Question Asus Maximus Formula Sees 3TB Drives as 746GB on Windows 7

[kevinakerberg]

Hi everyone,
I've searched around for solutions regarding this problem, and can't seem to find an answer, so I wanted to explain my exact situation here. I'm trying to make a basic media server using Plex and some older components I have lying around. My specs for the server are as follows

CPU: Core 2 Extreme QX6700
RAM: 4GB DDR2
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula (LGA 775, X38)
GPU: GeForce 210
Storage: 120GB PNY SSD (boot) 3x 3TB Seagate Constellation (storage)
OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1

When trying to put these drives into RAID, I noticed that my BIOS only saw them as 746GB drives, not 3TB. I logged into Windows, Windows only sees them as 746GB drives. The only place I can see them as 3TB drives are in Intel Matrix Storage Manager, which shows them as 2.7TB drives. BIOS is fully up to date. Any ideas what is going on here? Thanks.

 

[fzabkar]

Your BIOS has a 32-bit LBA limitation. Capacities in excess of 2TiB are truncated because bits 33 and above are ignored.

See https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...ng-up-wd4-tb-drive-only-shows-as-2tb.3511392/

 

[kevinakerberg]

I see. Is there anyway around this, maybe by using a new PCI-E RAID controller? Or will I have to use a different motherboard?

 

[popatim]

Yes another contro;;er will fix the issue but if you want this as your boot drive then you need to make sure the controller itself is bootable. Many are not and only work as post-boot storage

 

[kevinakerberg]

The RAID array with the 3TB disks will not be used as a boot device. Any good controllers you recommend?

 

[fzabkar]

ISTM that you should update all your storage drivers (Intel AHCI/RAID driver).

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_FORMULA/HelpDesk_Download/

If Windows can see the full capacity, does it matter if BIOS cannot, especially if the RAID is not the boot device?

What if you were to use a software RAID instead of a hardware RAID?

 

[kevinakerberg]

ISTM that you should update all your storage drivers (Intel AHCI/RAID driver).

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_FORMULA/HelpDesk_Download/

If Windows can see the full capacity, does it matter if BIOS cannot, especially if the RAID is not the boot device?

What if you were to use a software RAID instead of a hardware RAID?

That’s the issue though. Windows sees it as a 746GB drive too. Trying to do software RAID with intel matrix results in creating a 1.5TB RAID 5 (should be 6TB).

 

[fzabkar]

Are your drives RAID-ed in the BIOS, or have you set them up as AHCI? ISTM that you should choose AHCI in the BIOS and then update the Intel AHCI driver.

 

[kevinakerberg]

Are your drives RAID-ed in the BIOS, or have you set them up as AHCI? ISTM that you should choose AHCI in the BIOS and then update the Intel AHCI driver.

They are RAID-ed in the BIOS, I’ll try setting them up as AHCI and updating the drivers. I’ll reply with the result when I’ve tested it.