***Asus Rampage III Extreme Owners Thread***

[Samson]

Just tested the 1208 mod bios and it flashes fine but does not work in RAID mode. If I boot in RAID mode with 1208mod there are no drives detected on the ICH10R. Seems to work fine in ACHI and IDE modes though....

Hello people, I have been away for some time but I noticed that a new BIOS was posted for R3E
Rampage III Extreme Bios Ver 1208 Official
Notes
1. Update Intel Raid Option ROM

Since I am using RAID 10 I flashed to that BIOS. In the BIOS I selected RAID and my raid 10 is detected fine and working. I also installed the latest drivers
Intel Rapid Storage Technology v.10.5.0.1015.

But can anyone please tell me in plain English (clearly) what has been made better in this new BIOS with regards to RAID ? And what is the meaning of "Update Intel Raid Option ROM "
Has something been fixed, added, corrected, improved ??
What's the story, I don't understand ?

[zoson]

Hello people, I have been away for some time but I noticed that a new BIOS was posted for R3E
Rampage III Extreme Bios Ver 1208 Official
Notes
1. Update Intel Raid Option ROM

Since I am using RAID 10 I flashed to that BIOS. In the BIOS I selected RAID and my raid 10 is detected fine and working. I also installed the latest drivers
Intel Rapid Storage Technology v.10.5.0.1015.

But can anyone please tell me in plain English (clearly) what has been made better in this new BIOS with regards to RAID ? And what is the meaning of "Update Intel Raid Option ROM "
Has something been fixed, added, corrected, improved ??
What's the story, I don't understand ?

If your stuff was working before, you probably won't notice any changes.

[Sylver123]

Hi guys.

I have been thinking of buying another Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB to raid them together for double performance but I have never tried to raid drives before so i'm unsure
how to set this up on the R3E, so I was wondering if someone could let me know the propor way to set up raid on the Marvell Controller with two drives.

When setting up raid on the Marvell Controller do I have to install the Marvell drivers or can I still use windows own built in drivers? and if I can still use the built in windows
drivers will I lose automatic Trim with raid setup?

Also would I have to reinstall my windows to setup raid or can I convert my existing windows install onto a raid drive setup?

What would be the best raid mode to use for best performance, raid 0, raid 1 etc?

Thanks a lot guys for helping.

Sylver123.

[skuldarin]

Hi guys.

I have been thinking of buying another Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB to raid them together for double performance but I have never tried to raid drives before so i'm unsure
how to set this up on the R3E, so I was wondering if someone could let me know the propor way to set up raid on the Marvell Controller with two drives.

When setting up raid on the Marvell Controller do I have to install the Marvell drivers or can I still use windows own built in drivers? and if I can still use the built in windows
drivers will I lose automatic Trim with raid setup?

Also would I have to reinstall my windows to setup raid or can I convert my existing windows install onto a raid drive setup?

What would be the best raid mode to use for best performance, raid 0, raid 1 etc?

Thanks a lot guys for helping.

Sylver123.

to what i recall - the Marvell controller and the Intel controller are two seperate controllers. the one you see when you first built your computer (to my knowledge) is the Intel controller. i personally just use the intel controller sense when i got my board the marvell controller was a bit off but i also haven't tried the new drivers either. you'll just have to decide which you want to use... although the marvell controller for our board is SATA6 ready where as the intel controller is not.

as for installing windows, yes you'll have to as setting up raid requires erasing all data and sync'ing both drives together. Raid 0 is your performance buster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

for an update on stability...

cranked
4.672ghz LinX 21 pass stable at full 12gb mem at 1866 and 2x uncore (3733) 101.2Gflops
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...us/jackpot.jpg

daily
4.272ghz LinX / Prime95 stable at full 12gb mem at 1866 and 2x uncore (3733) 93.1Gflops
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...lus/daily1.jpg

[Brama]

Hello people, I have been away for some time but I noticed that a new BIOS was posted for R3E
Rampage III Extreme Bios Ver 1208 Official
Notes
1. Update Intel Raid Option ROM

Since I am using RAID 10 I flashed to that BIOS. In the BIOS I selected RAID and my raid 10 is detected fine and working. I also installed the latest drivers
Intel Rapid Storage Technology v.10.5.0.1015.

