GA-X58A-UD3R (2.0) and 3TB harddrives?

[ApolloX]

Does the GA-X58A-UD3R (revision 2.0) running the latest BIOS (Fh3) and a 64-bit OS support 3TB on a single partition? Or does it need to be split into separate partitions?

[Aussie Allan]

   NTFS will only support up to 2TB (Some say 2.2TB what-ev-er) ........ if you want a single partition...........you will have to format and use the newer GPT from the onset (loading windows).....or have 2....3 ....4 or more partitions under NTFS.

  Both of these options will become avalible when you are loading up windows ....when asked "Do you want to format prior to install" ....you say ...."Yes Please".....and choose which one you want to use .....

  Aussie Allan

[ApolloX]

I'm not planning to use it as a boot drive.  In that case, it will support a single partition in Windows 7-bit?

[Aussie Allan]

  Yes!..... but if you  format the 3TB drive as NTFS ..... it will only show and use up to 2.2TBs of the 3TBs under NTFS as a single partition ....or two partitions at say 1.5TBs each...........or a single 3TB drive partition under GPT

  is that any clearer ?

  Aussie Allan

[ApolloX]

Yep.  With GPT, I should have no problems running 3TB as a single partition.  Thanks!

Any downsides to GPT vs NTFS?

[Aussie Allan]

  Only upsides really...... it's just the next gen really........FAT16.........then it was FAT32.....NTFS and now GPT

  If you throw 500,000TB drives at it.....it'll eat em up 

  Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

  Only upsides really...... it's just the next gen really........FAT16.........then it was FAT32.....NTFS and now GPT

  If you throw 500,000TB drives at it.....it'll eat em up 

  Aussie Allan

It might take a while to format though!!!

[ApolloX]

Does anyone know if the Intel Matrix Storage Console will work with 3tb drivers?  I want to set up 2 drives, one as primary and one as recovery.

[Dark Mantis]

The Intel Matrix Storage is now superceded by the Intel Rapid Storage Technology.

[ApolloX]

I meant is 3TB supported using Intel Matrix Storage without buying a new motherboard.

[Aussie Allan]

    It's purely software.... and you will not need a new motherboard ..... besides changing the name ..... it's still the good old Intel matrix storage manager and console software, ......now called "Rapid Storage Console" ...... desktop interface is a bit clipped for my liking but in reality it does the same job and does it well.

  Aussie Allan

[ApolloX]

Discovered after upgrading that Intel Recovery drive option (either in Bios or using the Windows software) only works with a maximum of 1.3 TB drives.  The RAID1 opiton is still available, but I'm disappointed that the Recovery one is not as I find it more useful than raid for backups since it allowed viewing of recovery drive with updates on demand.

[Aussie Allan]

  Have a look at "Acronis 2012" ... it's a payed for but nothing comes even close for versatility and brute performance as a total backup/clone software package.....add the "Plus-Pack" to it and you can even copy a clone to another machine .... it's saved my Bacon on several occasions.

  Aussie Allan ....