Primary disk SSD?

[BringtheNoise]

One other thing to help longevity for a SSD drive is to move the swap file from the SSD drive to a spindle drive (second drive).

 

I run a mix'd bag of crazy for my box.

Primary Drive is a 64GB Crucial M400 (Just Windows 7 64bit and base programs with about 24GB of free space).

Secondary is an old 7200rpm 500GB drive. I use it for the swap file and downloads...

My Game drives are a split between a 1TB 7200rpm Spindle drive (Steam, Origin, and Ubisoft folders) and a first gen Patriot 64GB SSD (Skyrim is all thats currently on the SSD).

Backup's of the OS drive go to an external USB drive....

 

And it works, boots quick, runs fast, and I use sleep mode half the time to make power up's so fast that the pc's up and at the desktop before the monitor is powered up completely

 

 

Moving the swap file will reduce the amount of times the drive is accessed over the liftspan of the computer.

Because once the OS is loaded then its done, but the swap file (where the OS places things) is read from and written to constantly threw out the day.

[AnnaFly]

I think my motherboard does not have that option, I can not find.

 

Greetings.

 

I cannot believe that a nice Motherbord like yours  ( that was a  high middle-end/ High-end Motherboard , not a one wicth cost 50 € .... ) doesn't have an AHCI mode . I'm pretty sure this mode exist .

 

 

http://www.asus.com/fr/Motherboards/Striker_II_Formula/specifications/  ... choice yoiur "language".

 

Since 2005 most of the motherboards with a SATA ( even SATA 1) controller have an AHCI option . 

 

This mode ( AHCi ) is for an ununderstable reason no active ... you must to active this mode . Take a look  in your manual , thre must be an option to switch to RAID , AHCi ,or Enhanced IDE ...

 

By the way if you choose " RAID" , even if there is no create RAID disk , your hard drive will work by defaut in AHCI mode ...

 

But to avoid problems you need to activate this mode before the Windows7 installation , not after.

 

IFyou intend to install a dual-boot XP/Windows7 ( Why XP ??? ... just because some usefull utilities will not work  "well"  with Windows7 even in the "Virtual XP mode" ) , you need to create a specific driver first and before installing XP too ....  or i'm afraid you 'll run in some "issues" if your try to "convert" a hard drive from Enhanced IDE  to AHCi mode ... it's possible but it's better to do it before, not after installing an Operating System .

 

AHCI mode is native with Windows7 , but not with XP that's why you need to create a specific driver before the installation of this "old" operating system.

 

Well , that was just in case ...  your are asking about Windows7 and not a dual-boot  XP/W7...

 

Cheers.

 

PS : If you are not sure or if you loose it , download from Asus your technical ( user's manual ) manual ... all is there to how to activate this mode.

 

PPS : sorry but english isn't my native language/tongue.

 

EDIt : i still use 4 motherboards based on the socket 775 ... in AHCI mode of cause ( dual or tripple-boots) : P5K-E Wifi , P5Q & P5Q-Pro and a low-end motherboard "P5KPL-M ..." all these one are from Asus ... i also use sometime an older P4P800-SE ( AGP , not PCI-E) and there is another socket on this one , but Sata1 is there and it works in AHCI mode too.

 

Important : remember to never install an operating system if your CPU ( or motherbord ) is already "OC" ( Overclocked) ... especially with windows7 .

 

With XP operting system, if your CPU is "OC " you will receive a message telling you XP is unable to  find ( to recognize)  the CPU model on this motherboard ,  with Windows7 , nothing like this ... the installation seems to go well, but problems will appear after all the updates.

 

So install your system gently , and try ( if you are an adept of this kind of thing ... but it's better to avoid this especially if you are a "noob" and never done it before ...)  an OverClocking only after all the updates are done ( and running well) and after all your drivers are threre and also updated.

[RockMic]

Thanks for the tip.
It is my RAID and disabled, so it is hidden under AHCI (damn)  
I have to decide themselves reinstall all see the pros and cons.

[RockMic]

Someone here has found a loophole?
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/283359-30-asus-formula-find-sata-drives-ahci-enabled-bios

[AnnaFly]

Someone here has found a loophole?

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/283359-30-asus-formula-find-sata-drives-ahci-enabled-bios

Hi there.

 

That's an old link .

 

Most of all , first , you need to update your Bios ( if it is not already done) ! When Windows7 was launched ( and i started to help peoples at the Microsoft TechNet website - french section - at this moment) , Asus really make a great works ... most of all motherboards producted since the 3 last years came wih an updated Bios . For older's MB ( MotherBoard) Asus updated their Bios later but only for the "High-end" models. ( models from 2005 and older...)

 

So first , take a look at the Asus download section ... if threr is a particular problem with one model , it "ll be mentioned  most of the time.