But can anyone please tell me in plain English (clearly) what has been made better in this new BIOS with regards to RAID ? And what is the meaning of "Update Intel Raid Option ROM "
Has something been fixed, added, corrected, improved ??
What's the story, I don't understand ?

The Intel raid option ROM is code supplied by Intel and packed inside the BIOS that is necessary to manage every raid configuration.

As this option ROM has been never updated by Asus since first BIOS, it was very old and causes some issues with SSD.
They decided to update the Intel option ROM with a newer release in BIOS 1208 but unfortunately they broke the compatibility with third party raid controllers.


I hope my english is enough clear even it is not my mother language.

[Brama]

I just looked at the BIOS again, and I don't see Intel AHCI ROM in there, that is probably why the RAID ROM fails although I dunno since 10.1.0.1008 is in there to begin with?

Not sure though, and I could be missing the AHCI ROM, I was in a hurry. I'll check when I get home, can anyone verify that Intel AHCI ROM is used, I'd expect 1.20E, and if it's used you should see the AHCI BIOS load during POST if you don't haev quick boot or fast boot enabled.

If Intel AHCI ROM is used, and it's older, maybe that needs to be updated as well first before the newer RAID ROM will work? If so, once I find it I'll replace it as well and you guys can test if you like.

Intel AHCI is totally managed by drivers and Intel option ROM is called only when you set BIOS to RAID.
There isn't an Intel AHCI option ROM.

[Sylver123]

to what i recall - the Marvell controller and the Intel controller are two seperate controllers. the one you see when you first built your computer (to my knowledge) is the Intel controller. i personally just use the intel controller sense when i got my board the marvell controller was a bit off but i also haven't tried the new drivers either. you'll just have to decide which you want to use... although the marvell controller for our board is SATA6 ready where as the intel controller is not.

as for installing windows, yes you'll have to as setting up raid requires erasing all data and sync'ing both drives together. Raid 0 is your performance buster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

for an update on stability...

cranked
4.672ghz LinX 21 pass stable at full 12gb mem at 1866 and 2x uncore (3733) 101.2Gflops
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...us/jackpot.jpg

daily
4.272ghz LinX / Prime95 stable at full 12gb mem at 1866 and 2x uncore (3733) 93.1Gflops
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...lus/daily1.jpg

I`ll be using the Marvell controller as the Crucial RealSSD C300 drives work better off this controller.

The thing I wanted to know if anyone knows is to raid on this controller do I need to install the Marvell drivers or will windows own built in drivers work?

Also you said i'll have to reinstall windows but is there no way I could just make a image backup of my current windows install and then when seting up raid,
chose to create a hard drive partition the same size as my orignal install partition the restore the image backup onto it?

I`m sure I have read on the internet there are ways to convert non raid windows to raid.

[Sylver123]

I did not have to install any drivers for the raid0 to work with my Marvell controller in windows for my OS boot drive. I just had to change the boot order in the bios and it worked no problems at all.

At one point I installed the Marvell console because windows update suggests it. I uninstalled that crap shortly after because it was just bloat-ware.

Just ignore skuldarin... He doesn't read and comprehend the questions people are asking. I understand how frustrating it is to have someone like him giving you bad and/or irrelevant information. Adding him to my ignore list was an excellent choice... Except I still have to read his junk when people quote him.

I take it a image backup method of keeping my existing non raid install and then restore the image on a partition of the same size on the created raid
should work without problems? and ones I have restored my existing bootable windows non raid install to the partition raid, on booting, windows should
see it as raid and install the necessary drivers and change registry configurations etc?

[zoson]

I take it a image backup method of keeping my existing non raid install and then restore the image on a partition of the same size on the created raid
should work without problems? and ones I have restored my existing bootable windows non raid install to the partition raid, on booting, windows should
see it as raid and install the necessary drivers and change registry configurations etc?

I would expect that your image won't boot after restoring it. You'll need to use a windows install disk to repair your installation after the image has been restored.

[Sylver123]

I would expect that your image won't boot after restoring it. You'll need to use a windows install disk to repair your installation after the image has been restored.

