WD Raptor 10k Fresh Install / RAID Driver

[fareedyomind]

Hello - thanks in advance to Toms Community.

I just got and installed my new Western Digital Raptor 10,000 rpm drive (300gb).

I plugged it into the first sata2 slot on my Gigabyte X48-DQ6 board.

When I installed Vista 64 bit business, I had my previous Sata2 F6 pre-install floppy disk and driver from my last Windows Install (of same o/s and disk), but when I go into the load driver for raid section of the install at start, it doesn't want to show or accept this driver.

Does Raptor 10,000 rpm drives not compatible with RAID drivers?

This exact same Sata2 F6 pre-install driver on the floppy worked for my former hard driver, a standard 7200 rpm 500gb seagate, on the same Vista 64 bit install.

What am I doing wrong?

I have not changed my bios setting from the last install as well. It is set to RAID in the bios.

Please help!

 

[505090]

I'm confused did you buy one or two drives? you only need the raid drivers to build a raid array; which requires two or more hdd's. as to your old seagate, once agian no dirvers needed for a single drive.

If you are in fact trying to install windows on a single drive then quite pressing F6 and just install it. If you are trying to build a raid array then a little more information is going to be necessary.

 

[fareedyomind]

Lets see if I can make it clearer, sorry for the confusion.

2 months ago, I installed Windows Vista 64 bit on a single 500gb seagate drive (7200 rpm) using LOAD DRIVER (formerly F6 in XP) prior to install. I loaded it using the intel raid driver (ich10r or something) on my floppy.

When I installed Vista this way, I ended up with my raid driver running my hard driver, even though it was in non-raid disk mode. Because of this, I got massive performance gains and was first to load in all maps/games.

I just ordered and received a single 10k rpm Raptor (300gb).
I was unable to load this exact same driver on this install of Vista 64 bit, it won't see the same driver that worked previously, and it won't let me install it prior to vista.

Now vista installs, sees my 10k rpm drive, but I noticed that in games that my 10k drive is loading slower in games and maps.



*seperate problem - this Raptor driver CLICKS very loudly once during major loadups (games, windows, etc...).
In my experience, the clicking is a precursor to drive fail.... did I get a faulty near-failing raptor?

 

[fareedyomind]

Its clear though that my 10k drive is recognized as faster than my 7200 seagate, as vista performance experience gives it a 5.9 and the 7200 was a 5.7.

BUT- I am getting slower game performance with my 10k drive than I did with my 7200! Frustrated.

 

[505090]

When I installed Vista this way, I ended up with my raid driver running my hard driver, even though it was in non-raid disk mode. Because of this, I got massive performance gains and was first to load in all maps/games.

I think there may have been some confusion last time you installed windows, i would have to assume the performance gain came from installing a new drive. as a raid driver will do nothing without a raid array.

I would have to look it up to be sure but at a quick glance that board appears to have two separate sata controllers, try using the other one.

yes clicking from a drive is a bad sign i would RMA it

 

[fareedyomind]

Here is how my bios is set to run (with all options listed):

-SATA RAID/AHCI mode =Disabled, RAID, or AHCI (raid chosen)
-SATA Port 0-3 Native mode =Enabled (sata port 0-3 work at native mode) or disabled (sata port 0-3 work at legacy mode) (Enabled chosen)

-Onboard SATA/IDE device =Enabled or Disabled (enabled chosen)
-Onboard SATA/IDE control mode =IDE (SATA ports works as IDE mode) or AHCI (works as AHCI) or RAID/IDE (SATA works as RAID/ IDE works as IDE) (RAID/IDE chosen)

I used these settings with each Vista install.
During bootup, I get a SATA Intel 1.0732 raid controller screen, listing the hard drive and port, then instructs CTRL+I to set up RAID disks (when doing this, I set the drive to non-raid, since I don't have 2 drives to stripe, etc...).
Then I get the dvd drives, then Windows loads.

With this setup, my 7200 rpm seagate installed with the floppy intel ich10r raid driver taken from my mobo manufacturer's driver site for gigabyte x48-dqs sata2 pre-install vista64 bit o/s.