 

If it's a problem you cannot solve with an Asus product , pm a descriptive message to the technical service ... it will answer your request "quicly" ( 1- 4 days) ... there is also the Asus forum ... unfortunatly only in english as i know.

 

Now if you have another problem related to the AHCI mode , go to the Micosoft TechNet site ... and search in the right section, informations about the AHCI mode .

 

Don't ask there a question , ... it's better to do so to Microsoft "Answers" ... just because TechNet is for " Pro" ( and hate that fact because there are also some " Noobs" , Pro may be , but " - Pro-Noobs" too ... i've posted some topics about these "discrimination" by the past ... my user name is Loukiana.)

 

I dont' help peoples anymore  there ( TechNet & Answers)  just for family 's problems since 2 years ...

 

Did you downloaded your "User's manual" from Asus ?

 

Another thing is : i my opinion it's not really a good thing to you a SSD for the operating system ... it's better to use one hard drive ( small but  "fast" or a "Raid" sytem ....) just for the operating(s) system ... another ( example : your SSD ) for the applications your are currently using ... and a third as an "archive disk" .... i usually use 4-6 hard drive with all my machines ( ...and i use about 10 of them ... but that's another story i don't want to talk about ...right now ) .

 

Why this opinion ? Just because SSD drives are too small actually , but that's your money , not mine.

There are also other reasons but it's hard to explain that in english ... i must take some time to write a "clean" post related to the SSD specificities .... but there are already a lot of them on the web and i suppose in your language / tongue.

 

Cheers.

 

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/fr-fr/home    .... choose your country and don't forget to take a look in the "Library" .... it's the most important source of informations about all Microsoft 's products ...

[prideslayer]

Why are you still mucking about with this AHCI business? The motherboard doesn't have it. No nForce chipset motherboards ever had AHCI. A BIOS update can't add things to the chipset -- so updating that is not going to help.

 

Make sure after you install that you install the newest nForce drivers, which will get you NCQ and some other features that the chipset does have even without AHCI.

[AnnaFly]

Hi  Prideslayer. Thank you .

 

Amazing for this kind of motherboard , but it seems you're right  ,so the only way is just to use the RAID mode ... that's absolutly not a problem , no need to really create a RAID disk to run an operating system like Windows7 :

 

http://techreport.com/review/13790/nvidia-nforce-780i-sli-chipset

 

 

The 780i MCP also lacks support for the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), although unlike the ICH9R, it's able to implement features like hot swap for SATA drives and Native Command Queuing without.

 

http://www.asus.com/fr/Motherboards/Striker_II_Formula/HelpDesk_Download/

 

... sorry but  i cannot  download from this link with my "old navigator" ... but i suppose you already got this manual.  

 

Cheers.

[prideslayer]

He doesn't have to use RAID mode, he can just plug it in and go. It'll be fine. It may not even install with RAID mode enabled without providing a driver disk during the install since it's not a real hardware RAID. I don't understand all the confusion or back and forth going on at this point.

 

Just plug the thing in, set the BIOS to boot from it first, and install windows. There's nothing more complicated about it. No need to disconnect any other drives or screw around with other more complicated BIOS settings.

[AnnaFly]

Greetings.

 

 Hi & @ Prideslayer.

 

 There is no confusion : what i mean is that if the Bios is set to "RAID" , Windows7 will run as an "AHCI" mode , because under Windows7 , RAID mode run as an AHCI mode ... the only difference is about the "Hot-Pug"  ... but i saw Nvidia found another to do so .

 

To be more clear, in RAID mode the controller works like in AHCI mode. Now , he need to read her user's manual , because there is probably more than only one disk controller ... with my "old" P5Q- Pro there are 3 disk controllers  .... and in RAID mode i can use the "HOT-PLUG" with 2 of these controllers but absolutly not with the third ( witch is a RAID Only controller, you cannot connect other thins on this one , only hard disk are allowed ...)  well , this is just an example , all motherboards are different  and have their proper caracteristics ... so that's why an user absolutly need to read carefully his "user's manual" . 

 

If i mention the RAID mode , it is for all the disk's performances  , not only for this SSD ...

 

Cheers ,and sorry if there is a misunderstanding , english isn't my native language.

 

NB : With Windows7 you don't need a specific driver for the RAID mode ( for this motherboard , W7 already know the caracteristics of this one ) ... it will took the one from his mothersboard's driver .

 

PS : i forget something important ... keep your operating system updated ... Microsoft provide some specific updates for some specific "materials" or softwares ... and not only "generic" updates.

