A7V133 and Q's regarding: Swiftech MC462, Promise RAID chip/drivers

[canadianpsycho]

Hey all,

wondering if anyone has an A7V133 with one of those king kong MC462 HS+F... Mine is coming soon, and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to install it, or any problems they might have encountered. Kind of nervous about screwing that puppy down onto my mobo/cpu.

My main Questions are regarding setting up a RAID array.

I've now got 2 identical 30 gig ATA 66 Maxtors, and want to try this out. Here's my questions:

-How can I go about determining if my Promise chip has the proper drivers? Is there any sort of firmware or BIOS for the RAID controller? AM I better off with the 1004 1005a BIOS for the Asus mobo?

-What's better performancewise: A/V, Desktop or Server settings? I don't handle huge files a lot, so I don't think I need worry about A/V. I use my rig for OCing and gaming, mostly.

-If I take my current boot drive (btw, I'm using WinME) and set up the array, will the array formatting take care of a sufficient format for the drives? I take it I will still need a boot disk to load the OS?

-Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks folks, I'd really love some feedback, going to try this out this weekend.

Wish me luck .

 

[luigi]

Hi,

from what i have heard the MC462 makes no problems on A7V133.
The best drivers can be found at the ASUS website.
The bios or firmware for the raid controller is built-in in the
motherborad-bios and ASUS didn´t change it from 1004 to 1005A.
I don´t know if A/V, Desktop or Server settings are better, but
maybe you can find some hints in the raid article here at anandtech.
WinME installation is done the same way as always, just use the right
drivers; there are different ones for ATA and raid operation.
If you want to put more than 2 drives in an array or you want to do
drive mirroring you will need a modified bios for the promise because ASUS
has decided to limit the functionality.
You can find such a bios at braziliantech.com for example.

Good luck !

 

[Elvis2]

Can't help you with your raid question but I plan on installing my MC-462 on my A7V133 today when my 1.4 gig 'bird arrives. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[canadianpsycho]

Anyone else with some RAID advice?

Thanks for the replies so far...

 

[chainbolt]

The fastest performnave is achieved in RAID O "A/V". The drivers for the Promise controller (I guess it's the Fasttrack 100 Lite) should be provided by Asus. Promise itself DOES NOT have them on their webside.

The necessary drivres (make sure to understand the installation procedure, which is different for W2K and ME) are on the CD. The explanation how to set up the array on the LITE with the Lire controller is in the manual.

I'm sure you are aware how make to the Lite a full fledged one? The Lite offers only 0 or 1, but not 0+1, and you can hook on only 2 HDD, and not 4, what kicks ass. There is a simple hack to enable the crippeld controller.