Matrix Raid setup?

[blockdoc]

I'm planning a new Conroe build w/ the Gigabyte DQ6 board and was going to give Matrix RAID a try using 4 Seagate 320 gb 7200.10 perp drives. I plan to use 100 Gb in RAID-0 and the rest in RAID-5. What is the best way to accomplish this? Do I set up all 4 drives in RAID-0 first in ROM and then add a RAID-5 volume in ROM before installing Win XP Pro? Alternatively, should I set-up RAID-0 first across all 4 drives, install the OS, and then add the RAID-5 volume with the Intel utility in Windows? The motherboard manual doesn't address Matrix RAID setup and Intel's FAQ's matrix RAID site isn't very clear.

[dominick32]

When first configuring your system in the bios you are going to first:

1. Enter the bios and enable Raid as your primary boot device.
2. Enable the Matrix Boot Rom
3. Upon the next system restart, press "Control + i" to enter the Matrix boot rom.
4. You will configure your array by first pressing "Create Array"
5. Select the Configuration (Raid 0, Raid 1, Raid 5)
6. Select the amount of drives to use in this array.
7. Select the Capacity to use for the first Raid 0 slice. Example: 20GB
8. Select the stripe size.
9. Press Create Array

It will now let you know that you can not use the matrix without using all capacity on the drives so you are going to click "Create Array" again.

10. Now, you will go ahead and use the rest of your drives capacity to make the Raid 5 by using the procedure I just noted.

After that, everything is fine. You can disable the boot rom if you prefer, I leave it active by default. Now, you simply boot from CDRom, install your operating system and make sure you have a Raid/AHCI driver floppy disk created for the operating system. When you enter windows you are going to want to install the latest Intel Matrix drivers and configuration utility.

11. Go into advanced options in the Windows Matrix Configuration Utility and enable write back caching on both the Raid 0 slice and Raid 5 slice.

CALL IT DAY
Cheers.

[trueplaya4ever8]

When first configuring your system in the bios you are going to first:

1. Enter the bios and enable Raid as your primary boot device.
2. Enable the Matrix Boot Rom
3. Upon the next system restart, press "Control + i" to enter the Matrix boot rom.
4. You will configure your array by first pressing "Create Array"
5. Select the Configuration (Raid 0, Raid 1, Raid 5)
6. Select the amount of drives to use in this array.
7. Select the Capacity to use for the first Raid 0 slice. Example: 20GB
8. Select the stripe size.
9. Press Create Array

It will now let you know that you can not use the matrix without using all capacity on the drives so you are going to click "Create Array" again.

10. Now, you will go ahead and use the rest of your drives capacity to make the Raid 5 by using the procedure I just noted.

After that, everything is fine. You can disable the boot rom if you prefer, I leave it active by default. Now, you simply boot from CDRom, install your operating system and make sure you have a Raid/AHCI driver floppy disk created for the operating system. When you enter windows you are going to want to install the latest Intel Matrix drivers and configuration utility.

11. Go into advanced options in the Windows Matrix Configuration Utility and enable write back caching on both the Raid 0 slice and Raid 5 slice.

CALL IT DAY
Cheers.

Man i cant wait to get that up and running, I think im gonna shoot for 3 320 Seagates. Sorry to much your thread but thats some good info man. :thup:

[blockdoc]

Thanks for the step by step guide. I'm looking forward to this build.

[RedArmy]

Is it safer to have 3 or 4 drives in yor Raid5 array ?