MSI P35 Neo features question - a little urgent :p

[AlphaNOmega]

I am considering getting the MSI P35 Neo board for my new build. I have already bought:

Q6600
Corsair XMS2 DDR-800 (4x1GB)
XFX 8800 Ultra
Cooler Master ExtremePower 600W

I am a little confused with this board (and a few others). The thing is that I need SATA RAID (because my HDDs are in a RAID 0 array). I seem to be finding conflicting information about this board?s RAID support. This board has the ICH9 southbridge, which doesn?t support RAID (unlike ICH9R). The MSI page also doesn?t mention RAID.

http://global.msi.com.tw/index...d_no=1215&maincat_no=1

However, I have seen some retailers (a couple of non-English ones) that mention this board having RAID. I did find something on Tomshardware.com that corroborates this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/20...s_compared/page10.html

It?s a comparison of 8 P35 boards. But even the page that details the MSI P35 Neo gives conflicting information. This is a quote from that article:

?Finally, the floppy connector is inconveniently located below the lowest PCI slot - fortunately, users won't be ?required? to install a floppy drive to load RAID drivers during Windows XP installation on this non-RAID-supporting Southbridge?

However, just below this, in the table that lists this board?s features:

Mass Storage Controllers
Intel ICH9 4x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (RAID 0,1,5,10 capable)
Marvell 88SE6111 1x Ultra ATA-100 (2-drives)
1x SATA 3.0 Gb/s

So, anyone who knows, does this board support RAID (on the main SATA connectors) or not? If it does, it has to be because of the Marvell controller. But can the Marvell controller offer RAID on the ICH9 SATA connectors? If so, why doesn?t MSI?s own product page, or others like Newegg etc. mention this?

?thoroughly confused?

Please HELP!

 

[Fayd]

No, it does not support RAID.

if you want a raid supporting board, go with the neo2-FR. it's only a few more bucks, and you get that kickass looking heatpipe connecting the southbridge, northbridge, and mofsets.

(though not quite as cool looking as the p35 platinum)

 

[AlphaNOmega]

^^ So the Tom's hardware article was wrong then? The problem is that the Neo2-FR isn't available where I live.

 

[vrdublu]

I have a P35 Platinum FS: let me know if you're interested so we can work something out.