SATA settings in bios for ASUS P7P55D-E LX?

[ricno]

I am wondering if I should change anything in the Storage section in the BIOS of my new Asus P7P55D-E LX motherboard?

I have the option to choose "Configure SATA as": IDE, RAID or AHCI. As for RAID I am not planning to use it, but what would be the difference between IDE and AHCI? The default setting seems to be IDE.


Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E LX
Harddisk: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB
Dvd: Sony NEC Optiarc DVD±RW burner AD-7240S
Operating system: Windows 7

 

[suat]

AHCI is best for Win 7 and SATA components. IDE is only good for Win XP which does not have native AHCI support and requires F6 method and floppy diskette during install.

 

[ricno]

AHCI is best for Win 7 and SATA components.

Thank you for your reply! So AHCI should be selected in BIOS for the SATA drives, would that be done before the operating system installation normaly?

 

[suat]

It is best to set AHCI in BIOS and then install the OS. But you can install the OS first and then change a setting in Registry and then set AHCI in BIOS. Otherwise, Win 7 does not boot.

I prefer to set AHCI first in BIOS. Why mess with registry settings afterwards.

 

[ricno]

It is best to set AHCI in BIOS and then install the OS. But you can install the OS first and then change a setting in Registry and then set AHCI in BIOS. Otherwise, Win 7 does not boot.

I prefer to set AHCI first in BIOS. Why mess with registry settings afterwards.

I shall try the registry method first, to avoid reinstallation of the operating system. Thanks for the information about AHCI/IDE. Do you know what kind of performance difference there could be?

 

[suat]

AHCI supports hot plug-and-play operation of the drives and NCQ if your hdd supports it. Normally you do not see much difference for all practical purposes of disk operation.

I guess you know what registry keys to modify in switching from IDE to AHCI after OS has been installed. You may refer to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976 for further information.

 

[ricno]

Best answer selected by ricno.