Boot SSD, 2x HDD, Win7 --> best setup? XHD? Does RAID controller handle ODD?

[Mark]

I've got the GA-P55-UD6 (this one is not the P55A) and I want to install Win7 on a 60GB SDD.

I've also got 2x 500GB Hard Disk Drives that I want to run in some form of Rad0 mode.

I'm trying to figure out the best long-term setup for the SDD and the HDDs.

There are three controllers available:
SATA2_0/1/2/3/4/5 -- a six-channel thing that can do RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10.
GSATA2_0/1 a  two-channel thing that can do RAID 0 or 1
GSATA2_2/3 also a two-channel thing that can do RAID 0 or 1.

Currently I'm using GSATA2_2/3 on the ESATA bracket.
I have a Blu-Ray drive on GSATA2_0, and the computer-case ESATA on GSATA2_1

I want to use SATA2 as a raid controller, but I don't want complications with Win7, in installation or use.

My idea is to move the Blu-Ray drive onto SATA2_5 and just hope the RAID controller doesn't mess with it, and to put the SDD on GSATA2_0 and leave that in a non-raid configuration, leaving me five slots total on SATA2.

Does that make sense?

[bmd1101]

I've got the GA-P55-UD6 (this one is not the P55A) and I want to install Win7 on a 60GB SDD.

I've also got 2x 500GB Hard Disk Drives that I want to run in some form of Rad0 mode.

I'm trying to figure out the best long-term setup for the SDD and the HDDs.

There are three controllers available:
SATA2_0/1/2/3/4/5 -- a six-channel thing that can do RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10.
GSATA2_0/1 a  two-channel thing that can do RAID 0 or 1
GSATA2_2/3 also a two-channel thing that can do RAID 0 or 1.

Currently I'm using GSATA2_2/3 on the ESATA bracket.
I have a Blu-Ray drive on GSATA2_0, and the computer-case ESATA on GSATA2_1

I want to use SATA2 as a raid controller, but I don't want complications with Win7, in installation or use.

My idea is to move the Blu-Ray drive onto SATA2_5 and just hope the RAID controller doesn't mess with it, and to put the SDD on GSATA2_0 and leave that in a non-raid configuration, leaving me five slots total on SATA2.

Does that make sense?

Yes the raid controller supports ODD's, and I would suggest putting all your ODD's and RAID0 array on SATA2 while your SSD is on the 6gb/s controller. You shouldn't have any problems installing windows or anything like that at all.