I'm sorry if this question has been asked already. I saw a few posts but couldn't tell what the answer was.
Evidently the 780i board doesn't support AHCI mode? Is that a problem? Is that the same thing as enabling RAID? Is it OK to install the SSD in IDE mode?
Is it OK to just install Win7 64 HP on the SSD with all other drives disconnected?
I'm using the 1.5 firmware from OCZ that has the TRIM support and it uses the Indilinx controller.
Also, it seems like people are saying to just use the Win7 chipset drivers instead of the nVidia ones.
I've never had any experience with SSD's and would appreciate any comments.
Thanks
 

thats right no nvidia 7 series chips support ahci, don't think you will see a big difference though, not to sure about the trim support. the driver question is hit and miss. i have seen people say use windows drivers and people say use nvidia drivers. personally i have had zero problems with nvidia drivers in win 7, XP though was different story and that was only with a sata lightscribe dvd drive.

There is a workaround to get TRIM working with Intel drives, since I don't own an OCZ SSD I can't comment there, but I got my Intel G2 80GB model working with TRIM support on a 790i....  what a backdoor reach around it was to figure out though!

Would you care to clarify? I'm getting an Intel drive and would like to know. I have a 780i.

With your 780i you will not get TRIM with the nVidia Controller driver and must install instead the Microsoft Controller driver.  Then TRIM command will be sent and work. 


 
First Step..

Go into Device Manager by way of the Start button. Type in the Search Programs and files box, "Device Manager" then click on device manager once it appears above the search box.

Find in the list "Storage Controller" and click on it. You will be met with three (3) nVidia controller drivers. Must replace each one with Microsofts "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" instead.

Right click on one of the controllers, then click on Properties.

Click on "Update Driver"

Choose and click in the next box "Browse" for drivers

You will be met with two suggestion, one being "Search Automatically" or just below that "Browse my computer". Click on Browse my computer.

Next you will be met with two other suggestion, one being "Browse" and the next one "Let me pick" and that is the one to click on.
Now you will see another pop up box, and will see finally "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" from microsoft, and this is the one to click on.


Once this is done, do the same for the other two nVidia drivers. When finished with all three, you will then be required to reboot the system. After you do this, a few seconds later you will be met with another request to reboot again. Do so.

Now you have Microsofts storage controller drivers installed and your SSD will perform slightly better and will have TRIM from Windows 7.

You can check in Device Manager to verify that all is well, by finding on the list in device manager, "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller". Click on this, and you will see in the next list, perhaps near the bottom, the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller drivers.

Each time you install windows, you will have to do the above again.  Hassel ? Yes, but at least for our 780i's it will give us some performance boost even though its small

TRIM...


Anytime one deletes a file directly or by way of emptying it via the Recycle Bin TRIM command is sent to the drive to deal with it.


Garbage Collection...


Garbage Collection is different and is done at the controller level of the SSD drive. This is independent of the operating system. Booting into the BIOS only, and leaving it over night or a few hours will trigger Garbage Collection. It will also work while in "Log Off".

Thanks, I'll try that when I get the drive. Is there any performance reduction by doing that? (compared to using AHCI mode on an Intel chipset board). I have a GA-EP45-UD3L and am hesitating to use it instead of this 780i for my main rig. It's not a high end board but I don't do SLI at the moment. Anyone has some experience with both boards and can give some recommendation / comparison? (overclocking ability, MCP and SPP temperatures, etc.)

Even Spinner hard drives will benefit from switching to Microsofts Controller Driver using the guide I posted on a 780i nVidia board.  I did a benchmark not too long ago using my old VelociRaptor and the performance increased a little bit.  SSD's will improve as well, by a few points but not so much you will really notice.

Intel boards should have an Intel Storage Controller driver, so the performance will be better without using the guide posted.

For IDE vs. AHCI performance, I found an article here for anyone interested:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=38

AHCI on your main board IS POSSIBLE!

