msi k7t turbo-r - can u disable the raid controller and use it as regular ata100

[caenus]

title says it all.

I am thinking about getting Raid support for the future but right now dont need it and don't want the slow loadups.

 

[caenus]

I have found by looking at the manual for the board on the MSI website that I can disable the raid and use the controller as a regular ata100 controller, but i've realized that this won't disable the controller. Meaning it will still boot the controller bios and take a while.

Can anyone with the msi k7t turbo-r confirm this?

 

[tracerbullet]

That's true for me, I have one.

I run a HD on the IDE 2, and two on the 3rd and 4th one. For most cases, whether you have one there or not, it will attempt to find one. BUt - what is it, about 15 extra seconds? Sheesh. Do what I do, turn the PC on, go to the fridge, by the time you get back it's ready to go.

However, you can do a search, and find some of us had problems with certain BIOS settings that would NOT let the RAID controller screen show up. For most it was a problem, but you might use it to your advantage, so check it out...

 

[caenus]

Right now I have a MSI Pro2a w/ a PCI controller card just for my hard drives. My burner and dvdrom are masters on the primary and secondary. It does take a little bit more time to boot up, but its not horrible. Someone said it took like a minute and a half to boot to the "loading windows2000" screen with the turbo. If the turbo-raid is not that slow (extra 15-25 seconds) then it may be worth spending the extra $10. Of course I'd have no use for my current promise pci card, but I will find a computer to use it in.

I heard from another forum (dunno how valid), that a controller card on the PCI bus is faster than one built in the motherboard. Any ideas or opinions on this?