Intel Matrix Storage

What is it exactly? I know its for Intel chipset and RAID configurations. How will it affect my Santa Rosa laptop ? Performance boost?

 

This is driver for Intel SATA controller.
Since this controller is AHCI-compatible, you can use default AHCI driver from Microsoft. Hovewer this made by Intel specifically for this chip and it slightly better, it have NCQ support in particular.

 

Ok, in english please? Will it affect my day to day use?

 

It will help a little and in a laptop a little goes a long way.

 

Hmm, I've been reading on Intel's webpage, seems like it only affects RAID and Turbo Memory setups... :S

It says nothing about single-drive setups

 

Instead of default windows driver it does support NCQ (native command queuing). This will improve performance even on single-drive setups.

 

I get an error mesage that my system doesn't meet the minimum requirements?

 

Help ? anyone ?

 

You know, I thought that this was only for RAID system. In other words, I thought you had to have a RAID setup for it to work. I have it on my desktop and all it tells me is the status of my RAID 1 array. I don't think you really need to install it on a laptop, but that is just my take.

 

The matrix storage driver from Intel will enable native command queing. This allows for the read head, the slowest part in a hard drive, to move less. This increases read efficiency because the commands are reorganized based on where the information might be located on the physical hard drive platter.

The disadvantage is that some programs will have to wait slightly longer for any necessary data. Also, with the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, enhanced write caching does not work, at least not on the G1S, thus write speed may be lower.

 

Ok, the above posts claim something else, but as you say it only affects RAID system and tell the status, that's impression I was getting while reading on Intel's
webpage...

So I think i'm gonna delete this one

 

it causes problems. i never even installed it after a clean install, however, after i decided to install the turbo mem software, the matrix came bundled with it

 

so intel matrix storage doesn't increase the hdd performance. is there anyway to uninstall them once it's been installed.

 

Just heading to work...but I will bookmark this to explain it a bit.

The Intel Matrix Controller allows systems to run in SATA AHCI mode which, with respect to the hard drive or SSD, will give an average increase of 10-15mb/sec read increase in the hard drive and system performance from my initial testing.

There have been many many querries regarding this because, in many systems that want to run at 64Bit and specifically with Vista Ultimate, the drivers are required. Dell is now famous for having these utilized in their newer systems at both 32 and 64bit levels. Without the driver being installed properly, the system causes a BSOD which can be fixed but is not known to have a consistent set of circumstances in the BSOD or fix.

For example, in some systems, one can do a cold reboot to stop the BSOD and simply install the drivers, whereas, in others, one MUST install the drivers through Vista installation and load the driver through a specific menu in the repair options.

Clear as mud yet???

"I will be back!"

 

very complicated and didn't understand anything. i have got ATA/AHCI. now the system BIOS is set in AHCI. so my intel matrix should give me better performane that's what u meant? plz describe everything in simple way.
and the main thing is why 'write cach on the disk' and 'advance performance' in the policies tab of the hard drive properties can't be enable.

 

The SATA hard disk in your laptop can operate in two modes either the normal conventional ATA mode and the new advanced AHCI mode... The driver provided by Microsoft for AHCI (msahci.sys) is a very buggy(lot of defects) one and so causes lot of Blue Screen (BSOD) issues while rebooting.... Cold reboot solves this problem but that aint a solution isnt it.... I have personally experienced this issue and so I am telling better to insall this Intel matrix Storage Manager driver instead of the MS AHCI one....

And also the AHCI driver wont install when your hard disk is in ATA mode.... And simply changing your hard disk mode from BIOS and restartig the OS will result in a blue screen.... There are many safer methods to install this driver and can be found by searching on this forum.... If you are not able to find telll me and I ll post that solution here too....

 

Thanks Ash....

To just elaborate a bit. The driver is not buggy if the correct one is found. Many have had issues with the Intel download and luck with the later version of the Dell download. Further, some have had success with the earlier Dell executable download where most have better success with the manual method (described below) after extracting the later release from Dell.