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?high=&m=306193&mpage=1#306193

cu mmayr

Hey SR1945

In order to get the "native" TRIM support in Win7 you say that you need to replace all 3 of the NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controlers drivers from the nForce versions to the  the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ie the MS drivers. Now in my case I am thinking about using just the SATA 1 port on the board for an SSD and switching my SATA LiteON DVD Burner to SATA Port 2 from it's current SATA Port 6. Currently I am running a RAID-0 using board SATA Ports 1 & 2  since as far as the controllers go:
the 1rst listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 1 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 2
the 2nd listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 3 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 4
the 3rd listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 5 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 6 

That way I can still install the latest nForce driver package - SATA not RAID during the install on the SSD (of course leaving my other 3 storage hard drives (and a future storage SATA) temporarily disconnected until after Win7 64 is installed. Once I have re-connected all of my storage SATAs then make the switch to the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller drivers for ONLY the 1rst listed controller since that would be the SSD and my SATA LiteOn DVD burner leaving the nForce Serial ATA Controllers for the other 2 lsited ie: board SATA Ports 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 respectfully...

Do you know if this setup might work?

Thanks

SaphireX 
 
2X 320GB Seagate Barracuda™ ST3320620AS RAID-0 "64kb stripe" SATA Ports 1 & 2
3X 750GB Seagate Barracuda™ ST3750330AS (storage) SATA Port 3, Port 4, Port 5
Sony™ MPF920 FDD Saitek Eclipse II™ Keyboard
Logitech MX400™ Laser Mouse 

2+ years later and board still purrs!@!

saphirex


Hey SR1945

In order to get the "native" TRIM support in Win7 you say that you need to replace all 3 of the NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controlers drivers from the nForce versions to the  the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ie the MS drivers. Now in my case I am thinking about using just the SATA 1 port on the board for an SSD and switching my SATA LiteON DVD Burner to SATA Port 2 from it's current SATA Port 6. Currently I am running a RAID-0 using board SATA Ports 1 & 2  since as far as the controllers go:
the 1rst listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 1 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 2
the 2nd listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 3 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 4
the 3rd listed controller's TAB Port 0 = board SATA Port 5 and Port 1 = board SATA Port 6 

That way I can still install the latest nForce driver package - SATA not RAID during the install on the SSD (of course leaving my other 3 storage hard drives (and a future storage SATA) temporarily disconnected until after Win7 64 is installed. Once I have re-connected all of my storage SATAs then make the switch to the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller drivers for ONLY the 1rst listed controller since that would be the SSD and my SATA LiteOn DVD burner leaving the nForce Serial ATA Controllers for the other 2 lsited ie: board SATA Ports 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 respectfully...

Do you know if this setup might work?

 
Have not tried this, nor have read anyone suggesting what you mention.  Sorry, but I just don't know, but worth a try if you are so inclined.  Let us know if this works or not.  Can't hurt anything but time.  Most interested, specially for those that want to go RAID with our 780i's.  I only have one SSD and did not bother to go RAID with my VelociRaptor since I am fed up with my SSD and the 780i not being able to get Sanitary Erase nor HDDerase.   
 
Good luck

Hey SR1945

Thanks 4 your reply...I too have not seen/read anything about changing from the nForce Serial ATA controller config to the MS Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE controller config for just the one controller that the SSD is connected to. I know that it will not affect the functionality of the SATA LiteON DVD burner since the first batch of nForce drivers way back with the 9.XX series (circa early 2008) had fatal issues with SATA optical drives and the workaround was to flip them to the Dual Channel PCI IDE MS drivers. Until nVidia rectified the SATA optical failures with new drivers.

The fact that HDDerase as well as Sanitary Erase will not work at all with the nVidia chipset or the current BIOS seems to me to be the linchpin in deciding not to shell out $300+ bucks for a 128GB SSD. Because the ability to do a real fresh "clean" install on an SSD has vanished unlike convential drives that you can use DBAN on to wipe clean using the PRNG Stream Method...

