850GB and RAID card?

Howdy folks!

I recently got an Intel 850GB motherboard. I'd like to boot from an Adaptec 1200A raid card, but I can't get the BIOS to do so. Once I get into Windows XP, I can use the RAID card, no problem, but it's a bit frustrating to not be able to boot from RAID.

Before you ask, I've updated the BIOS, disabled the intell quick boot setting, and enabled the flash rom search setting, to no avail.

Any suggestions? If not, can anyone recommend a RAID card that does work on the 850GB?

Many thanks.

If You ever manage to do that, please share it with Us! I´ll bet lot of Guys would like to know...
http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/01q3/010906/raid-04.html

That's because Intel doesn't support the use of external raid or scsi cards for boot purposes. It's an ego thing you see. they think that their controllers are the best thing since duck soup. Any way. Only way you'll be able to use the Raid controller as your boot drives is to have a drive on the Intel controller and simply set XP to install and run from the Raid controller. It will load it's boot files on the drive on the Intel controller but have the OS on the Raid.

Hi,

I don't have anything to add about setting up Raid on a D850GB motherboard but I do have this model board. And I remember my frustration when I tried to upgrade the P4_1.3GHz 423PGA 400MHz FSB processor on it. Intel only manufactured up to a 2.0GHz with the 423PGA architecture and when I tried to upgrade I couldn't find one. It's really no surprise that the 2.0GHz weren't produced in any great numbers as Intel also sells 478PGA motherboards! Only the 1.9GHz were available and they were really hard to find too. But I did find a solution with a PowerLeap PL_P4/N adapter which enabled me to use the newer and faster 478PGA processors. I first upgraded to a P4_2.0GHz 400MHz FSB 478PGA 512KB L-2 Cache and then a year later up to a 2.6GHz which I currently have installed. Now I read at their website that the adapter can accept up to a 3.0GHz processor. I just bought the adapter kit from them for $49.95 and bought my 2 processors from other online vendors to save money. According to Pricewatch you can now buy a P4_2.6GHz 400MHz FSB 478PGA 512KB L-2 Cache processor for $140.00. So for $190 bucks you can really breathe some extra life into your D850GB motherboard. Especially if you still have one of the slower 1.3Ghz to say 1.6GHz processors on your board.

Here's what a fellow name "Duhvoodooman" has to say about the PL_P4/N adapter and our motherboards. He also has benchmark results and a pictoral installation guide as well. If I recall correctly there's almost an exact doubling of the benchmark results going from a 1.3GHz to a 2.6GHz. I thought, as with most computer upgrades that when you double the speed of something you're usually lucky to see a 2/3rds increase!

http://duhvoodooman.com/powrleap/P4N/P4N_1.htm

There's an installation video at the PowerLeap website. It's really easy to do. Almost as easy as just popping in a processor.

http://www.powerleap.com/ Then scroll halfway down the page.

Here are the prices if you buy the whole kit with the processor. I don't know what FSB speed you need to buy with the 2.8GHz and 3.0GHz processors. For the 2.6GHz you need the 400FSB model..not the 533MHz.

PL-P4/N 3.0GHz Upgrade Kit
$349.00

PL-P4/N 2.8GHz Upgrade Kit
$249.95

PL-P4/N 2.6GHz Upgrade Kit
$219.95

I hope that I'm not coming across as a salesman for PowerLeap. I just thought that if anyone was interested in upgrading the processor on their D850GB they may want to know their options.

Have a good day.

Alienware Intel D850GB 400MHz FSB with a PowerLeaped P4_2.6GHz
512MBs PC-800 RDRAM
Radeon 9700 Pro
Catalyst 4.7 @ 331/344
Seagate 120GB-8MB Cache HD
Audigy 2 Platinum
Klipsch Pro-Media 4.1
Sony 21" E540/B Monitor
HOTAS Cougar
WinXP_Pro w/SP-1
DirectX_9.0(b)
3DMark2003=5,180
3DMark2001 SE=14,233