Intel RST drivers or Storage Manager? Trim support?

[AndyKH]

Hi

I'm getting a H55 based MB and an Intel G2 SSD but I haven't received the components yet.

However, to have everything in place when install Win 7, I just visited Intel's support page to download storage/SATA/ACHI drivers for the MB as I've read that the Intel drivers now (or rather have for some time) support TRIM and that the MS AHCI drivers have some issues. I selected Chip-sets->Desktop chipsets->Intel 5 Series chipsets->Win 7 64-bits->Drivers

I'm then presented to two drivers:

64-bit Intel® RST Driver Files for F6 Install version 9.6.0.1014
AND
Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager version 8.9.0.1023

The first option seems to be only the drivers, while the second looks like a software package. I would assume that I shouldn't bother with manager software, but I'm not entirely shure. As I've also read that it's impossible to remove the RST drivers without a reinstall, I have a couple of questions:

Does the Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager include drivers or is it only a utility software? If so are they then as old as the storage manager release (which would presumably mean no TRIM support) or are the newest drivers downloaded during install?
As I'm not planning on running in RAID mode, only in AHCI mode - will the storage manager package do anything for me or should I just download the
drivers?
Will it make any difference installing the drivers during the installation process or should I just use the built-in and wait until I boot windows?

Thanks in advance

 

[Majic 7]

The Matrix Manager is for Raid setups. So if you are not planning raid you don't need it. I just installed the 9.6 drivers on my X48 board using the exe. version that is available from Intel. Been using the MS AHCI drivers since I installed 7 in Oct. The exe. version worked fine for me, installation wise, anyway. I did get a blue screen on start up from sleep today. Don't know if it was from my overclock, something related to the HAL errors I have been trying to track down, or what?. I uninstalled the 9.6 drivers from uninstall programs with no problems, then reinstalled them. 7 is pretty easy to deal with sometimes. The 9.6 drivers support Trim for a single drive but not for Raid. The exe. version I downloaded has a management utility with it that you can opt for. Doesn't do much. The Intel SSD Toolbox is kind of handy. Used the optimizer when I got a really low score with AS SSD after downloading the new drivers. Worked, got my best score ever, 440.