AHCI freezing over IDE and a couple general HD questions

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daletron

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1)

CPU: AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133
GPU: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
MOBO: ASUS M5A97 EVO AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Hard Drive: (old) Western Digital WD2500KS. (I believe it's something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701)

Brand new install of Windows 7 64-bit and it would freeze every few seconds or so. Changed it in the bios as it was default set to AHCI and once I put it to IDE, it now runs smoothly.

So I was googling the problem and some people said to reinstall Windows 7 as AHCI. I'm a little confused though, since the BIOS was already defaulted as AHCI, does that mean I installed it as AHCI too? I would like to switch over to AHCI but not sure how. Is my HD not capable of it?


2) Is AHCI that much faster than IDE that it's worth a reinstall of Windows?



3) My motherboard has:

6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports with RAID 0,1,5 and 10 support
2 x eSATA 3Gb/s ports

Which ports should I plug my hard drive into?

I plugged my HD into the "2 x eSATA 3Gb/s" ports. Would I be getting 6Gb/s speeds if I plugged it into the "6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports with RAID 0,1,5 and 10 support"? Or is my hard drive too old? I figured I'm not using RAID so don't plug it in there?



Thank you so much for any help
 
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daletron

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ty for that!
 
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scout_03

scout_03

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did you check the led on boot on the board page 2-20 user manual and se page 2-22 if you could change the settingsfor ide in the bios without creating a raid also you drive could be to old for that board see details page 3-16 for ide settings
 
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daletron

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ty for the reply, bout to head out but will definitely get back to you and this
 
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rdc85

rdc85

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well some how windows installed on ide not achi, u can download microsoft hotfix (free) to enable achi from windows... (doesn't need to reinstall windows)

(run hotfix, reboot, set bios to achi, runs os normally)

the other way is run regedit to edit it manually......

edit: i'm forget u need to install some driver for some mobo....

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html
 
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daletron

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no led's flashing per board on page 2-20 (awesome feature though)
per page 2-22, i didn't connect it to any of the raid-avail ports, but yes I'm able to change it from either IDE or ACHI like in page 3-16.
 
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daletron

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updated my windows 7 64-bit as far as it would go... clicked on the link and it looks like it's already been done by the hotfix... (the value is is already '0' in the regedit)

thanks both of you for the attempt.


any other possible solutions? I don't see anything saying that my HD isn't capable of using ACHI...
 
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pjmelect

pjmelect

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You are maybe chasing red hearings, the problem is probably with your memory. Freezing problems like this are usually memory related. Try running a memory test program such as memtest86 for at least three passes. Even if the memory test pass the memory may still be the problem try a generic 1333Mhz stick of memory or check the memory settings in your BIOS.
 
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daletron

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hey thx for the reply. i actually did originally think it was my memory, i did a memtest the whole nite yesterday and it passed with 0 errors.

but just to reiterate, right now as IDE it works perfectly fine... not a single problem. but when i switch it to ACHI in the BIOS, it'll keep freezing (mostly whatever window i'm working on says "Not Responding") every few seconds....

I just would like to make use of this ACHI feature since I think I should be able to use it.... =T
 
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pjmelect

pjmelect

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AHCI is faster than IDE as is supports NCQ which reduces drive seeks and speeds up disk access. Although in practice you don't notice much difference.

As I said the reason it locks up in AHCI mode is probably due to memory timings. memory faster than 1333Mhz is often not detected by the BIOS correctly and the timings have to be manually set.
 
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daletron

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sorry guys, my email didn't email me that i had responses to my threads for some reason..




thx again for the reply and info. i will definitely mess with it as i have everything an auto at the moment (didn't want to overclock anything just yet)

will definitely let you know how it goes once i start fiddling with my RAM settings
 
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daletron

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ok will try that too, thx for the reply
 
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daletron

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hey scout thanks for the reply

"Note: If you installed Windows in IDE mode (which means that you didn't use F6 and supply a driver disk), then simply changing the BIOS setting to AHCI mode and rebooting will cause Windows to fail and will require a repair install. Most people are advising to reinstall Windows if you want AHCI enabled."

I didn't press F6 and supply a driver disk...... but I'm still able to go into windows under AHCI.. it's just nearly un-usable

so does this mean that I installed windows 7 as AHCI? or is it IDE? pretty confused about this one
 
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daletron

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hi thanks for replying. the bios is set to ahci by default, so when i installed windows it was definitely on ahci when i did so.


and to the other repliers i still haven't messed with my RAM settings, but plan to in the near future, thanks
 
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valix

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I have the same problem as daletron only that I have a Gigabyte mobo instead of Asus and I also have an Intel SSD besides the WD hard drive. The SSD is working just fine with AHCI mode but the WD keeps on freezing for a few good seconds when I'm working with it.
The only solution that worked for me was to keep the SSD on ahci mode and move the WD to a SATA port set in IDE mode.
 
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