Intel RST or RSTe for GA-X79-UD3?

[Kain]

I have the GA-X79-UD3 and thinking about getting Windows 8 Pro. I will be doing a fresh install if I decide to get Windows 8 Pro. I noticed that the most recent BIOS for my motherboard allows me to install either RST or RSTe drivers. I've heard that the RSTe drivers have a tendency to cause BSODs under Windows 8. Basically, my question is, should I install the RST drivers or the RSTe drivers? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? I've been told that the RST drivers offer greater performance. Is this true? Under what conditions should I install the RST drivers and under what conditions should I install the RSTe drivers?

[Scracy]

Personally i would use Rst and not Rste as i have tried both and found Rst to offer much better performance than Rste. Also with the latest Gigabyte X79  Bios releases TRIM is now supported which is essential particularly in Raid 0. I have 2 intel 520 series SSD in Raid 0 and can confirm that the Intel SSD toolbox works which helps recover disk speed. When i was running Rste i had a read speed of around 740Mb/s sequential with Rst and the same drives i get 910Mb/s read speed sequential and thats with the drives at about 25% of their capacity.....so yeah go with Rst.

[Kain]

Thanks. So, why did Intel create RSTe in the first place? Are there things you can do with RSTe that you cannot with RST?

[Scracy]

Rste is simply a more enterprise orientated Raid set up basically it under goes far more extensive testing since its in an enterprise environment. Rst is more performance based rather than ultimate reliability. X79 is essentially a enterprise platform thats been adapted to desktop use hence why its the only desktop platform that can also use Rste.

[Kain]

Ah, ok.

One last question (hopefully!), when I go to GIGABYTE's Web site and visit the page for the GA-X79-UD3, if I go to "Support & Downloads" and select "Download type" as "driver" and the OS as Windows 8 64-bit, there is a Hot fix that needs to be installed if I install the RST drivers instead of the RSTe drivers. What is this Hot fix? Why isn't it shown if I select Windows 7 64-bit as the OS?

Secondly, with Windows 8 64-bit as the OS selected, there is a download named:

Intel SATA Preinstall driver
(For AHCI / RAID Mode)
Note: Press F6 during Windows setup to read from floppy

What is this? Does Windows 8 not come with AHCI drivers?

Lastly, the RST drivers shown for my motherboard on GIGABYTE's Web site are not the latest ones. Will there be a problem if I install the latest ones from Intel's Web site? Will I also have to install that Hot fix from GIGABYTE's Web site for Windows 8 or is it only compatible with the RST driver version provided on GIGABYTE's Web site?

[Scracy]

Ah, ok.

One last question (hopefully!), when I go to GIGABYTE's Web site and visit the page for the GA-X79-UD3, if I go to "Support & Downloads" and select "Download type" as "driver" and the OS as Windows 8 64-bit, there is a Hot fix that needs to be installed if I install the RST drivers instead of the RSTe drivers. What is this Hot fix? Why isn't it shown if I select Windows 7 64-bit as the OS?

Secondly, with Windows 8 64-bit as the OS selected, there is a download named:

Intel SATA Preinstall driver
(For AHCI / RAID Mode)
Note: Press F6 during Windows setup to read from floppy

What is this? Does Windows 8 not come with AHCI drivers?

Lastly, the RST drivers shown for my motherboard on GIGABYTE's Web site are not the latest ones. Will there be a problem if I install the latest ones from Intel's Web site? Will I also have to install that Hot fix from GIGABYTE's Web site for Windows 8 or is it only compatible with the RST driver version provided on GIGABYTE's Web site?

Not sure why there is a hotfix for windows 8 honestly im not that familiar with windows 8 but i assume its a patch of some sorts to allow compatibility. If you use Rst you wont need the F6 floppy driver as that is used for Rste as windows 7 it self doesnt have a pre install driver for this mode so if you use Rst windows will install without any issues. I assume you are going to use a raid configuration? Once you have windows 8 loaded on your drive you simply use the intel driver from their site version 11.7.... i think thats the latest one,the one on gigabytes site version 11.6.... is now out dated. To install the new driver simply go into device manager click on devices and look for raid controllers....then double click that and there will be an option to update driver windows may find the new driver but probably would pay you to load it yourself from a usb stick or something. You probably wont need the hotfix from gigabyte as i think driver 11.7... allows windows 8 compatibility that driver 11.6 didnt.

[Kain]

Thanks.

Any idea when the latest BIOS for my motherboard, which is the F12p, will come out of beta status? I want it to be a final release before updating.

[Scracy]

Not sure about when your bios would come out of beta. My bios is f3p which is also a beta bios but i have had no issues with it. I would say that since yours is a p bios ie:ends with p like mine theres a good chance it is very close to being the final version if not the final version. Give it try if its got issues just reflash the bios if you need to. The only real difference between f3p on my board is that they added the Rst orom and not just the Rste orom.

[Kain]

Thanks.

I'll wait a bit and if it still hasn't come out of beta, I'll probably just flash it.

By the way, I see that you are running an overclocked 3930K and two GTX 690s on a AX860i. I have the AX850 and want to know if it will allow me to do the same. I only have one SSD and one HDD.

Here are the complete specs of my desktop:

Intel Core i7-3930K
Corsair Hydro Series H100 with 2 x Scythe GentleTyphoon 1850 rpm fans
GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3
16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Classified
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD
Crucial m4 256 GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB
Pioneer BDR-206DBK
Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D
Samsung SyncMaster S23A700D
Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500
Microsoft SideWinder X4
Logitech G9x
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

[Scracy]

Actually im only running 1 gtx690 as they are effectively 2 gtx 680 in sli sorry that might seem miss leading. Ax850 is actually the power supply i had prior to buying the ax860i,bought the ax860i as it was compatible with corsair link which i have also installed (link cooling kit) which allows me to monitor temp,adjust fan speeds etc,pretty cool. Seems you have the same sound card too! Ax850 wont have enough power to run 2 gtx690 you would need something like an ax1200i to do that. With corsair link i can monitor how much power my system is drawing and gives you a percentage of power used (about 85% effecient) at idle my set up draws around 200Watts. For the system you are building the ax850 would be fine,you could probably run 2 gtx680 in sli before you would need to upgrade the power supply. Nice setup by the way should perform very well.