[ZwuckeL]

Hey,

I just got my hands on 2x Samsung SSD 830 Serie 128GB to make them run in RAID-0 as my windows and application drive.

Right now, I have an old Intel 64GB SSD, first gen, which has become too small as the windows drive and at the same time have some additional programs installed on it. That's why I ordered 2x 128GB to have enough space and don't have to think about space issues all the time.

My Mainboard ASUS P8Z68-V Pro has 8 connection slots für SATA

1. 2 Slots Marvell SATA 6.0GB/s connector (not able to RAID)
2. 2 Slots Intel Z68 SATA 6.0 GB/s connector
3. 4 Slots Intel Z68 SATA 3.0 GB/s

I also have 2 HDDs á 1 TB that have data on it. I want them to stay in non-Raid mode.

Now, my problem is. I still want to continue using the slow Intel SSD as a hard drive. Can I even achieve that? And if, how?

Right now my approach is to:
...connect my 2x 1TB HDDs to the Marvell Slot running at AHCI mode.
...connect the new Samsung SSDs to Intel Z68 and put the Intel controller on RAID mode

Now my question would be: Am I able to connect the Intel SSD onto the Z68 3.0GB/s ports?

Is there another option to connect the drives that would make more sense?

 

[Mattyd893]

Yes you can. In the RAID configuration utility you can specify whether a disk will be a single disk or a raid disk.

You should use your 2 "2 Slots Intel Z68 SATA 6.0 GB/s connector" as the Intel ICHXXX drivers are far better than the Marvell ones which use the PCI bandwidth. You will need to set RAID mode in the BIOS, then for Gigabyte boards you'll get prompted to hit Ctrl+I to enter the raid config during POST.

The 2 x 1TB mech disks you have can go onto any available port although obviously, sata 3 are better off on a sata 3 port.

Your Intel SSD can go wherever you have spare.

 

[miczell]

Hi there, I have similar situation, but not the same. I want to:

• install system (win7 x64) on a single 120 GB SSD and...
• set RAID0 on 2 x 1TB Seagate mech SATA drives

My MOBO is: Asus P8Z77-V LX

I have already installed OS on SSD, and created RAID0 volume from two mech. SATA's.... . .BUT i encountered a problem:

When I set the SATA Mode in BIOS to [RAID], system crushes in time of startup (BSOD - just for a half of second. I can't even read the message). When I reset the Mode back to [AHCI] - system loads normally (I was even able to format this supposed-to RAID0 Volume in Windows (it was present in the Computer Management as a 1,8TB single disk.....). But does it mean I'm actually USING the RAID0??? If SATA Mode is still [AHCI]????

So is it OK? Do I HAVE TO set SATA Mode to [RAID], to be able to use those two disks as RAID or not?

NOTE: MOBO's Manual says that "Due to chipset limitation, when set any of SATA ports to RAID mode, all SATA ports run at RAID mode together." Does it mean that I will not be able tu use configaration mentioned above?

Mattyd893, You have written that:
Quote:

In the RAID configuration utility you can specify whether a disk will be a single disk or a raid disk.

This looks like a solution for me, but I can't find any option like this in mine RAID config. utility (opened by CTRL+I also). I have created a RAID0 volume out of two 1TB's and now they are present in the Utility as "Members" of RAID array. The third one - 120GB SSD - is present as a non-raid disk.

Could You please help me through this?

THX

 

[Mattyd893]

The problem you have is that your windows was setup when the drive was in AHCI mode.

Most motherboards will only allow you to AHCI or RAID, this is your problem.

The OP in this thread was different, his complete controller was set to RAID but he had seperate arrays and individual disks but his main aim was to get the benefit from having 2 ssd in RAID 0.

Unfortunately, unless someone corrects me, if you insist on having a RAID array of mech disks you will have to set RAID and re-install, or repair install your Win OS. By doing this you'll lose out on the benefits of AHCI mode for your SSD and therefore receive reduced performance.

The only alternative is one that I would personally not do, that is use AHCI for your SSD with OS installed, then software RAID 0 your mech disks (using windows disk manager).

