ICH8 versus ICH8R

[PhoenixOrion]

Besides more storage controller option,

I don't really see the justification of the price premium on motherboards with ICH8R over boards with only ICH8 southbridge.

Other features??

 

[Talcite]

nope, that's the difference between the ICH regulars and ICH Rs

 

[nitromullet]

I think the "R" stands for RAID, which is generally a higher end feature. That's why you tend to see the ICHxR's on the more expensive Intel based boards.

 

[Talcite]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
I think the "R" stands for RAID, which is generally a higher end feature. That's why you tend to see the ICHxR's on the more expensive Intel based boards.

that'd be correct.

 

[aheartattack]

Is the ICH8R hardware or software RAID?

 

[renethx]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
Besides more storage controller option,

I don't really see the justification of the price premium on motherboards with ICH8R over boards with only ICH8 southbridge.

Other features??

Intel ICH8 Family Datasheet is the best source of ICH8. ICH8 family includes four flavours:

• ICH8 Base or ICH8
• ICH8 RAID or ICH8R
• ICH8 Digital Home or ICH8DH
• ICH8 Digital Office or ICH8DO

Moreover

• Mobile ICH8 or ICH8-M
• Mobile ICH8 Digital Home or ICH8-M DH
• Mobile ICH8 Digital Office or ICH8-M DO

will be added in January 2007, when the mobile Santa Rosa platform (Mobile Core 2 Duo processors for Socket P, Moblie Intel 965 Express chipset family etc.) will be officially released.

From Section 1.1 Overview (pp. 44-48)

• Serial ATA (SATA) Controller
  
  • ICH8: 4 SATA ports
  • ICH8R, ICH8DH, ICH8DO: 6 SATA ports
• Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) (ICH8R, ICH8DH, ICH8DO Only)
  
  • No master/slave designation for SATA devices
  • Hardware-assisted NCQ
  • Hot-Plug
• Intel Matrix Storage Technology (ICH8R, ICH8DH, ICH8DO Only)
  
  The industry-leading RAID capability provides high-performance RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 functionality on up to 6 SATA ports of ICH8.
  
• Intel Quick Resume Technology (QRT) (ICH8DH Only)
  
  Intel QRT provides the capability to design a PC with a single power button that reliably and instantly (user's perception) turns the PC On and Off.
  
  Intel Quick Resume Technology Driver (QRTD) allows the Intel Viiv technology-based PC to behave like a consumer electronic device with instant on/off (after initial boot, when activated) capability.
  
• Intel Active Management Technology with System Defense (ICH8DO only)
  
  Intel Active Management Technology is the next generation of client manageability via the wired network...

 

[aheartattack]

"Intel Matrix Storage Technology (ICH8R, ICH8DH, ICH8DO Only)

The industry-leading RAID capability provides high-performance RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 functionality on up to 6 SATA ports of ICH8. "


I know, but is it 'Hardware' RAID? Would I need a RAID driver like for a 'software' RAID?

 

[renethx]

ICHxR has an option ROM to enable pre-OS array configuration but you need a driver for each OS (Windows or Linux), just like nForce RAID. Please read the datasheet for details.

 

[Talcite]

It's software raid.

 

[Peter]

... and the ROM isn't built into the chip. The system BIOS has the image embedded.

 

[renethx]

I guess you are right. It is an option ROM that is actually stored as separate code on the main BIOS flash memory. My previous post was corrected.