To get around this could I not just clone my existing non raid install onto the raid drive using a tool such as Acronis True Image Home 2011?

[zinsco]

I`ll be using the Marvell controller as the Crucial RealSSD C300 drives work better off this controller.

You would be better of running your raid 0 from the intel sata II controller. On this board the Marvell controller is the 9128 and is limited by a PCI-E x1 lane speed. I know your ssd is sata III but you will find a bottleneck if you try to put it on the Marvell 9128.

Intel x58 is a better chip all around anyway. If you really want to get the most out of your raid 0 with 2 sata III ssd's, you'll need to get a raid card.

[zoson]

To get around this could I not just clone my existing non raid install onto the raid drive using a tool such as Acronis True Image Home 2011?

No, the drivers will be different for your marvell controller. a copied image will not have these drivers installed. You run the installer to fix that. Your MBR might also be invalid for the new drives, but the install repair feature will fix that also.

[Mungri]

Does Raid actually work on the Marvel controller?

[claydough]

Haven't tried it yet but the RAIDFix application mentioned in the crucial thread looks promising.

Download RAIDFix 1.1.0
45 KB, .exe – Requires .NET 3.5

RAIDFix is a small application that allows you to enable RAID on an Intel ICH-based motherboard after installing Windows with RAID disabled.

[zinsco]

Does Raid actually work on the Marvel controller?

There are 2 ways to set up the raid. Of course you must connect your 2 drives to the red 6gbps ports in order to have the options available.

First thing to do is in the bios go to:

Advanced Tab
Onboard Devices Configuration
Onboard SATA6G Controller
Choose AHCI

First method is in the bios.
Go to the Tools tab.
Scroll to "Drive Xpert Configuration"" and press enter
Scroll to "Update To Super Speed" press enter and enable for Raid 0
("Update To EZ Backup" is for Raid 1)

The other method is just like intel
When you are booting up, watch for the Marvel Configuration Utility and press control "M"
From in the utility you can set up your Raid

All this said, I would not use the Marvel to run raid 0 anyway. The Rampage III Extreme uses the 9128 chip for the Marvell Controller and is limited to PCI-E x1 lane speed.

[Mungri]

Haven't tried it yet but the RAIDFix application mentioned in the crucial thread looks promising.

Wait, so if I buy another 64 Gb C300, I can raid it with my current one without reinstalling windows?

Ok, I got the answers to the Raid 0, I thought it didnt work all this time, bring on 64 Gb C300 price cuts!

[claydough]

Does Raid actually work on the Marvel controller?

yes.

Doesn't look like it behaves as well as an intel raid. lsdmeasasp posted a pretty comprehensive comparison:
Marvell Vs. ICH10R(intel) Vs. Highpoint 640 (Single/RAID)

[zoson]

All this said, I would not use the Marvel to run raid 0 anyway. The Rampage III Extreme uses the 9128 chip for the Marvell Controller and is limited to PCI-E x1 lane speed.

Sure, it is a limit. But I still get about 470mb/sec read off my two x25-m 80GB in raid0 on the 9218 chip, and write speed is not bottlenecked at all running at a solid 140mb/sec(saturation point of two x25-m 80gb's in raid0).

[zoson]

Wait, so if I buy another 64 Gb C300, I can raid it with my current one without reinstalling windows?

Ok, I got the answers to the Raid 0, I thought it didnt work all this time, bring on 64 Gb C300 price cuts!

That's not what he was saying. It enables you to install other drives as raid after installing windows without the driver.

[Mungri]

That's not what he was saying. It enables you to install other drives as raid after installing windows without the driver.

Sorry, I'm a complete nubcake when it comes to Raid

Right now I've got my two F3s in Raid 0. If I buy a second 64 Gb C300 and then erase my current one, can I put the two C300s in Raid 0 before reinstalling Windows onto them? Would the data on my F3 raid 0 array remain safe? I have it regularly backed up onto an F4 anyway, but it still seems like setting this up would be a nightmare:

- Raid 0 64 Gb C300s on Marvel Sata III ports with Windows 7 installed on them
- Raid 0 Samsung F3s for my gaming drive
- 1 F4 for backing up the raid, the other F4 for everything else.

Thats what I want to do, would it be easy or difficult to setup on this board?