Once it is installed and working correctly, you will see the performance increase and have no further problems with it.

To further complicate things, some manufacturers support this with their laptops and some do not. I seem to remember earlier threads stating that Sony did not, or rather, utilized it in a different way through their own BIOS setup.

In closing, the BSOD problem can be avoided COMPLETELY by installing the driver before installing Vista. Its a simple process of finding the driver, expanding it onto an external medium such as a SD/flash drive or DVD, and then installing it when you install Vista. When installing Vista, you will come to a screen which asks which partition you want to install the OS on to. At that screen, there is a menu, bottom left, for driver installation BEFORE OS installation.

At this point, you simply click on that, direct it to the place where the driver is stored (flash/SD/DVD) and it will recognize it. Highlight and select and then continue the OS installation.

This is the only method proven to be successful every time, if your system accepts the medium being used. I feel the best is the USB flash as some systems require drivers for the SD.

Also, once installed and working properly, you will not be able to utilize "Enable write caching on disk" and "Enable advanced performance" because the Matrix Controller uses this in its own way much more effectively.

EDIT: A very important point to recognize is that, if you get a BSOD after an OS installation, 99% of the time this will be the result of the need for the Intel matrix driver. Your system is trying to function in that mode but the driver is not there.

 

thank u flamenko. still i have got something to know. while i installed my VISTA i made my BIOS setting to AHCI(by default it was enable but to install XP i changed it to ATA. afterwards i reformat my hdd and just installed only VISTA as there was some drivers problem for XP). and also i installed Intel Matrix storage with vista installation. it seems my drivers working nice
so i need to know now how can i install XP back again(cuz i really want dual boot: XP and VISTA in my system) while there is AHCI enable. i came to know that i need to install some sort of drivers along with XP installation. where can i get that specific drivers to let my XP installation recognise my hdd. and how can i install that as i haven't got any floppy driver. plz reply me. i will be grateful to u. and one more thing how can i realized that my hdd performing better now as i was able to install Intel Matrix Storage along with VISTA.

 

You can slipstream the driver along with the XP installation disc so that the hard drive will be detected during Xp setup in AHCI mode itself or you can temporarily switch to ATA mode (and not boot into Vista for a short period until you change it back to AHCI), install Xp and then forcefully install the intel matrix storage manager ahci driver for the sata controller and restart..... During this restart change the mode to AHCI in BIOS and it should work now....

 

thanks Ash Hi Fi Zone-
i didn't understand u properly. My system is now with vista ultimate and AHCI mode. so if i want to install XP what should i do? u said me to install intel matrix storage again after XP installation. but it is already installed in my system while i installed VISTA. pls describe me clearly.

 

not working this way. it says me that my system doesn't meet the minimum requirements to install Intel Matrix Storage. so now i went back to AHCI. i have got two OS now. VISTA and XP. i can't logged in to XP until i change AHCI to ATA. so plz tell me how to install matrix storage in XP. u said, install Xp and then forcefully install the intel matrix storage manager ahci driver for the sata controller and restart..... tell me precisely how to do that.

 

I'm having the same issues. as you nealloy1981. I'm getting XP to install with my drive. I have to set my BIOS to ATA for XP to recognize my drives. I installed the Intel Storage Matrix Drivers and after rebooting, changed BIOS to AHCI, I blue screened when I rebooted.

I got a Q6600 running on a Asus P5KE Deluxe. I'll let ya know what I run into.

 

Finally i made it up by slipstreaming. now both of my XP and VISTA are in AHCI mood. but in XP under the device manager/disk driver/(My HDD)fujitsu mhy2250bh...policies.. i m missing some options. there all the options r disable. i can't select 'enable write caching on the disk. one option is missing there which is 'enable advance performance'. i don't care for them if some1 could ensure me that my hard drive performance will be better than b4.

