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    HDD in BIOS originally set to AHCI

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by francinep7, Jul 21, 2010.

  1. francinep7

    francinep7 Notebook Guru

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    Hi All,

    I recently purchased M17x R2 with HDD 640 GB Raid 0 (2 x 320 GB). The detail specs in my signature. However when I checked my HDD setting in BIOS it's originally set to AHCI instead of RAID. Questions:
    1. Is it worth to use RAID instead of AHCI. Will there any significant performance increment (though I heard some reliability issues on RAID)?
    2. If yes, is it ok for me to simply change the original setting (AHCI) in BIOS to RAID without installing RAID driver? Will I get a negative impact by doing this?

    Thanks in advance & appreciate for your valuable info guys!

    M17x R2 Nebula Red
    Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz 2.8 GHz Turbo
    6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
    17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED
    Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870 CrossfireX
    640GB Raid 0 (2x 320GB)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    francinep7, Jul 21, 2010
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  2. Vico100

    Vico100 Notebook Enthusiast

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    If it was set to AHCI then the computer wasn't running raid 0 mode. AHCI is good for ssd. Its worth using raid if you want the fastest option, but both hd's will be formated.
     
    Vico100, Jul 21, 2010
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  3. lancorp

    lancorp Notebook Virtuoso

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    I don't know why Dell sends out RAID 0 configs in AHCI mode. I've received a couple of M17xR2's that way.

    To answer your questions, RAID 0 will enhance the speed of your drives by combining them. Reads and writes will be roughly twice the speed. The downside is that since the two HDD's are "joined", if either on fails, you lose everything.

    Secondly, you CANNOT switch from single drive to RAID 0 mode without reformatting and reloading Windows. You could try to contact Dell tech support and see if they can ship you a set of drives, with the factory load, preset for RAID 0, then just pop out the old drives and pop in the new set.

    It's very, very easy to access the HDD's in the M17xR2.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    lancorp, Jul 21, 2010
    #3
  4. Ashtefere

    Ashtefere Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah it is, but watch out for HDD0 - when I swapped out the drive I actually put the caddy back in wrong way around (fits without an issue) and the sata connector was only half touching.

    There shouldnt be any metal overhang of the drive caddy when you replace the drive.

    -Ash
     
    Ashtefere, Jul 21, 2010
    #4