You should really ask yourself whether you need to have those 2 disks as a striped array, if they are for storage then performance is not really essential, it is far more important to have a backup of your essential data (docs, personal; pics etc) which you can do by duplicating data between two seperate physical disks.

 

[miczell]

Thank You for quick reply. If You be so kind - I have few additional questions below, which I will be glad if you find time to answer. Thank You.
Quote:

Unfortunately, unless someone corrects me, if you insist on having a RAID array of mech disks you will have to set RAID and re-install, or repair install your Win OS.

That's no problem - I was aware of possible even multiple reinstalls of system just to set things right. But can I install OS in the RAID mode on non-RAID disk? I ask because of that chipset limitation, which - in Raid mode - treats all SATA ports like RAID.

And by the way - is this limitation only a Z77 chipset "disease"? Do other chipsets for LGA1155 have it?
Quote:

you'll lose out on the benefits of AHCI mode for your SSD and therefore receive reduced performance.

You are speaking about something called "Write amplification", right? Is this reduced performance significant? I mean - do I end up with an SSD which acts like mech SATA (in terms of speed)?
Quote:

The only alternative is one that I would personally not do, that is use AHCI for your SSD with OS installed, then software RAID 0 your mech disks (using windows disk manager).

I have tried that, but - frankly - I don't trust this as the method of increasing performance... Am I right?
Quote:

You should really ask yourself whether you need to have those 2 disks as a striped array, if they are for storage then performance is not really essential, it is far more important to have a backup of your essential data (docs, personal; pics etc) which you can do by duplicating data between two seperate physical disks.

I need them stripped, because on this array I want to store Adobe Premiere & After Effects project files. I suspect that that kind of solution will speed-up working on those projects comparing with storing those files on simple non RAID mech SATA drive. Again - am I right? (PS: Backup I was planning to achieve "by hand" - by connecting an external backup drive from time to time)

 

[Mattyd893]

Ok, you can set your controller as RAID and just have the SSD as a non-raid disk.

Yes you will lose the benefits of AHCI, you will only notice a difference in performance if you use multiple applications that are disk read/write intensive.

 

[rui-no-onna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattyd893

Yes you will lose the benefits of AHCI, you will only notice a difference in performance if you use multiple applications that are disk read/write intensive.

I have my BIOS set to RAID and SSDs working as single disks automatically work in AHCI mode. Guessing all that's really needed here is a regedit (probably similar to switching from IDE to AHCI).

Edit:
And Google to the rescue: http://www.gregledet.net/?p=569
Quote:

I noticed that the driver was named iaStorV.sys, so I did a search for it and found it already installed in the Windows\System32\Drivers folder. I did a registry search for it and found it in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorV. This made me happy!

Some more Googling later and I figured out that if I changed the REG_DWORD from 3 to 0 that it would enable things to work. I rebooted the computer, went back into the BIOS and changed the SATA controller to use RAID, pointed it to boot from the clone, and it booted right up! No BSOD, no hiccups, no nothing!

Edit 2:
I knew Sean had a thread for doing this. Here's the link with instructions. Much simpler/clearer than the Google search result above.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1227636/how-to-change-sata-modes-after-windows-7-installation

 

[miczell]

rui-no-onna, thank You for the links. I have done what it's said there, and seems that my system runs good now in [RAID mode], but on the Non-RAID disk. Thanks again - it saved me A LOT of time.

One more thing - I googled a bit about the missing TRIM functionality of SSDs when you run a RAID on the system. And there's a hope - Intel have released new driver for Rapid Storage Technology (RST), which doesn't help the SSD drives which are part of an RAID array, but it does help single non-raid SSD drives on system in RAID Mode. So that's exactly my situation. So I have searched for this RST driver udpate procedure, and even got the driver downloaded... but something went wrong while installing it - system says that my machine isn't ready for it or something like this.

So how to update this driver? How to find out which version of the driver I'm currently running?

PS:
MOBO: Asus P8Z77-V LX,
OS: WIN7 x64