EVGA X58 BIOS/AHCI

[Cerenkov]

Hi all I have a question about setting up a computer to be AHCI compatible using Vista. I'm not a computer genius and this is only my second build in about 8 years, so bare that in mind
When I bought my computer components, the retailer installed the cpu, ram and BIOS. When they setup the BIOS, they made it IDE, so my SATA2 drive is running a lot slower than it should be running. When I had them flash my BIOS they notified me of the setting. Now apparently I have to re-install Vista AFTER I change the BIOS to AHCI. Is this true? Can anyone give me detailed instructions on how to get my computer running in AHCI? Is it as simple as changing the drives and legacy support devices to AHCI and then booting from the Vista cd-rom and setup from there?
Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Mondoman]

Your SATA drive should NOT be running any slower in "IDE" mode. Why do you think it is running slower than it could be? I'd just stick with the "IDE" mode.

 

[Albertwacca]

First, it's important to know if your dvd drive is SATA or a PATA one, because Vista setup from scratch, has some issues detecting a dvd drive in SATA working in AHCI or RAID mode ( i have this problem). The performance difference between IDE and AHCI is near noexistent, but try to change the iDE mode to Enhanced.

 

[marcellis22]

Change the drive controller in Device Manager from SATA to SATA/AHCI using the driver disk you got with the motherboard. Reboot, go into the BIOS and change the controller to AHCI, save the change. Good to go, if you really want to...

 

[MRFS]

Speaking from eXPerience with XP only,
another option is to re-install your OS
with the BIOS set to RAID initially. Then,
use F6 to load the RAID device driver.

You should also ENABLE the RAID Option ROM in the BIOS,
and invoke it when prompted to enter a CTRL- sequence:
this will give you an opportunity to confirm that
each HDD is non-RAID -- a mode that is recognized
by RAID Option ROMs.

In that mode, you can still run JBOD
(Just a Bunch Of Disks = non-RAID)
because the RAID device driver is also
programmed to detect and support
non-RAID HDDs.

Motherboard vendors should recommend
this approach, because it can be rather
tricky to change from IDE to AHCI
"on the fly" so to speak.

Many users will balk at the steps
required to force a different driver
using the Device Manager method
described above.

Forgive me for lacking VISTA experience:
if the Device Manager method above
has been made easier, then that is
also another recommended option.

Good luck!


MRFS