Main hard drive IDE but looking to make additional SSD AHCI.

[Camy252]

Im currently running an old rig and i am looking to add an SSD to help add more space for games and backup.
I assume my current HD is booting up to IDE mode but i have read alot of guides recommending AHCI for SSDs. Can i add a secondary SSD drive and run this in AHCI while keeping the main drive on IDE. From the looks of guides it appears the main and secondary drives need to be changed to the same boot mode. Obviously i am not looking to change the mode of the main drive as i presume it would need formatted.

So my basic questions are two fold: Can i install my new SSD to AHCI without touching the boot mode of the main drive?
And also, if its not possible, am i okay to run the ssd in IDE mode? would i notice and major diff in performance to be worth risking my main drives boot type. Will the SSD work fine in IDE?

I am running vista 32 with a motherboard that is sata 2 compat. ( i think) its def not sata 3.
From research into my board and OS, it would appear it is AHCI compat but wether it will change to ahci automatically, i have no idea. The SSD is a kingston v300 120gb

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks
euan

 

[Dereck47]

SATA ports can have up to 3 settings (modes): IDE, AHCI, & RAID.
You need to look at your motherboard manual to see if the SATA ports on your board have a AHCI mode.
If so, your motherboard manual will show you how to change modes.

 

[Camy252]

Thanks for the quick reply, can i run AHCI on the secondary ssd if the main drive runs Ide?

 

[Dereck47]

That depends on your motherboard. With some boards you change each SATA port individually. With other boards all ports are set to the same mode.

 

[Camy252]

Cool, well ill just install it anyways and see what my boot options are.

Say all goes well and i can assign the boot mode individually, is that all ill need to do? Boot up bios, set to Ahci and load up windows?

 

[Dereck47]

Say all goes well and i can assign the boot mode individually, is that all ill need to do? Boot up bios, set to Ahci and load up windows?

Correct

 

[Camy252]

Brilliant, thanks for all the help. I will open up my rig next week when i get the ssd and hope for the best!

 

[popatim]

If by 'load up windows' you mean a fresh install then yes you will be fine.
If you meant to startup the exisiting windows installed to the HDD (or cloned to the SSD) then no, it will crash.

You will need to change the drivers being used from IDE to AHCI to do this.
Which OS are you running and which Motherbd do you have?

 

[Camy252]

I mean ill install secondary ssd and boot up. My OS (vista 32) is on my main hdd. So it shouldnt interfere. Specially as i suspect the main hdd is not running off the satas anyways. My mb has 4 sata connections all unused. My mb is a P5lp-le (asus i think) ive upgraded this rig alot over the years so i know the build pretty well and i have checked the manual for sata connectors info but all it says is x4 sata connections. Doesnt say which type or ahci compatible. But as dereck says, ill find out when i boot up if bios give me an option to change boot mode individually for the ssd or has to be done all together. In the latter case i will obv leave it as ide isntead of ahci.
Is ur concern popatim that if i install new ssd and boot up normally the new ssd will NOT act as the slave drive? And will crash boot? Surely my system will treat the new ssd as an additonal storage space?