Adding Drive to existing amd bios array

[Trugman]

HI
I have a 990fx ud3 rev 4 with a fx 8350 black edition cpu.

I have an existing raid array set up in the bios using the AMD controller on SATA 0-3
I say 'existing'  by that I mean I have two WD Blacks in raid 0  on 1 and 2 and  0 and 3
are different drives that are not in part of a raid. Another black and a red for storage.
My query is as to what to do with my  Plextor PX-128M5P (128GB)SDD 6Gb drive.

After reading some posts on here I understand that I can just put it onto  port 0
and it will be treated as an AHCI  drive although the drives 0 -3 have a bios raid controller
handling those ports ?

For best performance of this new drive what would be the suggested port for it to reside on?
I don't use any DVD or other internal SATA devices on this build so happy to put it on 4 or 5.

Also I was planning on getting another WD Black to match the 'spare' one that is currently not
a part of an array.It is on port  port 3.   I was wondering/hoping that I could populate the 0 and 3 bays that currently are
not acting as a raid  drive  with a matching pair of Blacks and then by pressing f4 create another raid 1 or
raid 0 from that new matching pair without having to re instal windows etc.

I will  be using ATTO  to benchmark  as I read on here it was rather good

Cheers  in advance for any help.


Thanks in advance.  I

[autotech]

The best is port 0. But you can try a different port and benchmark it to see if it handles it well. Are you planning on putting windows on it instead of your raid 0?

[Trugman]

    I will put windows onto the sdd as a single  alone drive on port 0   the raid will stay where it is on the next two ports.  1 + 2    It seems like it will need no further tinkering with     I will run some tests before I go ahead and install my editing software and all the plug ins etc.  Likely while I am getting readings I will see what happens if I move it around different ports... just to see

[Trugman]

Actually I just realised  something.  I might want two raids later. Likely I will.  Think best to start afresh and put the SDD onto 4 or 5     
I might post any results of any difference between port 0 and 5   

[autotech]

Use ATTO to benchmark your SSD.

[Trugman]

I did that.    It is on port 0    this is the reading.  Just about the same as the two blacks on raid 0 (J in the second image)    if they have attached that is.

I don't know if that is running half of what is should or not?

All the drivers and updates etc are up to date and the latest.

[Trugman]

Maybe that's right  ?

[Trugman]

Quick update
I did update the firmware on the SDD    and a small page file is on another drive    no  auto defrag or system restore etc... if anything the readings are a bit slower after the update. The bios on the mobo is f2

[Trugman]

K
I  cleared the raid settings by flashing the bios ....same version    and this is the
reading now.   The read speeds are increased.
Not sure what to do next

[autotech]

Do you have your ssd set to AHCI?  What type and brand of SSD is it ?

[Trugman]

It is a plextor m5 pro extreme 128 gig.   Whatever combination of port or raid array  I set up in bios. Wherever I put it it the fastest reading is 350 read and about about 300 write.  As soon as I wipe the raid in Bios and enable aAHCI instead the readings jump up to over 500 read. Write stays around the same.
I am no novice and I have spent hours on this. It is the reason I bought the board and SDD. I have updated firmware on the drive. I will wipe the CMOS tomorrow and do  fresh install. But then again that is just repeating what I did before... I have used drivers from the mobo cd and also from the web .
I am all out of ideas.  Annoying to say the least.

[Trugman]

Why would I have it set to AHCI if I want raid anyway?   When it is set to AHCI then it performs roughly as intended. Any hint of a raid and it performs exactly the same as the Caviar Blacks  it slows right down. I delete the raid and lose that and it goes right up to 550 read.
It is a motherboard issue.

[autotech]

I agree it is the motherboard BUT  it only has 1 controller.  Mine has an intel controller on 6 ports and marvell controller on other sata ports.  So I can run AHCI on my marvel controller and run raid on my intel controller. Or vice versa but I have 2 SSD on intel controller in raid 0 and get advertised speeds. So is a problem that needs more brains than I have. Maybe Absic or dark mantis can come in and reply might be something im missing.

You cant do that because you bought a board with only one controller. That is my guess

[Trugman]

Looks that way.  Thanks for you help though.   Looks like mine are all on the same controller. It has a couple of e sata 3 external that take a marvel controller.     I gave up and went windows raid in the end. The benchmarks for that raid were just about the same as the bios raid. In fact a bit faster. The SDD is at its working speed.   So I can live with that for now.