Windows 7: Gigabyte Mobo forcing IDE over SATA

Fresh install Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium
All chipset driver updates installed
GA-P55a-UD3 rev 1.0 F4 BIOS Version
Intel Core I7-860
16gb RAM G Skill 16000
ATI 5770 1gb
WD 1TB SATA 3.0 HDD

Recently reinstalled due to some hardware issues ( Long Story ) and my BIOS sees my HDD as IDE. In diagnosing my hardware issues, I took an old IDE HDD and inserted it into MB to see if I could load windows on it. The MOBO now sees my SATA drive as IDE. It didn’t do this after my first build. The introduction of an IDE legacy device seems to have forced it to IDE mode and it won’t come out.

I have studied my mobo manual extensively and believe I have the correct settings ( ACHI enabled on the appropriate controllers ) SATA3 enabled. However my SATA drive still shows as IDE



I have all BIOS settings set to ACHI.

HD is connected to the correct SATA3 controller. This SATA HD was connected to a portable HDD shell to ensure it was working then put back in the PC in question and I did a clean reinstall of Windows 7.

I can really sense the performance hit from the IDE mode. I spent the extra $$$ to get SATA3 HDD and MOBO when I did my build and it was working. I would really like to get this back in order.

Any suggestions??? Thanks in advance for any help!!

Pete

I'm not sure what you mean. Where are you seeing the drive identified as IDE?

In the BIOS. No matter what I do the SATA 2 and 3 ports are all listed as IDE. Previously they were listed as SATA. The board has 2x SATA3 ports and 6x SATA2 ports. My SATA3 HDD is attached to the appropriate SATA3 port.

I believe on older boards that it was normal for SATA drives to be listed as IDE devices, especially if your board has an IDE port. Even though they are SATA and connected to SATA ports, this was normal. However, some boards had a separate BIOS screen to show the drives that were connected via AHCI enabled ports. Have you gone through your manual to see if this is normal?

Have spent allot of time with the manual lately. I am fairly sure I have. all the appropriate settings to enable SATA3. No mention of a separate BIOS regarding AHCI/SATA.

Do you think it would make sense to reset BIOS to factory default using a jumper reset on the board. Would this jeopardize the fresh Windows 7 Install?

Thanks for your thoughts!

It shouldn't hurt the current install, as long as you have the correct settings reapplied. I think you missed my point, though. I had an older Gigabyte board, I think a P45 series, and on one screen, the SATA drives were listed as IDE devices. It was mearly a display screen for categorization and nothing more. It had nothing to do with the way the ports were set or how the performance was. If that's the case, there's nothing to worry about.