Couple of questions about the R3. (HDD slots)

This first question has probably already been answered a thousand times but I want to double check: The R3 does have SATA 3 (6Gb/s) capabilities, correct? If so, a SATA 2 hard drive will still work, won't it? And if not, would a SATA 3 SSD still work (but presumably limited by SATA 2 speeds)?

This second question is the more important to me, though. Does the R3 support Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT)? If I end up getting an M17x, my plan would be to have my Momentus XT in it as the primary drive but use a 64GB Crucial C300 SSD as a cache using SRT to really speed up the system.

Thanks in advance.

 

I use an intel 510 and it works just fine. Make sure to put it in slot 1. And sata 2 drives should work in all the hd slots.

 

Are you using the 510 with Intel SRT though? This is my biggest concern, whether or not SRT will work.

 

That I'm not so I can't answer your question.

 

Come on, surely someone knows whether or not it supports SRT.

 

SRT is only for z68 mobos as far as I know. The answer is no.

 

Thing is, I've also seen this in a couple of online articles:

IIRC the R3 has a QM67 chipset, doesn't it? (correct me if I'm wrong there)

 

I am pretty sure this mostly applies to Z68, though it does not seem like you are going to get a solid answer until you actually try it.

Here's what HardOCP says "SRT is an optional component of Intel’s new Z68 platform."

Anandtech says: "Z68 alone (and some mobile chipsets—HM67, QM67)"

Link: Intel SRT Hardware Requirements - Intel Smart Response Technology - SRT | [H]ard|OCP

Anantech Link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2

Hopefully this answers your questions.

Other members have stated Alienware is HM67: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/570939-m17x-r3-h67-p67.html

 

While I plan on getting an M17x, my problem is I don't want to drop an extra £80 on a low capacity SSD planning to use it with SRT to then find out it doesn't work. I'll still be able to use the SSD itself of course but very few of my games would fit onto it. (Hell, I'd need a 160GB SSD at least to fit my OS and Steam alone with its games)

 

Look into eboostr. I use it for my work laptop in combination with ExpressCard SSD 48GB.

It works really good and speeds up my system a lot. It only speeds up reads though. I did quiet a bit of looking and could not find anything better to speed up performance when your main drive is a spinner.

 

Using both CPU-Z and HWInfo32, both state the motherboard is HM67.

 

I wouldn't really be looking to use extra software to do it. For something like that my Momentus XT already uses its own internal 4GB SSD cache just fine. But I want to take a step up and use a full, SATA 3 SSD as the cache. I'd be much more comfortable running it off Intel's own SRT.

Well, if it's HM67 then it should support SRT according to some of the articles.

 

It should, yes, but according to Intel, it's only the Z68.

I found this article and followed the above user guide to see if I could give you an accurate answer, but from the page I linked you, I think I'm stuck because I don't have an SSD on this computer. I don't know if the Accelerate option only appears if you have a SSD.

 

Does anyone happen to have an issue with Port 0 not being SATA III at all times? For my system, for the first couple hours it will always start off as SATA III (6Gb/s) but after a while it'll go down to SATA II. The drive in question is an Intel 510 - 120GB SSD. Is port 1 the same way?

 

anyone tried SRT with their SSD yet? Seems like a lot of people have SSDs and a HDD so someone must have tried it.

 

I wouldn't even bother with it honestly...It's just a re-implementation of what they did with the Hybrid drives, just more cache.

 

Yep. Most of us are getting similar benefits by installing the OS on our SSD.

Think about it. SRT just helps by caching the most commonly used files. With even a small SSD, you can put the OS and a few common apps on the SSD. Games, videos, music, etc, all won't receive that much benefit from SRT, so you can stick them on the HDD.

 

hate having to clean up my desktop and managing a seperate drive. Would much rather just backup everything onto an external drive.

For me having the speed of SSD without worrying about space would be perfect.

Anyway. would have thought someone would have tried it by now.