GA-X58A-UD3R rev 1.0 BIOS

[Tinker]

The problem I have is use this PC for multipurpose. Keep different drives & programs. Use it for cloning drives,
fdisk/mbr, security wipes. Its so handy to be able to use my older IDE drives for testing progs. Also have
Win 7 Ultimate x86 & x64. Will keep XP on a drive for older progs though am mainly on win 7 now. This was
my oldest PC that is a tall thin padded tower & put a lot of work modding case enlarging fan in & outlets. Added
card reader, fan controllers & had to cut padding out in part to get heatsink & graphics card in. Thats why I
purchased this board as was close to last new one that will probably not get used again when I get back
from repair. Also couldn't use a larger case due to setup.

Have a 4 PC networked setup crammed in a small room. An Antec/ Gigabyte PC I built, very quiet & used mainly
for net. Plus 2 ShuttleXP, one used mainly for dling the other for DVDs. 2 HD Monitors & KVM switches + TV-PC
monitor for multi Satellite. Being a novice doesn't help. !!! Apart from that have spent a lot of time researching
add on cards that won't work with X58 so not too pleased with Gigabyte. looks like I will have to settle for a
single SATA 2 solid state drive providing a 3.5 case is available to plug it in.
(is it worth trying to update Marvell chip)

Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Tinker,

Don't waste your time on trying to udgrade the Marvell chip, there is nothing apart from using the latest drivers that is going to make a blind bit of difference. Just use the SATA2_0 for the boot drive and you will get good speeds and reliability.

[Tinker]

Thanks for the reply Dark Mantis, may have come up with a compromise. Will need an SSD drive & some test
software to check drive performance.
Tried the following, 3 drive bays mainly 1 drive used at a time.

1: Ide drive bay.
2: SATA 2 drive bay.
3: SATA 3 drive bay using Manhatten PCI Express card in Graphic 2 slot. Fast seek time on boot.

Booted with SATA 2 & installed Marvell drivers on drive that has to be wiped.
After plugging into bay 3 drive boots. Then put drive back in bay 2 & SATA drive with XP on
in bay three & it boots showing bay 3 as D:/ which is what I want. XP OS is from another PC.

Things I have to find out now. What SSD, can I get case to replicate a standard 3.5 drive
to plug into ICY BOX as drive plugs straight into these without added outer caddy.
Also may try Highpoint Rocket 620 non raid card. Not sure yet if Manhatten actually works
as SATA 3 without test software which I have to find. As already said WD Black SATA 6 shows no
improvement on Win 7 test.

Any advice appreciated.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

When you come to do the testing ATTO is the recognised program especially for SSDs. Don't forget that SSDs do not like being benchmarked etc too often so don't overdo it.

[Tinker]

Thanks for the info DM. Still a lot to learn about SSD.


Regards Tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

As do we all I am sure especially as it is a new technology and will be evolving fast. Things move fast enough in our world as it is but things like SSDs go along at a sprint!