Raid 0 on P67a-UD4-B3, which ports, what chipset?

[Mangonaley]

Hi guys,
I've read through the manual of the recently purchased p67a-ud4-b3 motherboard (beginning on page 79 related to this)

Two questions:

This is probably asked a lot, I have 2x 500gb WD SataII caviar blacks, can I plug it into the white sataIII ports and set up raid 0? is there a performance difference with plugging them into Sata II (black ports) and setting up raid 0?

Also, I see it says Sata ports 1,2,3,4,5 are supported by the p67 chipset (so this includes the white and black ports), but then later it says on page 87 that the black ports (which are Sata II) set up raid using the Marvell controller.
So if I plug my two hard drives into the Sata II black ports, do I use the P67 chipset (pg 79) to set up raid or the marvell controller (Pg 87) and is there a difference? or do i even have a choice?

Unless Im misinterpretting what the manual is telling me.

Thanks

 

[ubercake]

Did you already install the OS or are you trying to figure out the RAID setup first?

 

[Mangonaley]

I want to configure raid first. then install win7 64bit on the array after

 

[ubercake]

I want to configure raid first. then install win7 64bit on the array after

Good. Just wanted to make sure. I didn't see any information in your motherboard manual about a separate marvell RAID controller. If you turn on RAID in your BIOS and choose the ctrl+I option, do you see all 6 ports? If so, RAID for SATA II and SATA III will be controlled by the Intel controller. If not, when the PC turns on, check to see if there is some other boot option for (ctrl+M or some F key?) for a separate Marvell RAID controller.

You want to save your SATA III ports for SATA III SSDs some day. Once you build the array, you can't just go switching from one controller to the other. Using the SATA2 ports is ideal for your current situation.

 

[Mangonaley]

The marvell bit is on page 87. here is a copy of the manual

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-p67a-ud4-b3_v1.1_e.pdf

I followed the step from page 79 onwards and you are right, the RAID identifies all 6 ports and I cant see a Ctrl M or F key for marvell stuff.

I've followed as you said, I put both my hard drives in SataII and my dvd rom in SataII leaving the 2xSataIII empty.

Thanks for the help, my problem is pretty much solved, But if you could inform me, let me know what is this marvell controller thing is all about on page 87.

 

[Mangonaley]

Best answer selected by Mangonaley.

 

[ubercake]

The marvell bit is on page 87. here is a copy of the manual

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-p67a-ud4-b3_v1.1_e.pdf

I followed the step from page 79 onwards and you are right, the RAID identifies all 6 ports and I cant see a Ctrl M or F key for marvell stuff.

I've followed as you said, I put both my hard drives in SataII and my dvd rom in SataII leaving the 2xSataIII empty.

Thanks for the help, my problem is pretty much solved, But if you could inform me, let me know what is this marvell controller thing is all about on page 87.

OK. I was looking at another version of the manual. You actually have two separate disk/RAID controllers one of which is the Marvell controller.

You can get to the Marvel RAID configuration right through the BIOS (as described on page 87 step 2). This is where you can configure RAID for your SATA III controller. I'd turn it on right away, if you haven't done so already. When you turn this on, you don't have to create a disk array, but it just prepares the Windows for another RAID controller and windows 7 will add the drivers. When you change the disk mode to RAID and don't build an array, your disks will operate in AHCI mode.

So, since you're just setting the PC up and you have nothing in the SATA III ports, you can switch the controller to RAID mode no problem.

Just remember... If you have a RAID 0 array and you have a disk failure, this is the most expensive data recovery operation out there. You'll have to send your disks to a place that performs data recovery procedures for things like law enforcement forensics teams. Backup any data you feel is important (ie photos, video, etc...) to some other media if you keep it on a RAID 0 array.

 

[Mangonaley]

ok, it will be some time when i will get to use the sata III and ive already set up my system, I have not yet turned on the marvell controller and im using the sataII ports.. can I turn the marvel controller on later nown the track if i purchase ssds?

 

[ubercake]

Do you mean you have it disabled? Or you just don't have the RAID mode?

To tell you the truth, I've never reconfigured a disk controller with no disks attached after the Windows install. You might be able to turn it on without a problem. The fact that you have no disks attached to the SATA3 controller might be your saving grace. Getting the appropriate drivers installed... now that's a different story.

Worst case scenario is you switch and Windows blue screens on startup, then you switch it back to whatever operation mode you had it prior to the switch and reboot.

Best case... You boot up and Windows prompts your for the drivers for the disk controller. Make sure you have the disk containing the SATA 3 RAID controller's drivers in the DVD drive when Windows starts up in case you're prompted.

If it's in IDE mode, you'll never be able to realize all of the performance advantages of a modern SSD. If it's in AHCI mode, you will realize the advantages, though you just won't be able to setup RAID arrays on this controller. I would definitely try to switch it to RAID and see if Windows starts up and prompts you for the drivers. I definitely wouldn't run this controller in IDE mode. If you think non-RAID SATA 3 SSD speeds are fine for your needs, switching from IDE mode to AHCI mode just takes a registry entry change, a restart, and a BIOS disk mode change.

What operation mode is the SATA 3 controller running under?

 

[Mangonaley]

ive set up my raid from page 79 in the manual, which refers to setting up raid using the intel p67 chipset instead of marvell, I havent touched anything with marvell (thats what i mean i havent turned it on or anything).

SataIII is atm i think running under p67 chipset because in the manual it says, the p67 chipset is controlled by sata ports 0,1,2,3,4, and 5 (0 and 1 are my sata III)

I think tho, in the bios, there are options to controll 0 and 1 with marvell specifically.

But yeah atm, I have not touched marvell at all.

thanks for the info.

 

[Blick]

ive set up my raid from page 79 in the manual, which refers to setting up raid using the intel p67 chipset instead of marvell, I havent touched anything with marvell (thats what i mean i havent turned it on or anything).

SataIII is atm i think running under p67 chipset because in the manual it says, the p67 chipset is controlled by sata ports 0,1,2,3,4, and 5 (0 and 1 are my sata III)

I think tho, in the bios, there are options to controll 0 and 1 with marvell specifically.

But yeah atm, I have not touched marvell at all.

thanks for the info.

No. You all seem confused. The Marvell chip only controls the eSATA ports on the back of the MoBo (the ones that are accessed through the rear I/O panel). You can use RAID 0 or RAID 1 with the eSATA Marvell controller. This chip HAS NOTHING TO DO with the SATA III ports. The Intel chipset controls the 6 standard SATA ports. These can do RAID 0,1,5, and 10 if I remember correctly. You can form a RAID array accross the 4 SATA II and 2 SATA III ports (but if you do this, SATA III is treated as SATA II). You cannot cross the Marvell and Intel controllers in an array (If I understand correctly). Read your manual again.

 

[Blick]

Perhaps this is the source of your confusion: I see that the UD7 has an extra pair of SATA III ports (for internal drives) on a Marvell controller. Not the UD4 you are referring to, though. The UD7 has 2 Intel SATA III, 2 Marvell SATA III, 4 Intel SATA II, and 2 Marvell eSATA. The UD4, however, controls all internal SATA devices with the Intel P67 chip.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey