GA-X58A-UD3R rev2 Marvell SATA 3 Windows 7 issues

[chilinmichael]

Hi,

New to the board, did a search didn't find the answer I was looking for (or one at all).  Basically, I have two Western Digital Caviar Black editions that are SATA3 6GBPS capable and registered as such in the controller setup in the bios (I even have the correct SATA3 short-length cables).  Windows 7 reports that they are in Ultra DMA Mode 6 and from my understanding, that's not full speed or correct.  The Marvell controller is in IDE mode, and I see it's virtually impossible to now switch to AHCI and that shouldn't even effect anything minus NCQ from what I've seen unless I'm wrong here?

I've checked for drivers, etc.  Is everything right here or what should I do?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte forum.

I am afraid the propblem lies with the Marvell controller chip and the fact that it just doesn't live up to expectations as far as SATA3 goes. It is fine as a SATA2 port controller but just cna't handle the throughput of the SATA3 drives. You are not the first one to have this problem and so far all attempts to rectify it have failed. Moving the controller over to AHCI mode wouldn't help even though it is possible.

The fastest ports on your board are the Intel ICH10R southbridge ones.

[chilinmichael]

Great...

Can I move already set up drives (the ones listed above) over to the Intel controller or will that not work?  Also...will the speed difference really matter on these drives as they aren't even in a RAID array?

Here's the primary:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136544

Secondary:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

[Dark Mantis]

Yes there is nothing stopping you moving these drives over to the Intel ports. Are both sets of ports running under the same mode ie IDE or AHCI ?

Speed is not an issue here as a single drive won't surpass the speed restictions of a SATA2 port.

[chilinmichael]

Yes they are both in the same mode.  The only drive on the Intel port now is my Samsung 12x Blu Ray.  Do you think I'll see a speed increase by doing this (moving the drives over to the Intel) ?

[Dark Mantis]

Yes definitely. I would swap your drives round and put the optical driv eon hte Marvel comntrolled port and the hard drives on the Intel Southbridge ports. You can change them to AHCI if you want to after a registry hack but you won't see much benefit to be honest.

[chilinmichael]

Well, I gave it a try.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice anything as far as during startup, etc...Windows score for the drive was the same (a pathetic to me 5.9) and infact, the Ultra DMA mode on the hard drives both went to 5 compared to the 6 it was at on the Marvell controller.  Thoughts?

[Dark Mantis]

The Windows Experience Index is a total waste of time and it doesn't matter if you run a RAID0 on it you won't get a score of more than 5.9 whilst using magnetic drives. You will have to move up to SSDs for any better scores. It's just a joke really.

You might find that the drives would perform a little better in AHCI mode but you definitely have htem on the faster ports now. If you want to do this then follow these instructions:

1.Exit all Windows-based programs.

2.Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

3.If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.

4.Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesMsahci

5.In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.

6.In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.

7.On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

After this you’ll have to restart your computer, go to BIOS and enable AHCI. When you log in to Windows again, you’ll notice the installation of drivers for AHCI. Another restart will be required to finish the driver installation.

[chilinmichael]

Would there be a reason why the drives are in UDMA mode 5 on the Intel and 6 on the Marvell?

[Dark Mantis]

No I can't really explain why the Marvell should describe them as UDMA6 and the Intel as UDMA5 but I would be more inclined to trust the Intel's reporting after the problems with the Marvell chip.

[chilinmichael]

Well,

You aren't going to believe this, but the fastest controller for me is the Marvell.  I got SiSoft Sandra, something that's very detailed and did read tests on the drive.  I was very thorough, I did on the Intel with AHCI and IDE modes, and on the Marvell with AHCI and IDE modes.  The Marvell scored 111MB/S while the Intel only scored 100-107 respective of the mode.  The Marvell stayed true between IDE and AHCI modes, though my current setup is now AHCI mode on the Marvell controller. 

I guess score one for the Marvell controller...though again I went into this forum and searched a bit, I see the biggest issue with the Marvell is when you are in RAID mode.  I could be wrong...

Thoughts?  Maybe it has to do with the latest BIOS updates that update the firmware for the Marvell?

[Dark Mantis]

If that is what your testing told you that that is fine and as you say you might as well use the Marvell ports for your HDD. Maybe the newer drivers have helped.  However I wouldn't argue about 4-5 MB/s difference to be honest.
RAID0 is definitely a no no for the Marvell as it will keep breaking it and falling over. You would spend all your time repairing the RAID.