Ok seems i haven't been able to get an answer from gigabyte support i will try here

Just did a rebulid with the GA-MA770-DS3 motherboard new cpu: amd 64x2 6400+ and corsair: kit of 2 CM2X1024-6400C4 ram.
From my old pc im using a Nec dvd reader/writer and a Samsung SpinPoint SP2504C 250GB hard drive
os:xp and tryed vista too


Ok the problem is:
When i use the hard drive in sata2 mode set via the bios both xp/vista seems to freezes for like 10-20 secs on the splash screen even the green/blue status bar stops moving and after that the system boots up as normal.
If i change the settings in the bios to ide mode instend of sata2 its boots up with no freezes. I have also noticed that while trying HD Tach on the hard drive i was getting a faster burst rate in ide mode then sata2 even thoe this is a sata2 drive.
I never had any problems with this hard dive on my old set up where i ran it as a sata2 drive so whats wrong or is it that the drive just dont work good with this motherboard or do i have a moutherbord with a problem?

Any help would be great seems after searching the web for hours im none the smarter.

I have a Gigabyte board that had this problem and I was able to solve it under a previous a installation.

Go to device manager, and 'update' your SATA controller driver to the generic Microsoft AHCI controller driver. Worked for me and increased my Vista experience score for hard drive by +0.1 point.

For some reason, on my current installation, it won't let me change the driver to the default MS one without becoming un-bootable. If this happens to you, just do a hard shutdown, reboot, and when the boot options menu appears select "boot using last known working configuration (advanced)" or something like it. It will go back to the bootable driver that has the short hangup.

Problem solved (again).

I installed a previous version of the SB600 AHCI controller driver and the 10 sec. hangup disappeared. The version I was using on my Gigabyte board that had the problem was dated April '07. I installed an older driver dated December '06 and now there's no hangup.

You won't see any difference, in speed by going AHCI. Just set the controller to IDE and use it that way. Unless you want NCQ, hot swap, or RAID it is of no value.

You can also try the XP drivers that are dated 2007/04/02 on Asus' website (driver is actually dated October '06) if the above driver doesn't fix the problem for XP.

Sorry Zorg, I overlooked the hot-swap comment.

Yeah, AHCI doesn't do anything for performance. I just get bugged by things that don't work the way they should, even if I don't use/need it.

Ive now tryed the different drivers got it to work with the asus driver. But i think i will be sticking to ide mode seems sata mode tock longer to load but least i know no thats there no problems with my hardware thanks for all your help.