Hi Bob:

I thought that both SATA connectors, the ICH5R and the SiL3112 are
on-chip and therefore that why I was asking which one seems to be
better in terms of performance. Thanks for your answers to the others
questions. Can you tell me if both SATA connectors performed well in
benchmarks? Regards.


"Bob Davis" wrote in message news:i60cd.51275$cJ3.20500@fed1read06...
"Maiso" wrote in message
om...

I want to install two SATA drives in a RAID 0 configuration to my
GA-8KNXP Revision 1 motherboard. I also will have a 80GB as a master
and a DVD ROM as slave on IDE 1and a DVD R/W as master on IDE 2. My
questions a

1. Which SATA connector should I use, the ICH5R or the Sil3112 and
why?

I just set SATA RAID0 up on this same mobo only a month ago using 2 x 36gb
Raptors. The concensus received from this newsgroup at the time was to use
the ICH5R since it is on-chip and easier on PCI resources, thus will realize
a performance advantage. Here was my procedu

(1) Before installing the drives, updated bios to f11 or f12, the latest
IAA drivers from
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...?ProductID=663
(perhaps not critical), then activated the controller in the bios ("On-chip
SATA" enabled) and set SATA mode to RAID. I don't think you can update IAA
from within Windows or recognize the RAID controller until the bios settings
are correct as above. Boot into Windows and make sure the controller is
installed (Device Manager, SCSI and RAID Controllers should show "Intel
82801ER SATA RAID controller") before installing the drives.

(2) Cloned the old C: drive using Ghost if it will be used in the RAID
array. If not, use Ghost or other cloning software to restore it to the new
array later.

(3) Connected the drives to the ICH5R, started the system, and went into
the RAID setup using ^I at POST. You can then set up the drives as you
wish.

(4) Using a Win98SE startup floppy and latest DOS versions of FDISK
(download from the M$ site), partitioned the drive. You could set RAID up
first, then partition and format from within XP, assuming the OS is on
another drive. I chose the DOS route, though, as my old C: drive was to be
used in the new array.

(5) Restore with Ghost from the clone made earlier. Be advised that Ghost
cannot access the new RAID drive until it has been partitioned, and creating
the RAID array will wipe out all paritioning info.

(6) Booted into XP, and it's been working perfectly since (one month).

2. Which settings should be enable on the BIOS for the above settings?

"On-chip SATA" enabled with SATA set to "RAID."

3. I am still using the F6e BIOS with Windows XP with SP2 without
any problem at all. Should I upgrade to the latest BIOS before I
perform a clean install on Windows XP with SP2?

F10 was and F11 is stable here. I would definitely update the bios, as F6
is quite old.

4. If I don't use a RAID 0 configuration and instead only use a
single SATA drive instead of two SATA drives, do the same instructions
apply?

Yes. These bios settings work fine with a single SATA. In fact, it's best
because it'll already be set for RAID if you decide to move in that
direction later. That's what I did, originally installing a 160gb PATA
drive as C:, then moving to a single SATA, then RAID.