs on those OSs) even when not setting up a RAID array.
It doesn't particularly matter leaving it all off, I'm not 100% on the benefits of setting it to RAID over IDE, I just know it's better in some obscure way..
 
I tried enabling 'RAID' in the bios...and the OS wouldn't load :S
it would get to the vista loading screen and the computer would restart...

Do I need to install RAID SATA controller drivers on the OS?
I tried installing intel ones but they wouldnt install...so i take it i would have to install Gigabyte controller drivers?
 
Meh then, doesn't matter as you're not intending to set up a RAID array. Possibly RAID mode enables AHCI, that would explain why it wouldn't boot. If that's the case, you'll need to make a registry change to allow the OS to boot, but unless you're using hot swapping, again, meh.
 
AHCI won't boot if the OS was previously run with it disabled. You would have to go into IDE, boot, make the required registry change (google it), then restart into BIOS and set to AHCI, then it will boot. Worth it if you use eSATA, or hot plug/unplug internal drives (I do because I can't be bothered with turning my pc off :p)
 
I've installed the gigabyte RAID drivers from here: CLICK (The top one on the 'SATA RAID' section).

Now im guessing that I have the gigabyte one, because the Intel drivers just wouldnt install, so here are the instructions for installing the Gigabyte drivers...
'Turn on your computer and press <Delete> to enter BIOS Setup during the POST. In BIOS Setup, go to
Integrated Peripherals, ensure that Onboard SATA/IDE Device is enabled. Then set Onboard
SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode to RAID/IDE (Figure 1). If you do not want to create RAID, set this item to IDE
or AHCI, depending on your need.'

So i've installed the drivers on the OS, restarted, changed BIOS settings to 'AHCI', then continued to windows, windows continued to install a driver itself. So have i done everything right now?

So confusing!
Thanks!
 
AMDX23800+ said:
I've installed the gigabyte RAID drivers from here: CLICK (The top one on the 'SATA RAID' section).

Now im guessing that I have the gigabyte one, because the Intel drivers just wouldnt install, so here are the instructions for installing the Gigabyte drivers...
'Turn on your computer and press <Delete> to enter BIOS Setup during the POST. In BIOS Setup, go to
Integrated Peripherals, ensure that Onboard SATA/IDE Device is enabled. Then set Onboard
SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode to RAID/IDE (Figure 1). If you do not want to create RAID, set this item to IDE
or AHCI, depending on your need.'

So i've installed the drivers on the OS, restarted, changed BIOS settings to 'AHCI', then continued to windows, windows continued to install a driver itself. So have i done everything right now?

So confusing!
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes. And apparently, I stand corrected on RAID being more than providing support for RAID..

Edit: and BIOS is nothing to do with windows, so sure, it might do that :p
 
Sorry it actually says 'Detect Drives finished, no drives found' but then continues to load windows perfectly normally :S

Doesn't seem much different in ASHCI, maybe even slower haha

I changed the registry to '0' from 4 in the AHSCI Start registry, still does the same as before, loads windows though
 
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