[prideslayer]

To be more clear, in RAID mode the controller works like in AHCI mode

That's not true. Windows will load the AHCI driver if it detects an AHCI compatible controller, raid or not. If the chipset doesn't support AHCI (and his doesn't) then it's going to use the normal generic IDE/SATA driver.

 

There is no "AHCI mode" on controllers that don't support AHCI.

 

My point is he doesn't have to anything special except set the drive as bootable in the BIOS once hooking it up. Setting the controller to RAID mode when there is not going to be a RAID doesn't help at all, and might prevent installation without a driver disk handy.

 

*After* the install is done, he should install the nVidia nForce drivers, which will replace the windows drivers, and give him the features that the windows drivers won't -- like NCQ and hot-swap.

[RockMic]

The BIOS has been updated a long time ago, when I switched to Windows 7.
However I have already installed windows 7 for four days I did all the updates and drivers as possible and it seems all right.
Thank you for everything, hello.

[AnnaFly]

 

To be more clear, in RAID mode the controller works like in AHCI mode

That's not true. Windows will load the AHCI driver if it detects an AHCI compatible controller, raid or not. If the chipset doesn't support AHCI (and his doesn't) then it's going to use the normal generic IDE/SATA driver.

 

There is no "AHCI mode" on controllers that don't support AHCI.

 

My point is he doesn't have to anything special except set the drive as bootable in the BIOS once hooking it up. Setting the controller to RAID mode when there is not going to be a RAID doesn't help at all, and might prevent installation without a driver disk handy.

 

*After* the install is done, he should install the nVidia nForce drivers, which will replace the windows drivers, and give him the features that the windows drivers won't -- like NCQ and hot-swap.

 

Hi there.

 

Hi Prideslayer.

 

Well , last post  :... i've downloaded the user's manual ( french version F3611)  it is a pdf format .

 

Page 2-7 ...  there is a graphic , " Connecteurs internes " , point 3 : Connecteurs Serial ATA ICH9R (7-pin SATA 1-6) ---> page 2-33 " .... no need go far away : all Intel based chipset from these last years ,  requier AHCI mode to run in RAID .

 

And Windows7 doesn't need a specific driver for this controller ... it already "know" this one ( and that's already true with the Release Candidate version in 2008.

 

With the intel based chipset ( from these last years) I'm sure that when the Bios is set on RAID mode and if there is no  raid disk installed , these disks act as an AHCI disk .

 

All my computers run in AHCI and/or RAID mode ( with and without RAID Disks) without problem with Windows7 ... the only driver needed was for XP operating system installed in dual or tripple-boots.

 

But once again it's better to set the BIOS in this mode before installing an operating system . If you need to switch in AHCI or RAID mode after the operating systel is already there , yes in this case you need to install a proper driver before set the Bios in another mode.

 

Cheers.

 

What else ?

 

http://www.asus.com/fr/Motherboards/Striker_II_Formula/HelpDesk_Manual/

 

@ RockMic : glad all is alright .

 

 

 

 

 

[prideslayer]

The poster does not have an ICHR based board, he has an nVidia nForce based board. Did you download the wrong manual? Your link is correct -- but in the users manual for that board (english or french, I checked both) "AHCI" is not mentioned, and there's no diagram on the pages you're talking about.

 

There is no ICH9R (or any other intel southbridge) on that board.

 

No nForce chipsets have, or ever have had, AHCI.

 

french:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/Striker_II_Formula/StrikerII_Formula_manual_F3611.zip

 

english:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/Striker_II_Formula/StrikerII_Formula_manual_E3611.zip

[AnnaFly]

Hi.

 

... ;°) ... well , sorry but take a look by yourself : page 2-7 ( = 35/188)  ... (it's the same page in the english version , but  point 3 mention only " 3.Serial ATA connectors (7 pin serial1-6)    2-33 ..."

 

But in the "french manual" the mention for that point number 3 is " 3. Connecteurs Serial ATA ICH9R (7- pin  sata 1-6)    2-33 ...." , so now the only thing i can do is to check the "570i Nforce" chipset ( and not the 780i) datasheet to know exactly if it use the ICH9R contoller or not.

 

Cheers .

 

PS : by the past i've already found some mystakes in different Asus "User's Manual" ... the first one was with my P5K-E-Wifi where it was impossible to understand the english version for witch driver to use to create an AHCI "floppy disk" before the installation of XP operating system.

 

There was a confusion between a 64 bits operating system and a 64 bits CPU !!! My first driver was wrong because of that , and the installation fail of course.

StrikerII_Formula_manual_F3611.zip

[prideslayer]

It doesn't use the ICH9R, or any other ICH!!!

 

No nForce chipset uses any intel southbridge -- it's using an nVidia southbridge.. which is called nForce!

[RockMic]

Well, and this closed the speech with AHCI.
Thanks again for your valuable time.