GA-790FXTA-UD5 optimisation for SSD system drive

[absic]

Hi

thanks Venganza for the info and I am always willing to learn more, but it is a little strange that on my 790XTA-UD4 the SATA3 does actually work faster than SATA2. Not in RAID mode, I admit, (although it may have improved with the last BIOS update, I haven't tested it) but in IDE or AHCI the speed is noticeably better. And I can only offer advice from my own experience.

I will read through the article that you have linked to with interest.

[venganza]

Hi

thanks Venganza for the info and I am always willing to learn more, but it is a little strange that on my 790XTA-UD4 the SATA3 does actually work faster than SATA2. Not in RAID mode, I admit, (although it may have improved with the last BIOS update, I haven't tested it) but in IDE or AHCI the speed is noticeably better. And I can only offer advice from my own experience.

I will read through the article that you have linked to with interest.

Oh well AMD uses a different controller, and incidentally you MUST use AHCI on the AMD or Trim won't work, and you do want it to be operational right?

The AMD controller is superior to the Marvel I find in many ways, although sustained speed is not quite as good from tests I have seen.

[thx1138]

Hi

thanks Venganza for the info and I am always willing to learn more, but it is a little strange that on my 790XTA-UD4 the SATA3 does actually work faster than SATA2. Not in RAID mode, I admit, (although it may have improved with the last BIOS update, I haven't tested it) but in IDE or AHCI the speed is noticeably better. And I can only offer advice from my own experience.

I will read through the article that you have linked to with interest.

Oh well AMD uses a different controller, and incidentally you MUST use AHCI on the AMD or Trim won't work, and you do want it to be operational right?

The AMD controller is superior to the Marvel I find in many ways, although sustained speed is not quite as good from tests I have seen.

When you say it's imperative that AHCI is the chosen mode for Trim to work, is that specifically for absic's board or mine also? My chipsets were made by AMD.

[absic]

Hi,

Sorry the issue has become a little clouded.
For your SSD you should use AHCI mode and our boards use the same chipsets for the Southbridge, it's just that your board has a few extra bits on-board and uses the 790FX chipset for the Northbridge. The 790FX Chipset allows you the additional PCI-E lanes that my board doesn't have but otherwise they are are nearly identical.

[venganza]

Yup, AMD = use AHCI, for Intel stuff too

[thx1138]

Hey, I was able to switch to ACHI (moved SSD to SATA 3 ports) without reinstalling Windows by changing the Windows registry prior to switching mode. Only one item in the registry needs to be modified: instructions here.

Does this mean I have a Marvell chip controlling my SSD? And that's a bad thing?

[absic]

Pleased you have been able to get this sorted without too many issues.

Does this mean I have a Marvell chip controlling my SSD? And that's a bad thing?

Your SSD , now being on the SATA3 channels, is being controlled by the Marvell chip. The main problems with this chipset seems to be if you are running RAID and the slower speed this provides in RAID mode compared to SATA2 (which you are not doing). In IDE or AHCI mode this is not a problem so don't worry.

ATB

[venganza]

Hey, I was able to switch to ACHI (moved SSD to SATA 3 ports) without reinstalling Windows by changing the Windows registry prior to switching mode. Only one item in the registry needs to be modified: instructions here.

Does this mean I have a Marvell chip controlling my SSD? And that's a bad thing?

I didn't want to mention hacking registry, as it is not always successful

[absic]

I didn't want to mention hacking registry, as it is not always successful

Have to agree, again but, if it works (and this tweak seems to) it can save a lot of time reconfiguring and then re-installing Windows and other software. However I would always go for the clean install option, it may take a bit longer but there is less chance of screwing things up. 

[Dark Mantis]

That is the problem isn't it. If it works registry hacks are great but if not....You don't get a second chance opnce you've f***ed it up.

[Certifiedaudio]

Can you help me with this configuration...

I have the same board and just recently installed a crucial sata3 ssd drive. Im running it as my boot disk, before I installed a fresh copy of windows 7 I changed the On-Chip SATA Type to AHCI, and the sata 3 port to AHCI...

My question is that I have 2 other internal drives for storage that are not ssd, typical mechanical drives (no raid config). My SSD is on the Sata 3 port (Gsata port 6) ... and the other 2 drives are on the Sata 2 (0 and 1 ports) again no raid....

I ended up going back to the bios after windows was installed and changed the On-Chip Sata to IDE.. port 4/5 to IDE... and the SATA3 PORTS I left as AHCI... Is the proper way to configure the other 2 sata drives? Sometimes I will reboot the system and it wont see the SSD boot drive at all until I put the SATA3 port back on IDE in bios, Reboot, and Go back to the bios and set THE SATA 3 back to AHCI again and configure the boot order to have the SSD drive be the first boot. (seems like this happens when I plug in a external drive and dont eject it before boot)

The "On-Chip Sata" options in bios say its for ports 0-3 (The Sata 2 Ports where my 2 mechanical drives are setup, which is why I put to IDE?)

Im thinking this still may not be correct...Whats the best way to have this set up and what ports should i put the Mechanical drives on if there no raid config? Is it ok that the drives are in Sata2 ports 0 and 1 if they are not in raid config? Reason I ask is because during post it shows port 1 as being a slave channel so dont know if it matters cuz no raid is set... Any help to configure this properly is much appreciated! Thanks   DO I STILL SET THE ON-CHIP SATA TO AHCI EVEN THO THE MECHANICAL SATA 2 DRIVES ARE ON THESE PORTS?

[Certifiedaudio]

Oh and by the way the only drive connected during windows installation was the SSD drive... set to AHCI in bios ... the other SATA2 where plugged in and turned on in bios after the install... so these 2 storage drives where not configured in bios before or during windows install...