Anyone run 4x 512GB SSD in RAID-0, plus a 512GB NVMe for OS, on an AB350M Pro4?

[VirtualLarry]

Just curious if this is doable, running the OS (Windows 10 Pro 64-bit) off of a 512GB NVMe drive, and then running 4x 512GB SATA MLC SSDs in RAID-0 for data.

Yeah, I probably should just bite the bullet, and use a single 2TB SSD instead, really. But I got these four 512GB SSDs for $45 ea., so the overall cost was less than a 2TB SSD would be.

Or maybe I should just wait to deploy, until I can afford just a 2TB SSD for the whole deal? ($250 by BF maybe?)

I currently have a 240GB primary OS SATA SSD, and a 4TB SATA data HDD.

Edit: Or maybe I should consider updating the mobo? (I think that B350 boards generally only have four SATA ports, two 6G off of the SoC, and two off of the chipset..)

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Of course it's doable. The AB350M Pro4 has 4x SATA ports with RAID support (or just software RAID them) and an M.2 slot (yes, it has a second M.2 slot, but that's disabled if you use SATA port 3).

Whether it's a good idea, depends on what you'll be using it for.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, my experience with an AM3+ board was, that it had different, separate RAID BIOSes, for UEFI boot mode, versus Legacy/CSM. The Legacy/CSM boot mode RAID BIOS, was straightforward and easy to use with a text-mode GUI. The UEFI RAID BIOS, required complex UEFI shell commands to get it to work, and there was pretty-much NO documentation on it. Likewise, the Legacy RAID BIOS, was limited in the capacity of volumes and disk capacities that it utilize, whereas the UEFI one had pretty-much the sky's the limit on capacities, but were so complex, you needed to be a BIOS programmer to understand it all.

Edit: The corollary to all of that is, normally, you have to set UEFI boot mode to use NVMe SSDs, which, given my AM3+ ASRock board experience, meant that trying to use the UEFI RAID BIOS (command based), would be a largely futile endevour.

Thus, on a practical basis, can you utilize both NVMe boot, and SATA RAID?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well, my experience with an AM3+ board was, that it had different, separate RAID BIOSes, for UEFI boot mode, versus Legacy/CSM. The Legacy/CSM boot mode RAID BIOS, was straightforward and easy to use with a text-mode GUI. The UEFI RAID BIOS, required complex UEFI shell commands to get it to work, and there was pretty-much NO documentation on it. Likewise, the Legacy RAID BIOS, was limited in the capacity of volumes and disk capacities that it utilize, whereas the UEFI one had pretty-much the sky's the limit on capacities, but were so complex, you needed to be a BIOS programmer to understand it all.

Edit: The corollary to all of that is, normally, you have to set UEFI boot mode to use NVMe SSDs, which, given my AM3+ ASRock board experience, meant that trying to use the UEFI RAID BIOS (command based), would be a largely futile endevour.

Thus, on a practical basis, can you utilize both NVMe boot, and SATA RAID?

Page 11? http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/RAID/AB350M Pro4/English.pdf