topic Is Smart Response Technology supported for Kabylake? in Intel® Optane™ Memory

Is Smart Response Technology supported for Kabylake?

wwelc1 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:36:56 GMT

System

ASUS PRIME Z270-A

Core i5 7400 (Kabylake)

Windows 10 64bit

Optane Memory 32GB

I have successfully installed Optane Memory as a cache for HDD. For reasons, however, I would like to test if Optane 32GB (as an ordinary SSD) can be used with Intel's Smart Response Technology. Intel's download page of Rapid Storage Technology (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26865/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-?product=55005 Download Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) ) provides two setup tools, i.e. SetupOptaneMemory.exe and SetupRST.exe. I expected that SetupRST.exe will give me an option for SRT, but the RST tool gives Optane Memory tab instead of Acceleration tab for SRT.

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a way to use SRT with Optane Memory (as an ordinary SSD) in my system configuration (Core i5 7400, Z270 chipset, and Windows 10 64bit)?

2. If not, can I setup SRT with Optane Memory (as an SSD) in older sytems such as Skylake CPU and Z170 chipset?

Thank you for your kind comments.

Re: Is Smart Response Technology supported for Kabylake?

idata — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 21:08:45 GMT

Hello Welcomesorrow,

We understand you would like to know if the Intel® Smart Response Technology is supported with the Intel® Optane™ Memory Technology.

We do suggest to use the memory module with the Intel® Optane™ Memory Technology for a better performance; However, if you want to try the Intel® Smart Response Technology, you need to make sure the system meets these requirements first:

Intel® Z68, Z87, Q87, H87, Z77, Q77, or H77 Express Chipset-based desktop board
Intel® Core™ Processor in the LGA 1155 or LGA 1150 package
System BIOS with SATA mode set to RAID
Intel RST software 10.5 version release or later
Single hard disk drive or multiple drives in one RAID volume
Solid state drive (SSD) with a minimum capacity of 18.6 GB
Operating system: Windows 8* or Windows* 7 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)

You can also try the following https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26759/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST- version of the Intel® RST, which does not contain Intel® Optane™ Technology support.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/000005501.html Here is more information about Intel® Smart Response Technology.

Regards,

Nestor C

Re: Is Smart Response Technology supported for Kabylake?

wwelc1 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 13:14:36 GMT

Hi Nestor,

Great to hear that Optane may be used as a cache in older PCs by using an appropriate RST driver.

To start with, I removed the curret RST and installed the older RST 14.8.14.1063 on the current environment, that is, Z270 and Core i5 7400. Unfortunately, I was met with that all-too-familiar BSOD, INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

Never mind, I expected this result. Judging from the system requirements of RST, I think the most likely cause of error could be either Windows version, CPU, or the chipset. I will post the results of my experiment.

Re: Is Smart Response Technology supported for Kabylake?

idata — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 13:02:46 GMT

Hi Welcomesorrow,

The reason why you are getting a BSOD (Related to boot issue), may be due to the BIOS boot mode configuration also.

However, as you already mentioned it, this may be also related to requirements, as we previously mentioned it, if your system meets all the requirements for Intel® Optane™ Technology, we suggest you use it that way as well.

Regards,

Nestor C