PLZ tell me some1 will i have better performance of HDD in XP bcoz of AHCI mood. or the HDD performance will be slow down.

 

In Vista first go to device manager and note down the exact model number of the SATA AHCI controller..... It would be something of the sort :

Intel 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller

The HEM/HBM would differ according to the controller present on your system....

Then to install the driver in XP, what I meant by forcefully is - going to Device manager, then choosing update driver, then choosing the have disk option, then choosing the iastor.inf file..... Then you will get a list of AHCI SATA controller models..... There choose the model number you had noted down in Vista and ask it to install it... Then it would ask to restart and during that time change the mode in BIOS to AHCI.... That should solve the problem...

EDIT: I guess you have already solved it by slipstreaming....

And dont worry about those unavailable options because in AHCI mode those are enabled automatically and hence are unselectable in Device manager....

 

Ash Hi Fi Zone:
i can't log in xp now. everything was done well. i mean with the slipstreaming things i was able to install XP. afterwards i had to repair my boot with vista dvd and installed easybcd. thats the way now i can see the option to login vista and xp. but i can't login xp. it seems i m really pissed with f..u..k..n...g AHCH. so i m thinking to set my BIOS to ATA. and install vista and XP. just tell me what is the difference AHCI and ATA. i mean what is the best. i was keep asking me on my post. but u and no other guy didn't answer me. i just want to know what benefit shall i get if i were able to set my bios to AHCI and run XP and VISTA.

 

AHCI will enable slightly faster data transfers due to native queueing support.... If you do not notice any performance degrade of sort with having your hard disk in ATA mode let it be in ATA itself....

I have setup my laptop HDD in AHCI and have installed both Vista and Xp on it along with OpenSuse and all of them working perfectly

 

finally i was also able to install both xp and vista in ahci mood. by the way, have u got a good sound card driver? the one posted in this forum was bit crap. if the volume level is zero u could hear the mouse click sound through head phone. and another thing my media direct button doesn't work in xp. my installation was successful. and i can see media direct in my program menu. they r working fine upon on mouse click. just let me know if u know the solution.

 

should i install intel turbo memory in my laptop? everything is working nice so far along with AHCI mood. but i want to know about the intel turbo memory. will it give me good data transfer rate or something or what is that for? is it a sata driver like intel matrix storage?

 

I want to buy 1520 Inspiron T7500, 160 Gb, GF8600M GT et cetera..
BUT.. in computer store I tried to use this laptop and in autonomous mode (without power) it works very slowly under Vista Home Premium (I don't remember exactly, but not Ultimate).. but with power it works nicely...

And when tech-service of this store checked it, they said that problem was caused because Intel Matrix Storage doesn't work properly... They removed this driver and laptop began to work properly..
So I'm sad because I don't know.. buy this one or not...

(don't laugh ))) I live in Ukraine in not big city and I found only one such laptop in stores and I don't know when the store can provide more such laptops.. unfortunately)
Can you advise me a little bit in this situation?...

 

Turbo Memory Driver is only required if you have the Intel Flash Cache Module installed in your laptop and I doubt you might have installed it because it is not part of the specs from DELL (in most countries)....

And I really do not know Antuan why such a problem could exist due to the SATA driver.... It may be that the driver was too outdated or something....

 

Hello!
I have a big problem with this intel matrix storage driver.I have sager 2090 with intel turbo memory.But to install it I must instal intel matrix storage driver.The ahci is enabled in the bios.But when I install intel matrix storage driver after the reboot I had BSoD and the laptop restarts and this is everytime.I tried clean install of windows vista and when its asked me on which partition I must install vista I choose to install driver and then it shows my hdd is 345456543gb and I can't install vista.So now I am with this achi driver Intel(R) ICH8M SATA AHCI Controller - 2829 which comes with vista but I can't use my intel turbo memory.So please help me with that.
PS sorry for my english ;;]