Switching From IDE to AHCI with RAID enabled

Hard_Rain

Distinguished
Mar 13, 2011
25
0
18,540
As described in the thread title, I want to change my SSD drives from IDE to AHCI. I have a new system as described with my signature. My operating system is Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) and I have the latest version (10) of Intel's Rapid Storage Technology (IRST). My two SSD drives (ADATA S599, 64 GB) that hold the OP system are configured as RAID 0, and show up under IRST. I have the latest firmware update (ver. 3.4.3) for my Adata drives. When the system boots, all drives, including my SSD drives, post as IDE drives. Oh, and all of them are installed on the Intel (ICH10R) SATA 3 GB/s ports. Now, I would like to switch these Intel ports from IDE to AHCI. Many have suggested this is a fairly easy fix:

http://tweaks.com/windows/44119/improve-sata-hard-disk-performance-convert-from-ide-to-ahci/

However, before I proceed, I have several comments and questions: (1) In Regedit, the Start value for msahci is listed as 3, but the Start values for iastor and IastorV are listed as 0, (2) Now, I need to change the Start value of msahci to 0, right? (3) But what happens when I reboot the system after making this change? I cannot change to AHCI as the SATA drives are configured as RAID, and will not boot if I switch from RAID, (4) Will I need my Windows disk to install the AHCI drivers when rebooting my system?
 
Solution
If you are in RAID, you are seeing the same benefits as AHCI, so no need to do anything further. As you pointed out in Question # 3, you'll loose your RAID setup by switching to AHCI, causing it not to boot without a fresh install.

tecmo34

Administrator
Moderator
If you are in RAID, you are seeing the same benefits as AHCI, so no need to do anything further. As you pointed out in Question # 3, you'll loose your RAID setup by switching to AHCI, causing it not to boot without a fresh install.
 
Solution

Hard_Rain

Distinguished
Mar 13, 2011
25
0
18,540


Just to clarify, when I run AS-SSD benchmark (version 1.6), I am getting reasonable scores for the S599 drives in RAID 0. Also, the benchmark lists iaStor as the controller. So are you saying that iaStor takes the place of msahci in my setup?



 

Hard_Rain

Distinguished
Mar 13, 2011
25
0
18,540


Wow, you just saved me tons of time. If I would have just blindly followed the suggestion to change msahci (as described above) I would have had to reinstall my operating system. That in itself would not be so bad, but I have been updating drivers, installing programs, and just generally optimizing my system. This forum rocks! :bounce:


Now onto cloning my C drive onto that hot-swap HDD drive I bought...