Using SSD acceleration on an old system - No acceleration button in RST

[FPiqu]

Hi all,

I have got an old gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0) i want to make the most of and I have setup a raid 5 with 3 WD Black drives, that i want to use for storage (not boot, my boot drive is on a different controller). In order to improve the performance of this setup, I would like to add an SSD to use as cache using the Intel Rapid Storage technology.

However, here is where it gets complicated... I literally scoured the entire internet to find a way to enable the "Acceleration" button in RST without success. It seems that the solution is out there but i couldn't find it.

Here is where i am:

• Made sure "RAID" is enabled in the BIOS
• installed the latest driver (details below)
• Installed all the drives on the same ICH10R controller
• Tried various tips from forum users ranging from reducing the partition space to ticking on/off some cache options in the device properties and even talking nicely to my PC.

I have copied the system report (in french, attached - if you can tell me how to generate it in English that would be great!) but i feel i tried everything i could so it might be that i missed something in the settings or system compatibility....

Looking forward to hearing from you.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello FPiqu

Thank you for your response.

We are looking into this behavior and just to make sure, the SSD SATA 59 Go is the one you are trying to set as a cache drive? Could you please provide the brand, model and part number?

Also, I noticed you have 2 SATA RAID Volumes (RAID 0 and RAID 5). Are you trying to accelerate one of them or a different drive?

Regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[FPiqu]

Thanks for coming back to me Andrew!

You are correct, i want my 59 GB to be the cache drive. This is the second SSD I am trying with (I initially tried with a 120 GB Crucial but swapped it for a smaller Sandisk since RST wouldn't be able to use more than 64 GB anyway.).

Details:

Disk on Controller 0, Port 3

Status: Normal

Type: SATA SSD

Location type: Internal

Usage: Available

Size: 59 GB

System disk: No

Disk data cache: Enabled

Command queuing: NCQ

SATA transfer rate: 3 Gb/s

Model: SanDisk SDSSDP064G            

Serial number: 142808400804

SCSI device ID: 3

Firmware: 3.2.0  

Physical sector size: 512 Bytes

Logical sector size: 512 Bytes

Ideally I would just like to accelerate only the RAID 5.

PS: I also managed to tweak RST so that it shows in English so please find the full report in English attached! :)

[AndrewG_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello FPiqu

Thank you for your response and the information provided.

After checking internally regarding this issue and doing some research, we can say it is not a bug in the software and it is related to an incompatibility issue. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) and features are supported under specific requirements, for instance: Windows® version, Intel® RST driver version, Chipset model.

After checking the specifications of your motherboard GIGABYTE® GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0), I found out that it comes with an Intel® X58 Express Chipset* as you can confirm in the below link*:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-X58A-UD3R-rev-20/sp#sp

However, Intel® Smart Response Technology requires specific requirements including a comprehensive list of supported chipset models, which does not include your chipset model (X58) as supported, so Intel® Smart Response Technology and the "Accelerate or Performance button" will not be available for this system. For more information, you can check the Intel® Smart Response Technology System Requirements in the below link:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005501/boards-and-kits.html

As a note aside, we noticed that n.scott.pearson was able to set up this on an old Intel® Desktop Board DZ87KLT-75K, which comes with an Intel® Z87 Chipset that is actually one of the supported Chipsets for this feature, this explains why the Acceleration button and the feature was available for his setup.

Should you have additional inquiries, please let us know.

Regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

*Links to third-party sites and references to third-party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, Intel® is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of Intel® or any of its products is implied.

[FPiqu]

Ah thanks so much for that! I guess i have to turn to primo cache now.