Yah I know....New Rig

[meffie]

Did you or did you not set your host controller to configure SATA as AHCI? You want to change that and be forced to reinstall Windows if you want maximum performance from your disk drives.

Say What? lol. Can you explain how to do that in detail and what pro's/con's it has?

You just have to assign your HDD a drive letter to use it. Just type "disk man" into the start menu search bar, then click on "create and format hard disk partitions" to open Disk Management. Create a partition from the raw space if there isn't one already, then assign it a drive letter.

Got it detected, format'd and assigned, thanks!

 

[betasub]

Disk Management

:thumbsup: This is otherwise well-hidden under Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage, so Athadeus's quick link route to it is helpful.

 

[Ruger22C]

I would change the 8gB to 4gB. I game and run probably 10 apps in the background on average. I never go over 4.3gB as the highest I've seen, usually well under.

I would change the 90gB SSD to two 60gB SSDs and run in RAID 0, with the $ you saved from the RAM.

 

[meffie]

:thumbsup: This is otherwise well-hidden under Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage, so Athadeus's quick link route to it is helpful.

Yah I got disk management setup for the 2nd HD np, I was refering to switching from Sata to AHCI. How to do that and what benefits it had.

I would change the 8gB to 4gB. I game and run probably 10 apps in the background on average. I never go over 4.3gB as the highest I've seen, usually well under.

I would change the 90gB SSD to two 60gB SSDs and run in RAID 0, with the $ you saved from the RAM.

I already assembled the comp and it's up and running, but thanks for the input 🙂

 

[Athadeus]

I think a lot of motherboards default to configurint SATA as AHCI nowadays, so you're probably already set that way. I think the easiest way to check is this (another good shortcut):

1. Hold the windows key and hit the break key.
2. Click on Device Manger on the left.
3. Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers entry.
4. Post the name of the sub device there.

I'm pretty sure if the sub device there is labeled with IDE in it, you're set to IDE, and if with AHCI, you're set to AHCI. I've always just checked in the bios so I'm not sure that this is an accurate method to verify it.

 

[mfenn]

Did you or did you not set your host controller to configure SATA as AHCI? You want to change that and be forced to reinstall Windows if you want maximum performance from your disk drives.

With Windows 7, you don't actually need to reinstall to switch to AHCI. Basically, all you need to do is change a registry entry that tells Windows to load the AHCI driver during boot, then reboot and change the SATA controller to AHCI in the BIOS.

 

[meffie]

1. Hold the windows key and hit the break key.
2. Click on Device Manger on the left.
3. Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers entry.
4. Post the name of the sub device there.

ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 1
ATA Channel 1
Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 1C08
Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 1C08

That's what I have under IDEA ATA/ATAPI controllers in DM.

Let me know what I need to do, thanks guys so much

 

[Athadeus]

Well, it's quite different from what mine says:

Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Contoller

However, I am not sure that it means you aren't using AHCI because our boards are so different, that you'll just have to verify it in the bios. I just tried looking for the MSI Manual for your board so I could better direct you to where to find the setting, but they don't seem to make those available online (big fail). Good luck!

 

[meffie]

The GD65 is fine. You don't really need all of its features, though so go with the $135 (in stock) GA-P67A-UD3-B3.

I ended up using this board not the msi if that helps any. I'll look in bios when I get home and see what I can see there

 

[meffie]

Ok PCH Sata in the bios is set to IDE not AHCI.

Can I simply change that in bios or do I need to do something else?

Also should either of these HD's be hooked to the Sata 3 ports on the MB? Currently they're both hooked into Sata 2 ports. That's one place I'm not clear on. Just didn't know if it would make a difference even though both drives were only sata 2 capable.

Thanks so much for all the help with my newbness. I'm learning this stuff all over again.

 

[mfenn]

Ok PCH Sata in the bios is set to IDE not AHCI.

Can I simply change that in bios or do I need to do something else?

Also should either of these HD's be hooked to the Sata 3 ports on the MB? Currently they're both hooked into Sata 2 ports. That's one place I'm not clear on. Just didn't know if it would make a difference even though both drives were only sata 2 capable.

Thanks so much for all the help with my newbness. I'm learning this stuff all over again.

Yep, that's the BIOS setting you need to change. You will need to make the Windows registry change that I linked to earlier before you switch the BIOS over to AHCI though.

As for the physical ports themselves, it doesn't matter which ones you use because your devices are SATA 3.0Gb/s anyway. There wouldn't be any harm in moving them, but it's also completely unnecessary.

 

[meffie]

Yep, that's the BIOS setting you need to change. You will need to make the Windows registry change that I linked to earlier before you switch the BIOS over to AHCI though.

As for the physical ports themselves, it doesn't matter which ones you use because your devices are SATA 3.0Gb/s anyway. There wouldn't be any harm in moving them, but it's also completely unnecessary.

Ok I'll get that changed and report back. Thanks so much again. You guys are life savers

 

[meffie]

Ok just got done with it. My HD Xfer rate is now a 7.6 on Windows Experience. Up .3 points. Sweet!

Core's also only hit a max of 40Cel during the tests. I'm not sure how intensive the tests are, but I think that would be a good benchmark to say everythings running cool eh?

Thanks again

 

[Athadeus]

You should post your final hardware list and a picture 🙂

 

[meffie]

$1263.87 Shipped

Case: Antec DF-85

CPU: Intel i5 2500K Sandy Bridge

MB: Gigabyte GA-P67A

Ram: GSkill Ripjaw 8gb

GPU: MSI GTX 560 Ti

PS: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze

CPU Fan: Cooler Master 212+

SSD: Corsair 60Gb SSD

Data: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb

Dvd: LG Burner

Thermal Comp: Artic Silver 5

OS: Windows 7 Home For Builders

 

[mnewsham]

That's a sexy bitch.

 

[meffie]

That's a sexy bitch.

Thanks 😛 I'm digging her.

 

[mfenn]

That's a pretty, erm, big case you've got there. 😉