Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R v2 and ssd SATA III

[underdosed]

heya all

I have a new OCZ Agility 3 (SATA III) drive conected on one of the marvell ports, in ACHI Mode

But, the drivei is working really slowly, not really close to the SATA III speed.

I see the drivers on the webpage from gigabyte are really old

Are the any other drivers to solve this issue ?

Thanks!!

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

That is your problem the fact that you have connected it up to the marvell 9128 port. Although this is supposed to be SATA3 6GB it never made the grade and is actually slower than the Intel ICH10R ports which are SATA2. I would suggest moving it to SATA2_0 if it is your boot drive although you can't expect SATA3 speeds it is the fastest you can expect off this board.

[Aussie Allan]

 Unfortunately.......DM is Sooooooooooooooooooooooo correct..........the only alternative bar a new M/B is a PCI-E SATAIII Raid card, ... if you want to utilize the full spec/speed of your new toy .... these are the only alternatives at present.

 Ive been researching the Marvell sager for months now..... Personally I don't think the 9128 chip will ever be fixed with Firmware or drivers!

  Even there own engineers using there own SSD prototype got to 330 Mb/s........there's a video clip on there website you can watch of a live test with benchmarks........can't believe there put it up in the first place!

  Aussie Allan

[Tinker]

This is  a bitter blow reading this thread. I have just swopped from Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R due to memory problems. Only ever programmed with Win 7 Ultimate X86 & 64 bit now due to be returned for repair. Though perfectly stable to program never had any use.

Just installed the GA-X58A-UD3R V2 & my problem was how to use the SATA 3.0 to set bios so that I could have one drive as master & the 2nd to slave.
All is set to IDE & don't want raid. Am a bit lost with WDC mode but can't get PC to boot if using two drives, master is set to channel 7 but  channels
keep altering when I add 2nd drive or alter bios.

This all now seems a waste of time & a bit of a con selling a product that does not comply. I purchased this board as it was near enough a straight
swop from earlier one, wiring etc., plus SATA 3 & USB 3. I have 3 removable drive bays. 1xIDE 2xSATA3. Use IDE for cloning or testing software.
Can also clone SATA to SATA & also wanted Floppy.

Tried before board change the Manhatten SATA 6Gb/s PCI Express card looks like Marvell 9128 chip. Used one channel only as far as Win test no increase
in speed. Wondering if I can send that back.

Joined this thread as it seemed appropriate so hope correct & any feedback appreciated.

Regards tinker.

 

[Dark Mantis]

This wasn't Gigabyte's fault it was an industry wide problem caused by Marvell. All manufacturers who used this chip had the same issue. I must admit to thinking along the same lines as you though as far as being mis-sold on the specs. I, like many others I suspect, also purchased SATA3 6GB drives on the promise of that rating.

You would be better off using AHCI mode anyway as it will enable "hot swapping" with your removeable drive bays and a performance increase.

[Aussie Allan]

 Again ditto on DMs thoughts

  If it's any consolation..... bar the industry wide problem with this 9128 chip ... these are a bloody good board...clock well, stable, and perform at the very top end of the X58 class platforms............ if you want not 2 , but 4 ports that will run at SATA3 spec...... I purchased a 4 port HighPiont RocketRaid 640 PCI-E card .... I was hesitant at first on opening the box to find not one but two! 9128 chips on the card .... but it did work .... and at speed.......currently I have 4 SpinPoints (502HJ I think) in Raid0 that clock out 540Mb/s read.......530Mb/s Write....not bad for 4 SATAII Drives

  The gem is this card is boot-able out of the box if you want it that way.......other good features

  Means you have 4xSATA3 ports for your present board and the next

 Works for AMD or INTEL Platforms.

 Bootable

 Is the cheapest SATA3 compliant card on the market..... I think Scan have them for about 120 fun tickets..... Money well spent for me!

 Aussie Allan

[Tinker]

Thanks to DM & Allan for the replies. This so far has proved to be a very expensive PC as had to dump 2x3
memory sticks 6gb. As well as new Motherboard. Purchased 12 gb of 1600 at almost half the price of 6gb.
Also swopped 2 new Icy Box 3gb for 6gb version (handy to open a flap for drive change.) So SATA 3 is a
very sore point with me as also have 1 terrabyte & 500gb drives SATA 3.

I usually only run one drive at a time but my setup is versatile. Always keep very little on drives, all kept
on USB or network drive. Avoid OC as like VERY quiet PCs so large fans & controllers. Thats why I aim
for fast PCs that run near standard.

Will take a look at Rocket card, as my supplier was out of stock for Motherboard purchased from Scan.
I originally searched net for PCI Express card, the only ones found were Asus for Asus & Manhatten.
With mine I installed drivers using SATA 2 then Manhatten card, though says plug & play.  Cost near 40
but postage was expensive. Just wondering if I should retry card 1 chip 2 outputs. Didn't alter Win 7
5.9 drive score though. Rest is 7.5 & 7.4. Will also take a look at ACHI mode. I have also found later
drivers for Marvell.

Regards tinker.
 

[Dark Mantis]

Didn't alter Win 7  WEI 5.9 drive score though.

It doesn't matter what drives you run if they are magnetic media you cannot get a score higher than 5.9 on the WEI. Even running them in a RAID0 will still amount to 5.9. The only way to score more is to use an SSD. My Revo x2 is 7.9 on the WEI and my Corsair Performance SSD is 7.2.

[Tinker]

@ Dark Mantis, thanks for the added information. Read some more info on add on cards, seems you need
the larger Express card for more lanes to work properly & they appear to be for raid. Have the spare 16x.

Also read as you commented am using  WD Caviar Black. Lucky if you get full SATA 2. Think I will take
your advice & use SATA 2 as add on cards at present add quite a bit on boot up time. Time to call it a
day, do some minor memory tweaks & wait until SATA 3 is sorted & cheaper. Again the drive makers
should be done by the trading standards.

Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

The SATA3 on the new boards P67 and Z68 chipsets work fine and Intel now has it integrated so it is more reliable too. I am now running SATA3 RAID0 with the Blacks and they have been great with no problems at all.   

[Tinker]

Thanks for the update  Dark Mantis but...apart from cost, as 2 boards in don't think I could face a 3rd rebuild.
It's a pain refiitting Zalman heatsink & run out of sticky spacers !!

Just hope they bring out a better SATA 3 add on card.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

I don't actually use an add-on card but I understand some of them work well. Besides think of all the fun you will be missing out on by not doing another build! 

[Tinker]

@Dark Mantis, if you paid for it would put it under consideration. 


Regards tinker.