SMART not enabled? WD Black Caviar

[metroplex]

I just bought a WD 500GB Black Caviar, it is installed in AHCI mode with my ECS 790GX Black Edition motherboard using Vista Business SP-1 64-bit. I cannot see any SMART data and I tried using WD's diagnostic tool to no avail.

I noticed the drive is referenced as SCSI, although none of my other SATA HD's ever showed up as SCSI. Is this related to the RAID drivers/capability of the SB750 southbridge?

If the SMART needs to be enabled, how would I do this w/o voiding the warranty?

 

[coolVariable]

It seems AMD fcked up royally and AHCI doesn't really work with any of their last 3 generations of southbridges!
If you run the drive in IDE mode, you will get SMART info without any problems.

So: AHCI enabled => no SMART.

 

[metroplex]

I've already installed Vista 64-bit SP-1 with AHCI enabled. Can I disable AHCI via the BIOS and continue using the OS w/o problems? What happens if I go back to IDE, then back to AHCI?

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: metroplex
I've already installed Vista 64-bit SP-1 with AHCI enabled. Can I disable AHCI via the BIOS and continue using the OS w/o problems? What happens if I go back to IDE, then back to AHCI?

Would actually be interested to know myself.
And how bad is the performance drop?

 

[metroplex]

I am not really sure, but I lost about 800 3dmark06 points sometime after I loaded RAID expert and enabled something on the HD. I was trying to figure out why SMART info wasn't available. I can't figure out how I lost so many points. It wasn't from going to Vista 64-bit SP2 or loading the latest Catalyst drivers.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: metroplex
I am not really sure, but I lost about 800 3dmark06 points sometime after I loaded RAID expert and enabled something on the HD. I was trying to figure out why SMART info wasn't available. I can't figure out how I lost so many points. It wasn't from going to Vista 64-bit SP2 or loading the latest Catalyst drivers.

Did you enable NCQ? (that's pretty much the only option I can enable/disable)

Do you notice a speed difference outside of benchmarks?

 

[metroplex]

Yes I did. I didn't really notice an increase/decrease in performance outside of 3dmark. I guess I can try disabling it again and see if it makes a difference.

Could I disable AHCI via the BIOS and boot into Vista, or will it freak out because it was installed in AHCI mode?

Also, my SM2 and Sm3 scores took the biggest hits. I am not sure how AHCI or NCQ could impact these scores. My CPU score is a tad lower, but nothing out of the ordinary with 3dmark06 where my scores tend to decrease slightly over a long period of time.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: metroplex
Yes I did. I didn't really notice an increase/decrease in performance outside of 3dmark. I guess I can try disabling it again and see if it makes a difference.

Could I disable AHCI via the BIOS and boot into Vista, or will it freak out because it was installed in AHCI mode?

Also, my SM2 and Sm3 scores took the biggest hits. I am not sure how AHCI or NCQ could impact these scores. My CPU score is a tad lower, but nothing out of the ordinary with 3dmark06 where my scores tend to decrease slightly over a long period of time.

NCQ is for servers only.
I would like to see a solution to get SMART with AHCI on.

AHCI should give you slightly better performance (at least with the AMD drivers).
I have to say that I am stomping mad! This is a big fail for AMD in my books.
I should have gone with intel for the build. Apparently this issue has been around since the SB600, so chances of AMD fixing it are NIL.

 

[PurdueRy]

AHCI should make zero performance difference. It just enables some of SATA's more advanced features like hot swap.

 

[Old Hippie]

AHCI should make zero performance difference.

I'll second that emotion.

I've played with AHCI in AMD and Intel and if there was a performance difference, I didn't notice it.

The NCQ actually lowered the scores a little on the AMD board and I turned it off.

The only noticeable difference was when I added the SATA drivers and turned off the IDE compatability mode. That was on a 939 nForce4 board with a Raptor and the only difference was the increase in burst stats.

 

[zagood]

You should be able to switch from AHCI to IDE with no problem. If you install your OS with IDE settings, it's a pain to enable AHCI, but once it's enabled you can switch back and forth.