Keeping GSATA as AHCI and changing SATA to IDE on Z68X-UD3-B3 ?

[Vapperhiir]

I need to buy new optical device (DVD) because my oled one is IDE connected and new MOBO does not have any IDE connetctions wahtsoever (not complaining, it's the future).
But as I have read and heard that optical devices sometimes are not soo good to run in AHCI mode so they would be better used in IDE mode.

Z68X-UD3-B3 has 4x SATA2 ports, 2x SATA3 ports and 2x GSATA ports.
Currently I have my main HDD plugged to GSATA3_6 port and other two HDD's to SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 ports.

So my question is:
1.Can I somehow change some of SATA2 or one of SATA3 ports to IDE mode from AHCI?  Or I have to change all on SATA2 and SATA3 to IDE and keep GSATA on AHCI?
2. If yes then how could I do it? How to do it if I could change only one of them to IDE? If I cant change one by one then would setting PCH SATA Control mode in TouchBios to IDE enough or do I need to change also something in registry?
I know if I want to change all of them to IDE I need to make change in registry but when I want to chnage just few ports or atleast all ports beside GSATA ( ithink this can be done cos GSATA Control is separately setable in TouchBios).

Or I should just go and buy the SATA to IDE converter from shop? I don't like that idea much as converter itself cost in shop 11,50eur and new optical device is from 14,50 to .... eur. So I think new device would be better and would have SATA connection.
Converter: http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ide+to+sata/Konverter-IDE-SATA-SATA-ja-toitekaabel-komplektis-107982
Optical device 1: http://www.arvutikeskus.ee/est/TOOTEKATALOOG/ARVUTIKOMPONENDID-CD-DVD-Blu-Ray14/SAMSUNG-SH-222AB-BEBE-DVD-RW-22x-DVD-R-SATA-116647

[Vapperhiir]

Srry for double post but there was still no body answering my question and I got another one coming  

So as I have read on this forum (by the way I love hanging out here and reading stuff, very much information) I understand that Marvell chips have problem with delivering right speeds.  
Marvell certain SATA3 chips have problem with delivering speed better that SATAII, I'm not sure if my chip that has different code then ones with problem would perform as it should (my chip Marvell 88SE9172) or has the same problems.
 
But anyway I decided to move my OS drive to SATA3_0 and another drive to SATA3_1 and third drive to SATA2_2. Why? Because SATA3 works of the Z68 chipset and allows also 6Gb/s; 3Gb/s and 1,5Gb/s standard. And I think Z68 chipset should work for sure.
I change cos I get worst (5,9) performance index on windows tool from HDD transfer rate whilst all other things show 7,4-7,5 points.
I think it's worth a shot.
Even though I have older drives, the Maxtor ones should support 3Gb/s transfer (HDD info on my sig. at bottom).

So what I have in question now is that if I just change HDD ports between eachother (just rearange in what ports are they connected) and change boot priority in BIOS would I need to do anything else???

And still earlier question remains - now a bit different but still - can I just change GSATA to IDE thru TouchBios or should I change something in registry to? If I need to change something in registry then how could I change only GSATA to be used in IDE mode(for use of my soon to have optical drive) and all others left to be in AHCI?

Just want to also thank You guys for the grat job You are doing here. Friggin awesome!

[Vapperhiir]

:Bump:

Anybody? Any ideas?

I found out that just swaping sata holes for harddrives is not a problem and I even shouldn't need to change anything in the BIOS.

But question remains about changing GSATA to IDE from BIOS without doing anything elese ...

[absic]

Hi there,

if you have your OS installed on a drive attached to the GSATA ports then you will alos need to tweak the rigistry beofre switching to IDE.

If you only have storage device(s) or DVD/CD drive attached you can switch to IDE without tweaking.

WEI rating of 5.9 for standard (mechanical) HDD drives (SATA2 and SATA3) is the maximum you will ever get, even if you set up drives in a RAID array. The only way to go above this rating is to use an SSD.

[Vapperhiir]

Thanx Absic for reply and info on WEI rating.

Well anyway I'm going to switch my drives to SATA3. OS drive right now is in the GSATA. After switch OSdrive and another drive will be in SATA3 and third drive would be in SATA2.
Then my GSATA would be free for adding DVD/CD drive.

Now maybe You also know what exatly I have to change in registry so I would set ONLY GSATA to IDE and all other ports would be SATA?

I think I should be able to do it as in TouchBios I have 2 different fields to set SATA mode.
Right now it is set as follows:
1. PCH SATA Control Mode - AHCI
2. GSATA3 Controller - enabled
3. GSATA3 Ctrl mode - AHCI

[absic]

Hi again

Moving the 3 HDD's to the SATA3 and SATA2 ports should be straight forward and if your OS has been installed in AHCI Mode you shouldn't need to make any registry changes.

To change the Marvell GSATA ports to IDE all you should need to do is change the setting in TouchBios to IDE (number 3 in your list).

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I agree that that way of configuring the setup is probably the best. Quite often the optical drives will work fine on AHCI mode but it is normally the older drives that occasionally have a problem with it. It doesn't make much of a difference with the performance levels of optical drives so don't worry which one you are using as long as the drive works fine.

[Vapperhiir]

Well I changed the drives to SATA3 and 2 and GSATA is left open right now until i get my optical drive.

Thank You guys AGAIN very much. And thanx for patience with all the newbies like me here

[absic]

Thank You guys AGAIN very much. And thanx for patience with all the newbies like me here

Not a problem and we were all newbies once and had to learn by asking questions. In fact, I still have to ask questions on some things, as technology is advancing so quickly it is often hard to keep up! 

[Dark Mantis]

Yes there is no such thing as an expert, just somebody who has learnt from making more mistakes!

[Thaversonly]

Portability Port 3 SATA3 SATA2 drive, and if the operating system is installed AHCI does not change the registry.

[Dark Mantis]

Portability Port 3 SATA3 SATA2 drive, and if the operating system is installed AHCI does not change the registry.

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you are trying to say. Can you rephrase the question please ?