xofa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD65 (Gen3), Socket-1155 CPU: Intel 2500k Ram: 16 gb 1600 mhz. My 3 HHDD are these: - WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA 3,5 - for games ONLY. - Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB SATA2 32MB 7200RPM - for storage ONLY. - Kingston HyperX SSD 120GB 2.5 for OS ONLY. How to set it up? AHCI or RAID? Or how? Would be very glad if someone could help me out here. Im VERY confused on which to pick. I have asked around many places and I can't seem to find a valid answer to my situation? Im V_E_R_Y confused on how to do so? On this link here it is advised to use RAID mode? http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/cpus-motherboards/45753-step-step-guide-setting-up-ssd-caching-z68.html and: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/43205-intel-z68-review-sandy-bridge-platform-expands-4.html As of now I have set everything to AHCI. I got 2x 6GB SATA ports. I use my SSD and my WD VelociRaptor 300GB in these 2 ports. The rest is just in the 3GB sata ports. Some people told me I should be aware of something called "TRIM" and "Gargage collection" ? I use Windows 7 64 bit. Please help me. Thanks in advance guys. Best regards Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fogel Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) As of now I have set everything to AHCI. I got 2x 6GB SATA ports. I use my SSD and my WD VelociRaptor 300GB in these 2 ports. The rest is just in the 3GB sata ports. Some people told me I should be aware of something called "TRIM" and "Gargage collection" ? I use Windows 7 64 bit. Your setup should be good! The two links is talking about SRT Caching, which you are not doing ...nor would I recommend it with a 120GB SSD because SRT only works with SSDs up to a max of 60GB, and partioning a SSD is kind of pointless. So your current setup is good - you need AHCI in order for Windows to use TRIMS. Think of TRIMS as a process that windows runs in the background as a way to defrag SSDs. Basically TRIMS just cleans up deleted files by allowing you to write to cell that deleted file once accessed. You do NOT want to defrag an SSD. Just leave your machine on once in awhile overnight so TRIMS can do its thing on its own. That's it - that is all I recommend doing. Edited October 30, 2011 by Fogel Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xofa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Your setup should be good! The two links is talking about SRT Caching, which you are not doing ...nor would I recommend it with a 120GB SSD because SRT only works with SSDs up to a max of 60GB, and partioning a SSD is kind of pointless. So your current setup is good - you need AHCI in order for Windows to use TRIMS. Think of TRIMS as a process that windows runs in the background as a way to defrag SSDs. Basically TRIMS just cleans up deleted files by allowing you to write to cell that deleted file once accessed. You do NOT want to defrag an SSD. Just leave your machine on once in awhile overnight so TRIMS can do its thing on its own. That's it - that is all I recommend doing. Fogel what a answer.. Thanks a lot Should my normal HDDs also be set to AHCI and not RAID mode? Got a lot of people telling me other stuff to do? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmb938 Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Normal HDDs it doesn't matter. If you want to put then in raid you need it set to raid but if not AHCI. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xofa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Normal HDDs it doesn't matter. If you want to put then in raid you need it set to raid but if not AHCI. The question remains.. Raid or AHCI for the 2 HDDs then? Will I get any improvements having them set to AHCI or RAID mode? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imm0rt41 Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 My SSD is set up as AHCI and when I tried to add a platter drive that was not formatted under AHCI it would not boot or read the drive. In fact, it corrupted some data. If it were me I would run them all on the same SATA mode. I am doing that now and performance gain is noticeable from when it was setup as RAID. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xofa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 So I guess I stick with every SATA port set to AHCI then Anything els I should do with my setup? And more important.. Things I should NOT do? I know I should NOT defrag it at any times what so ever. TRIM and GC should be enabled by default in Windows 7, right? Thanks again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fogel Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 BIOS will default all your drives to AHCI, so as far as I know I don't think you can set each drive to a separate setting. If you installed all drives at the same time on this machine you should not run into the same issue immort4l did. Sounds like he added his platter drive from a different PC that was formatted on that PC. Besides you would know if you already have this issue as you are currently running in AHCI mode with all drives. Not gonna happen today because I gotta get going to go train, but I am planning on writing a SSD Tips and Tricks topic because it seems like a lot of the same questions keep popping up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xofa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 BIOS will default all your drives to AHCI, so as far as I know I don't think you can set each drive to a separate setting. If you installed all drives at the same time on this machine you should not run into the same issue immort4l did. Sounds like he added his platter drive from a different PC that was formatted on that PC. Besides you would know if you already have this issue as you are currently running in AHCI mode with all drives. Not gonna happen today because I gotta get going to go train, but I am planning on writing a SSD Tips and Tricks topic because it seems like a lot of the same questions keep popping up. Never had any issue. I just noticed all my sata pots inside bios was set as disabled I think? Maybe one or two was enabled and I remember I set every 1-8(or 9?) ports to AHCI mode? Im not hope at the moment, once I get home on tuesday I will update you all on my settings. Sounds VERY nice with such a tips and tricks guide! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dundercalle Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 I've got a serious problem! I need to find how to change ACHI to install Windows 7. I've been searching on my bios without results. How do I do? I've got the same motherboard Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fogel Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 I've got a serious problem! I need to find how to change ACHI to install Windows 7. I've been searching on my bios without results. How do I do? I've got the same motherboard from this screenie, it looks like: Settings >> Advanced Menu >> Integrated Peripherals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xofa Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 from this screenie, it looks like: Settings >> Advanced Menu >> Integrated Peripherals In there I have set EVERYTHING to AHCI. Hot plug to AHCI.. Everything to AHCI Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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