It saw the driver on the floppy, installed it, installed windows and the end result was maximum performance.

For some reason, these exact steps, but with my 10k raptor drive, it will not see that floppy driver.

Does this clear it up more, its pretty concisely explained now, see what you think.

 

[505090]

yes that is quite clear and i did understand you last time as well. it's not what you saying you did it's the results you say you got from it. i have built many many computers over the years and I can't think of how this would get you a performance gain, which is further confirmed by your inability to repeat it.

Regardless in looking at your list of steps you failed to list installing raid drivers in windows (usually one of the first steps in a win install), perhaps your problem is there...

IMHO i would use use the sata ports nativity in AHCI mode

regardless of settings those ports will be controlled by the ich10r, my suggestion just has less overhead

 

[fareedyomind]

Thanks for all of your input.

The part that says "the floppy intel ich10r raid driver taken from my mobo manufacturer's driver site for gigabyte x48-dqs sata2 pre-install vista64 bit o/s."
...then..."For some reason, these exact steps, but with my 10k raptor drive, it will not see that floppy driver."

Hopefully that solves your misread. I used the same floppy disk and driver for both installs, on the 2nd install with the 10k raptor, it didn't like the exact same pre-install floppy driver. Save mobo, same vista, same steps - diff hard drive.
My guess is 10k drives prefer to show up as scsi and the raptor drive is either sata (not sata2) or runs in scsi/sata mode.

In the end, if I run in AHCI mode, you think I will gain more performance?
of course this requires another install of windows.

I don't know if you realized or have any input on the bios options I listed, but basically there are 2 sets of raid bios controls to use, I can use either the gigabyte driver (onboard) to control raid/ahci modes or I can set it to use intel's.

Right now, I have both on, that is probably redundant too.

 

[505090]

It's not a misread so much as the theory that it is incorrect (which you may not be). same board, same os, same driver... should work the same; which is why I'm thinking you forgot something or changed something inadvertently. hdd's are designed to interface standards these standards are part of every major os, hence there is no need for drivers. Yes there are drivers for raid (only needed of raid) and drivers for some sata controllers (not needed for any ich10) you may have another controller for that board (doubtful it will outperform a ich10 if it is there). And as always there are exceptions to every rule so I may be missing something.

raptors are sata1, velociraptors are sata2 (i'm assuming that's what you have). scsi is an entirely separate matter that does not apply to this application. rotational speed has nothing to do with this spec I have a 10k drive with an ide interface, they come in ata, sata, scsi, sas,...

yes i do believe achi will help your performance, and no you do not necessarily need to reinstall. with a little luck all you will need to do is switch the bios settings and give vista a little extra time at startup to figure it out. legacy mode emulates the sata port as an ide port for the os to be able to recognize it, xp and previous os's weren't designed with ahci support. by making the sata port appear as an ide you lose some of it's advantages such as smart monitoring, ncg, and a few more i can't think of at the moment.

if it does have two sata controllers the main reason for that would be that the northbridge (ich10) did not support as many ports as the manufacturer wanted to include. If you don't need the extra ports turn it off and leave it alone. I have yet to see any controller beat the ich10, not that it wouldn't be possible i'm sure there are controllers i'm not familiar with

hope something in there helps

 

[fareedyomind]

^
YES!

THank you!

Raptor is a sata1 - damnit, didn't realize it. My raid driver on my floppy from last time is a sata2 only. I need to grab the other driver.

Really appreciate all of your time and information.

You are totally correct, my extra sata ports are purple and are labeled gsata(#) for gigabyte.

Which one designate gigabyte and which one is onboard?
I'm assuming gigabyte's is NOT the onboard sata controller...

I'll check back after I get the driver downloaded.
Hopefully I can hear from you again before I go for another install.
I'd love to verify these bios settings are perfect before another 12 hours of vista pack 1 and 2 updates...