Unless nVidia updates their nForce drivers to fully work with SSD's and/or updates the BIOS to allow true AHCI which would seem unlikely given that the nVidia 7 series chipsets border on being outdated/obsolete or perhaps SSD manufacturers cooking up a Win7 based utility that can achieve the same results as HDDerase/Sanitary Erase regardless of chipset.

It would seem to me to be be a fool's folly to attempt to use an SSD as an OS drive be it as a single or 2 drives in a RAID-0

Thanks agan for your candid input

SaphireX

Sorry to kind of necro this thread but I couldn't find another topic and this one covers it very well. However " Driver date 6/21/2006 " on the Microsoft drivers to try to enable TRIM etc. Is this okay or is that extremely outdated? Using a 750i FTW board not 780i

That is the one I'm using c1o5ry1991 (6/21/2006), and by doing some benchmarking, my numbers improved slightly for the Read/Write.  This also worked on my VelociRaptor as well by improving the numbers a bit.

So then this will allow TRIM to function correctly and everything's all good? No downsides other than just not having native drivers?

Yes, the TRIM function works with the Microsofts Controller driver

SR1945


With your 780i you will not get TRIM with the nVidia Controller driver and must install instead the Microsoft Controller driver.  Then TRIM command will be sent and work. 


 
First Step..

Go into Device Manager by way of the Start button. Type in the Search Programs and files box, "Device Manager" then click on device manager once it appears above the search box.

Find in the list "Storage Controller" and click on it. You will be met with three (3) nVidia controller drivers. Must replace each one with Microsofts "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" instead.

Right click on one of the controllers, then click on Properties.

Click on "Update Driver"

Choose and click in the next box "Browse" for drivers

You will be met with two suggestion, one being "Search Automatically" or just below that "Browse my computer". Click on Browse my computer.

Next you will be met with two other suggestion, one being "Browse" and the next one "Let me pick" and that is the one to click on.
Now you will see another pop up box, and will see finally "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" from microsoft, and this is the one to click on.


Once this is done, do the same for the other two nVidia drivers. When finished with all three, you will then be required to reboot the system. After you do this, a few seconds later you will be met with another request to reboot again. Do so.

Now you have Microsofts storage controller drivers installed and your SSD will perform slightly better and will have TRIM from Windows 7.

You can check in Device Manager to verify that all is well, by finding on the list in device manager, "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller". Click on this, and you will see in the next list, perhaps near the bottom, the Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller drivers.

Each time you install windows, you will have to do the above again.  Hassel ? Yes, but at least for our 780i's it will give us some performance boost even though its small

TRIM...


Anytime one deletes a file directly or by way of emptying it via the Recycle Bin TRIM command is sent to the drive to deal with it.


Garbage Collection...


Garbage Collection is different and is done at the controller level of the SSD drive. This is independent of the operating system. Booting into the BIOS only, and leaving it over night or a few hours will trigger Garbage Collection. It will also work while in "Log Off".

Gents,
 
A friend dropped off his 780i after his Data drive failed and it cost him $1300 for a forensic recovery. He wants me to migrate his WinXP Operating Parttion on his (5 year old) Raptor Drive to a new Kingston SSD, and then set up a Mirrored array (RAID 1) on 2 identical WD RED 1 TB Drives. Then I am to move the recovered Data onto the Raid.
 
The issue on how to move the Win XP partition I figured out (with the help of this post above and others here on the Site => Thanks !). I just had to remove the nVidia Storage Drivers on the Raptor before making the Ghost Image. 
 
