SATA detection query with VISTA pls help

Hey all.

I am building a system for a friend of mine who wants SLI with 2x 8800gt, windows Vista 64bit, Q6600 and a sata seagate OEM hard drive.

Two problems...I think I am going to recommend dumping the SLI option and stick with 1x8800gt on a gigabyte board.

Also, my second concern is vista detecting the sata hard drive. I keep hearing people complain about this. I hear that for their sata to be detected they have to download the mobo's sata drivers on a usb or disc for vista during installation. And sometimes that still doesn't work.

Can anyone verify, provides resources, links or articles regarding SATA detection with Vista especially on a GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R?

To avoid this problem should I recommend buying a RETAIL SATA HD so the necessary drivers are supplied?

I don't want to end up with an undetectable drive. He is buying OEM VISTA Premium.

Any help regarding this will make my life easier! Thanks

I just built one on a GA-G33M. Vista64
There was no trouble detecting my SATA devices at all.

notherdude is absolutely right. Put it in IDE mode and you're golden. It doesn't really do anything to the performance of the drive, it just turns off the RAID features. OEM/retail between the drives will make no difference to the installer. The only differences are that the Retail drive comes with a longer warranty and a SATA cable.

Personally I agree with your assessment of not doing SLI, as I see it as a waste of money, but if he's got the cash and really wants to do it, just do it. Chances are, it'll have more graphics horsepower than any machine you've ever touched.

With regards to OEM Vista, make sure he understands that the licensing is for only one computer. So if he decides to do a rebuild in 12 months that changes more than 4 major components (IDE, SATA, proc, RAM, etc), windows will deactivate and he'll have to go through some pretty serious crap to get it back going again. This is why the retail version is so much more expensive.

Good Luck!

I agree about the SATA, we just built a new system, and this was the first time I'd ever used a SATA drive, but it was great, plugged it in, vista detected it in setup, just click to have it find it, then tell it to format, and you are done. It will just go, at least it did for me. The entire Vista setup finished in about 20 minutes on my Athlon 5200 x2.

Oh, even if he does get the OEM, he should just be able to tell them that he is reusing some of the old parts, and should be ok, but I doubt he's gonna have any probs as why would you rebuild a brand new system that soon. Would be kinda pointless.

The only reason I mention it is I've seen (and done) stranger. I routinely rebuild (software + hardware) my system about every 6 months or so, with new hardware sprinkled in here and there. Having to call up Microsoft over and over to re-activate windows is a headache I'd rather not deal with.

Like you implied though, not a very big deal. I think just it's worth paying attention to.

Indeed, the call to MS... is short.

Call, tell them you need to reactivate... You read off a number to them... and they read back a number to you. Pretty simple.

I had to call them on my new build, and just told them I was building a new system, and that the old hard drive would either be formatted or thrown away.