 

[505090]

raptor and velociraptor are not the same thing

unless i'm mistaken raptors only came in 36 76 and 150 these are the older generation drives which while i loved it in 98 i wouldn't buy today - sata1 possible exception on the 150gig model

now velocirators which are the next and current generation of wd's 10k consumer drives do come in 300gig (which is what you said in your first post) - sata 2

i still think the raid driver is a waste of time, but hey if you have time try my way and yours and see which works better, would love to hear the results

your owners manual will tell which controller does what, both in bios and what color ports to use

seeing as you don't actually have a raid array you may not have to reinstall

good luck

 

[fareedyomind]

Thanks again man.
No one has time to do windows installs and updates, but I like to get a perfect build for gaming, etc...

I researched WD drives, and I in fact have a velociraptor 300 gb drive.
But, wd lists all 10k drives as 3.0 gb/s sata drives, but not sata2 specifically.
Sata 2 is 3.0/gb/s but sata1 can be as well.

I'm going to reinstall with drivers loaded on floppies and see if it likes it.
If not, I will just switch to AHCI and install straight up.

I'll post back with some results - appreciate your time and help!

 

[505090]

sata1 = 1.5
sata2 = 3.0
sata3 = 6.0

 

[fareedyomind]

Finished install.

No real change.

I have to enable the ONBOARD sata - it apparently has a hand in controlling my dvd drives.

I'm getting a slightly slower O/S load with AHCI, but could just be to how windows updates went and how driver updates went for LAN and AUDIO and CHIPSET.

THanks for all of your help!

 

[505090]

hmm, you do have the hdd on the intel controller right

 

[fareedyomind]

^
haha, yeah man, just like you said, just let windows install it and it is on the ich driver automatically I guess.

I really don't feel like I am getting 10k rpm performance.
My 7200 seagate ran just as well.
Oh well, I probably had too high of expectations.

This is my first 10k hdd and my first dual grfx card builds, and both have been a HUGE disappointment in performance gains for the money.

 

[505090]

well, if there are in fact two sata controllers than the drive will on whichever one it is plugged into

I was a pretty disappointed when i bought a 76gig 10k raptor years ago for $300, and most people think they are going to get double the performance by running double gpx cards. sadly once you reach a certain point in performance you have to spend a lot more for nominal gains.

 

[fareedyomind]

Yeah, I play everything at my native 1920 x 1200 res and was hoping for 8x aa and 16x af with all high settings and 100 fps even, but thats not a given with my core 2 duo @ 3.6, 2x ati 4870s.

But its more disappointing because I got the X48 chipset to utilize the pcie-2.0 @ x16 running in twin lanes hoping that it would help ati crossfire out. Didn't.

Also, hoped with a 10k velicoraptor on top would crush it.
In then end my seagates loaded just as fast and transferred from external drives and thumbdrives just as fast.

BTW, The device manager shows the ich9r running my ata drives (all showing up labeled and as ATAs).

I definitely didn't think I was going to double my grfx performance, but I was hoping to eliminate low end dropouts. My worry was that with more performance would come less stability.

In the end, 1 gpu is way better than 2.
The drivers and game programming just aren't there yet.

I'm definitely not going to chase the dragon with ssds, etc...
I'm assuming the same disappointment lurks around the corner.

 

[flyboydale54]

raptor and velociraptor are not the same thing

unless i'm mistaken raptors only came in 36 76 and 150 these are the older generation drives which while i loved it in 98 i wouldn't buy today - sata1 possible exception on the 150gig model

now

velocirators

which are the next and current generation of wd's 10k consumer drives do come in 300gig (which is what you said in your first post) - sata 2

i still think the raid driver is a waste of time, but hey if you have time try my way and yours and see which works better, would love to hear the results

your owners manual will tell which controller does what, both in bios and what color ports to use

seeing as you don't actually have a raid array you may not have to reinstall

good luck

I do not think your information above is correct on velociraptor Western Digital Hard Drives. Today as of September 04, 2012 the VelociRaptor Hard Drives that spin at 10,000rpms are available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB. I have seen a 2TB one tonight advertised. I just purchased 3 WD VelociRaptor 250GB Hard Drives. They are advertised as SATA III, and specifically state 6GB/s support and carry a 5 year warranty. I just purchased them for $119 each, not a bad price for technology that only lags behind the very expensive SSD drive by a little bit they said in the video.