Enabling AHCI Mode on 850 EVO SSD

[Zach_D]

Hello,

I just purchased a Samsung 850 EVO to boot my OS from. I installed the drive using GPT since I'm on a Maximus VIII Hero running UEFI. I then allocated the disk space and the drive is now properly recognized, readier than ever to host an Operating System.

Now, to my question. First of all, I am logged on Windows 10 that is installed on a separate HDD and I can properly see the SSD that I partitioned as I mentioned above. I haven't touched anything from inside my BIOS yet, I just connected the HDD internally and installed + partitioned it + assigned a letter on it.

I read that enabling AHCI Mode for the SSD yields greater performance. Do I simply have to reboot my system, and change the Sata Controller to AHCI for the SSD and then install an Operating System in order for it to work properly without resulting to any problems? Will I notice any conflicts between the SSD that's set to AHCI and the rest of the HDDs set on IDE? I haven't cleared those controller options out in my mind yet.

Are there any more steps/issues to deal with first? I'm planning on installing Windows 7 then upgrading to 10. Might just as well go straight with 10, I haven't decided yet.

Any other critical information in order to have maximum performance plus good stability and a reasonable lifespan would be more than appreciated.

Thank you for your answers!

My build follows, should it concern anyone:

-Intel i7-6700k
-ASUS RoG Maximus VIII Hero
-EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 970 FTW+ ACX2.0+
-Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2666MHz)
-Corsair AX760i
-Corsair H100i GTX
-Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
-BenQ XL2430T

 

[COLGeek]

If doing a fresh install of Windows, just set your SATA mode to AHCI (be sure to save) and then install Windows as you normally would. That's it if you haven't installed Windows yet.

If Windows is already installed AND your BIOS is not set for AHCI in your SATA mode (IDE), then you can change your registry to allow for the change to occur. Just go here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/922976

 

[Zach_D]

I just checked my BIOS and IDE mode is not even supported on the Maximus VIII Hero's latest BIOS version. I can only set a mode between AHCI and RAID. I was quite dumb not to check my registry, seems like everything's set for AHCI (iastorV start value is 0 already).

Always in a blur when excited with new hardware. Silly me.

Thank you COLGeek. Any other recommendations to optimize the SSD? (Samsung 850 Evo 120GB, will only house OS + OBS + Adobe Audition)

 

[COLGeek]

Just remember you have limited space and discipline yourself to install non-critical (in terms of speed) elsewhere. Good luck!

 

[Zach_D]

Seems like 75GB is all that I require. Hope it won't impact it's performance greatly!

Thanks once again!

 

[COLGeek]

You should be fine. Be sure to NOT put your pagefile on the SSD. It will eat the space you need for other things.