Solved 7,500 to 10,000 Raid to AHCI No Dif (apparently)

[apants]

I don't know allot but I know my PC. I have had this sorrowful setup for 18 months. Yes it's time for a long overdue upgrade.

I have been constantly baffled by bios settings due to the limited capacity of my cranium and it's capacity to hold intelligence.

Two days ago I received my WD VelociRaptor 300GB with gust and ooommpho and immediately started to install it and run a new load of Windows 7.

I have been researching (to no prevail) AHCI vs RAID/IDE. Only due to the fact my Bios wants me to commit suicide and the MB manual is assisting in the conspiracy.

This is my sorrowful system.

Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Model X48-DS5
Total amount of system memory 8.00 GB RAM
System type 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 4

Storage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WD Raptor (C) 229 GB Free (279 GB Total)
Samsung (D) 819 GB Free (932 GB Total)
WD (E) 410 GB Free (466 GB Total)
WD (F) 342 GB Free (466 GB Total)
WD (G) 557 GB Free (596 GB Total)
WD Ext USB (H) 320 GB Free (596 GB Total)
Seagate Ext eSATA (I) 365 GB Free (466 GB Total)
Media drive SATA Interface (J) CD/DVD
Media drive SATA Interface (K) CD/DVD
WD Ext USB (L)466 GB Free (466 GB Total)

Graphics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 x XFX 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+
Total available graphics memory 4095 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 3583 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.17.11.9562
Primary monitor resolution 1920x1080
Secondary monitor resolution 1920x1080
Secondary monitor resolution 1680x1050
Secondary monitor resolution 1680x1050
DirectX version DirectX 10

Network
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Adapter Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Network Adapter Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Network Adapter Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)

[URL]http://i30.tinypic.com/21liays.jpg[/URL]

So in my bios i set the HDD control to raid
I set the Purple (gigabyte sata connectors) to IDE because I use them both for the DVDroms. If I put sata DVDroms onto any other sata port I have issues.

The result for the new raptor 10,000rpm according to WINDOWS 7 Experience Index was no different from a samsung 7500rpm Both rating a 5.9

The other scores are as follows
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9450 @ 2.66GHz 7.2
Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB 7.2
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ 6.9
Gaming graphics 4095 MB Total available graphics memory 6.9
Primary hard disk 229GB Free (279GB Total) 5.9
Windows 7 Ultimate

This was followed by Win7 turning into Bluescreen 7 and causing me pains in my shoulder.

So I rebooted into the bios and set the HDD to AHCI
I left the other settings alone.

Reloaded windows 7

No change in the Hard drive score, still a 5.9 but I could tell the difference instantly, the PC is flying. I know my PC.

There is a strange sidenote

The Windows 7 Experience rating in AHCI mode differs from Raid mode. As follows.

The other scores are as follows
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9450 @ 2.66GHz 7.1
Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB 7.1
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ 6.8
Gaming graphics 4095 MB Total available graphics memory 6.8
Primary hard disk 229GB Free (279GB Total) 5.9
Windows 7 Ultimate

All but the HDD dropped a point.

So yes I am a N00b (laugh if you like I can hack it) but I thought I would post this regardless, for any other N00b's that might be wondering WTF? like I do every single breathing moment.

There is nothing I can make of any of my findings less that in AHCI mode with the exact same drivers etc loaded as in Raid mode =

Raid / Random BSOD.
AHCI (for me) / Not an issue yet.

 

[helmutcheese]

1st of you do not get 7.5K RPM HDD's they are 7.2K RPM HDD's.

Windows index is meaningless in real life, under Windows 7 5.9 is the fastest you can get for ANY Mechanical HDD period.

The higher scores must detect a SSD before it will even go by 5.9.

You can score 5.9 with any modern single fast HDD and the same for 2x10K HDD's in Raid 0.

I would be going by overall how the PC feels not Windows crappy score.

 

[whs]

If you want to get a 7.1 or 7.2 score, get this little beauty for $99 today( Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks ) your Raptor will look like a lame duck compared to it - especially in random access which is several thousand times faster (4 nanosec versus some 15ms or so). The 30GB is ample for Win7. My mature system uses 13.4 GB for the system and 10.1 for all my data (including Videos and Music which you could put on the raptor if you have a lot of it) - both partitions are on the SSD.

 

[stormy13]

As I understand it (and seen posted here and elsewhere) the only way to get a disk score over 5.9 is to use a SSD like the one whs linked to. A couple of those Raptors in RAID0 might get it to the low 6's, but anything higher and you'll need that SSD.

 

[chev65]

RAID BSOD is because you can't use RAID with a single drive, RAID is two drives or more. You need to change that to legacy IDE. Your scores are perfectly normal by the way.

 

[apants]

Yes 7200 sorry.
5.9 max score for any SATA
7 for SSD (apparently max score)

I am in Australia, any SSD here would cost over $350. Wifes in Canada as of today so I may get her to grab one. I am just about to press CHECKOUT on an Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 and ani7 950 Processor. I am still unsure about what ram. I am going for 12GB (only because I can) but I have no knowledge on memory.

I don't go by scores, I know when a PC is fast and stable. I am however interested in that fact that the WEI is starting to look to me more like a marketing ploy. Well not look like "IS"

EDIT:
Thank you for taking my laymans rant seriously. I think I shall stay a member here.

 

[Anusha]

Yes 7200 sorry.
5.9 max score for any SATA
7 for SSD (apparently max score)

I am in Australia, any SSD here would cost over $350. Wifes in Canada as of today so I may get her to grab one. I am just about to press CHECKOUT on an Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 and ani7 950 Processor. I am still unsure about what ram. I am going for 12GB (only because I can) but I have no knowledge on memory.

I don't go by scores, I know when a PC is fast and stable. I am however interested in that fact that the WEI is starting to look to me more like a marketing ploy. Well not look like "IS"

EDIT:
Thank you for taking my laymans rant seriously. I think I shall stay a member here.

Why don't you get Newegg to ship it out for you? You will need a service like Comgateway.com as a middleman because Newegg doesn't do international shipping. I'm getting a Kingston 40GB SSD like this from Amazon. Hopefully, it should arrive within a few days. Just a suggestion.

 

[Bumpus]

RAID BSOD is because you can't use RAID with a single drive, RAID is two drives or more. You need to change that to legacy IDE. Your scores are perfectly normal by the way.

DING...DING...DING...

Do NOT use RAID with only one physical disk drive.

(I score a 5.9 with a crappy SATA I drive. Waiting a month or 2 for SSD drives to fall a little further before buying one.)