(Of course I first tried making a Ghost of the Raptor, and pushed it onto the SSD. That Failed. Then saw a post about the Bios Level that supports an SSD. I noticed the Bios was Rev 4 and they were up to Rev 10. I Flashed the Bios just fine, and for giggles put on Win 7 Ultimate on the SSD just to make sure the SSD was "seen" by the 780i.  Perfect. So then I was able to change the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller as above and thought I was golden. ;))
 
Now I'm stuck. I put in the 2 Red WDs and enabled the Raid in Bios routinely, but in XP (Disk Management) there is no Raid shown. So I initialize each drive in XP and try to enable it by converting these drives to Dynamic Disks (as shown here 

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/7FF242785581597F86257577004C5982

  but that option isn't given - just Basic Disks.)  So I go back into Bios and defeat the Raid and reboot. Then I go into XP (Disk Management) to try this routine again => but it's still the same. At 2:30 am last night, in desperation I tried to use MediaShield to manage the Raid but no joy at all as it tries to install the nasty nVidia Drivers again which would make the SSD invisible (again) to the 780i.
 
So the question remains. Is there a way to migrate a Win XP image to an SSD and then enable a Raid 1? Your Help and assistance would be gratefully appreciated. (I leave tomorrow morning on a trip and my friend wants his Box back...)
 
Thanks for the assist.  

Gents,
I know this is an old MB but I thought for sure someone here would have a work around to get a Raid working with an SSD. I guess we'll have to install a PCI /PCI-X Card to do it instead.
Thanks for thinking about it anyway.

Hmm not much knowledge on raid arrays here but I do remember when I did read up on it years ago that one needed to install some raid driver during the XP install.
That's about all the help I can be with raid arrays.
 
Your question probably would of been better to ask in say the general hardware forum or better yet one of the newer motherboard series forums as a lot of those guys came up from the 600 and 700 series boards. This particular nforce forum does not get much traffic. I know there are a bunch of talented people around here with vast raid array knowledge just not in this part of the forum unfortunately.

Jim This motherboard don't support PCI-X????
 
I use Raid on my SSD on nforce 15.58 WHQL so all good no problem.

coolmistry


Jim This motherboard don't support PCI-X????

I use Raid on my SSD on nforce 15.58 WHQL so all good no problem.

 
Thanks for the replies. Sorry I should have said PCI-E.
Did you add the Storage Raid after install of WinXP onto the SSD? I know you can do it in Win7 natively but can't figure out how in WinXP. Right now in Device Manager I see the Raid as an Unknown Device but have no way to control it. During boot it tries to find appropriate Drivers and fails.
Did you get the nforce 15.58 WHQL Drivers from the nVidia Site?

 
Ah of course mistake spell kool! Yes Jim I use 15.58 WHQL from Nvidia Site for Raid and Storage too all use Nvidia Sata and ATA Controller for Windows 7 64bits. Now I realise for XP is use old version to 15.46 WHQL not 15.58 WHQL . I not sure if you are using 64bit or 32bits. 
Better off Windows 764bits and rid off XP too old . I think need Boot Disc for Raid for XP but I never try on XP long time ago!!!!

Hi,
The Raid Disc during install is only if you are going to have WinXP on a Raid not if you want a Data Storage Raid. I'd move him to Win7 in a heartbeat and be done with it but there is some expensive Design Software on the Raptor that can only run on XP => so I'm stuck on XP. It looks more and more like a Raid Card is coming this way... 

If I may make a suggestion maybe look at Win 7 pro or higher and then the free XP mode. Be a good idea to do some research on if that program will work in XP mode before going this route of course.
http://windows.microsoft....atures/windows-xp-mode
http://windows.microsoft..../using-windows-xp-mode
 
XP mode works decent as long as you are not trying to run something graphics intensive such as games as XP mode can only use the generic microsoft video drivers.
Cost for the win 7 and alternately the raid card is probably pretty comparable unless you are looking at one of the very very expensive raid cards ($1,200 up to $10,000+ WT? ) so would probably boil down to personal choice.

Folks,
 
I thought I close this out by advising we bought a Sata 2 PCI-E Card for the Raid Drives. It worked just fine. ;)