Need help explaining Gigabyte EX58-UD3R BIOS options

[thatsright]

Hi All, I just got the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (rev. 1.6) mobo. Does anyone know of a BIOS setup guide that explains most of the options and the pros/cons of each? And I don't mean just reading the manual. The manual is good for giving a definition of each item, but not suggesting why to use or not.

Thanks!!

 

[krose]

There's a pdf guide for the UD5 here, but the settings for both boards are the same. I have the UD3R so I can give you some answers hopefully if you need them.

 

[thatsright]

Okay, here is a setting Im a little unsure about. Under Integrated Peripherals menu in the BIOS are 3 options:

-SATA RAID/AHCI MODE (set to disabled as I will not be doing any RAID)
-ONBOARD SATA/IDE DEVICE (set to Enabled)
-ONBOARD SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode (set to AHCI)

I just setup my new Intel 80 GB Gen 2 SSD. For it to properly work, are the above settings correct?

 

[krose]

What BIOS version do you have? I don't see an option for SATA RAID/AHCI mode. I am using BIOS FDb. Make sure that the SSD is attached to one of the blue SATA ports 0-3, preferably port 0 if it is your boot drive. In the BIOS check the entry ICH SATA Control Mode under Integrated Peripherals. This is for the blue SATA ports controlled by the Intel ICH10R. Options are IDE, AHCI, RAID. You can set to IDE or AHCI for your use. I am not familiar with SSD drives but I think I read that they benefit slightly from running in AHCI mode. Vista and 7 will load AHCI drivers for you. With XP you must use the F6 method to load the drivers during install. Set SATA port 0-3 Native Mode to Enabled. Onboard SATA/IDE device is for the white ports controlled by the Gigabyte (Jmicron) chip. I would not use these for your SSD. They are OK for opticals if you run out of blue ports. If you are not using them you can set to Disabled. Otherwise set to IDE mode.

Edit: From the Intel site:
"Do Intel SSDs need special driver support?
No. The standard drivers for any HDD will support Intel SSDs as drop-in components, such as those bundled with Windows*. However, for best performance, a driver that supports SATA Native Command Queuing (NCQ) is recommended, such as the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM) driver from Intel.

Note: The Windows Vista* driver has a bug which does not allow NCQ on Intel SSDs. For Vista*, only IMSM is recommended. An update will be provided when this issue has been resolved."

So yes, you should run in AHCI mode which supports NCQ. Apparently in Vista you will need to load the driver too due to the aforementioned bug.

 

[thatsright]

Ok, here is a aettng I'm unsure about in the BIOS:

-SATA/AHCI Mode - Options are 'Disabled/RAID/AHCI'

I had it set to 'AHCI' because of my SSD. BUT, it would greatly slow down the BIOS startup process as it would scan for all the attached drives

So I then set it to 'Disabled,' where it would use both SATA and AHCI modes. Boot up was MUCH quicker into Win 7. BUT, I ran the AS SSD benchmark and my score dropped in half to 199, from 408. Does this sound about right?

Is there anyway I can speed up the BIOS boot process? It easily takes 20-30 seconds of BIOS screen time upon bootup, and loading Win 7 takes a little longer when I set it to AHCI mode/

 

[krose]

When you are in AHCI mode, drive detection is done by the Intel AHCI BIOS. That's what adds the additional boot time. And the Intel AHCI BIOS in earlier motherboard BIOSes are notoriously slow. What BIOS version are you running? If it is the BIOS that came with the board I would update to the current one, It contains Intel AHCI BIOS ver. 1.20E which is a lot faster. Use QFlash to update your BIOS. Instructions can be found here. Get the latest BIOS here. Running AHCI does take longer to boot, but IMO it would be worth it as you have noticed in the increased performance of your SSD.