Better to simplify use of mobo resources? Intel plus Marvell controllers . .

[BonzaiDuck]

I have an ISRT configuration that I will soon move to a standalone 840-Pro while changing the Intel BIOS "RAID-Mode" to AHCI.

Besides the accelerated drive, I have a drive used mostly for DVR captures and the Media Center buffer -- in AHCI-mode with the onboard Marvell controller of my Z68 board.

If I move the disk to the Intel controller and disable the Marvell, would I then free up motherboard resources with greater prospects for "total stability?"

I might just jettison the currently-"accelerated" HDD, and clone the other (Marvell-connected) HDD to a bigger drive. So as far as the "resources" used by the Intel controller, nothing would change there. . . .

 

[BadThad]

I'm always for disabling any integrated hardware (in BIOS) that you don't use. It probably won't affect stability but it certainly removes the potential for problems.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm always for disabling any integrated hardware (in BIOS) that you don't use. It probably won't affect stability but it certainly removes the potential for problems.

And so I plan on doing it. For an add-in PCI-E controller, I've recently found the Marvell 9230 chip worthy of a thumbs-up. But ASUS had incorporated so many deluxe options in their board that any problem you try to troubleshoot raises suspicions of saturated resources, conflicts etc.

I went through a short spate of trouble with the Asmedia USB3 onboard controller. It seemed to be working fine for so many months, then reported that it "didn't have the resources" to accommodate the USB3 hub I'd connected.

As long as I've persisted in my "simplify" campaign, things seem to get incrementally better.

 

[Z15CAM]

As BadThad says DISABLE all MB Interfaces your not using - This frees up IRQ Address Resources for other ports Win attempts to assign. Sometimes Driver conflicts can cause what your experience. If this occurs check Device Mgr for the other Device it's conflicting with and try different drivers. Sometimes you may have to assigning IRQ Address manually in Bios but generally disabling unused MB Ports works.

 

[Ketchup]

Since your board has two 6Gb/s SATA connectors via the Intel chip, I would just disable the Marvell and JMicron controllers.

I don't know that latency would be very noticeable on modern boards, but one less thing to worry about (and install drivers for) is always a good thing IMO.