From the results posted, people pretty much confirm what I've always heard about the marvel ports - a single Sata III SSD on them is faster than it is on the Intel Sata II ports, but two SSDs in Raid 0 work a lot better on the Intel ports than they do on the Marvel.

I think I'll simply not bother, I've always wanted raid 0 goodness with my C300, but it wont do anything plugged into my remaining marvel port.

[zinsco]

Sure, it is a limit. But I still get about 470mb/sec read off my two x25-m 80GB in raid0 on the 9218 chip, and write speed is not bottlenecked at all running at a solid 140mb/sec(saturation point of two x25-m 80gb's in raid0).

If you had them on the sata 2 intel chip, you would get the same if not better. Why use the Marvell if you don't get any performance boost over the intel and the intel chip is tried and true for a long time. Not just performance in speed but a better chip period.

Here's my two vertex 2's R0 on the intel:

[zoson]

Sorry, I'm a complete nubcake when it comes to Raid

Right now I've got my two F3s in Raid 0. If I buy a second 64 Gb C300 and then erase my current one, can I put the two C300s in Raid 0 before reinstalling Windows onto them? Would the data on my F3 raid 0 array remain safe? I have it regularly backed up onto an F4 anyway, but it still seems like setting this up would be a nightmare:

- Raid 0 64 Gb C300s on Marvel Sata III ports with Windows 7 installed on them
- Raid 0 Samsung F3s for my gaming drive
- 1 F4 for backing up the raid, the other F4 for everything else.

Thats what I want to do, would it be easy or difficult to setup on this board?

From the results posted, people pretty much confirm what I've always heard about the marvel ports - a single Sata III SSD on them is faster than it is on the Intel Sata II ports, but two SSDs in Raid 0 work a lot better on the Intel ports than they do on the Marvel.

I think I'll simply not bother, I've always wanted raid 0 goodness with my C300, but it wont do anything plugged into my remaining marvel port.

Modifying the ssd raid config will not affect the raid config of your hdd raid. You'll get faster performance with a raid0 on marvell than a single disk, it just won't be as fast as raid0 on the intel controller.

If you had them on the sata 2 intel chip, you would get the same if not better. Why use the Marvell if you don't get any performance boost over the intel and the intel chip is tried and true for a long time. Not just performance in speed but a better chip period.

Here's my two vertex 2's R0 on the intel:

I have my intel controller populated fully with platter based disks and my optical drives... I'm not really going to cry over less than 80mb/sec in the grand scheme of 450+mb/sec read speeds... lol and well, my intel drives couldn't write faster than 140mb/sec even if they wanted to.

[zinsco]

I have my intel controller populated fully with platter based disks and my optical drives... I'm not really going to cry over less than 80mb/sec in the grand scheme of 450+mb/sec read speeds... lol and well, my intel drives couldn't write faster than 140mb/sec even if they wanted to.

I hear ya.

[zoson]

Right now I've got my two F3s in Raid 0. If I buy a second 64 Gb C300 and then erase my current one, can I put the two C300s in Raid 0 before reinstalling Windows onto them? Would the data on my F3 raid 0 array remain safe? I have it regularly backed up onto an F4 anyway, but it still seems like setting this up would be a nightmare:

- Raid 0 64 Gb C300s on Marvel Sata III ports with Windows 7 installed on them
- Raid 0 Samsung F3s for my gaming drive
- 1 F4 for backing up the raid, the other F4 for everything else.

Thats what I want to do, would it be easy or difficult to setup on this board?

From the results posted, people pretty much confirm what I've always heard about the marvel ports - a single Sata III SSD on them is faster than it is on the Intel Sata II ports, but two SSDs in Raid 0 work a lot better on the Intel ports than they do on the Marvel.

I think I'll simply not bother, I've always wanted raid 0 goodness with my C300, but it wont do anything plugged into my remaining marvel port.

Your setup would be easy to do with your three arrays/disks.

The marvel controller will give you faster performance in raid0 with two C300's than it would with a single C300. If you put the same C300's on the intel controller, you'll get even better performance in raid0 on intel than you would on marvel.

I know I mentioned this earlier today at 2:11pm, but it's on the last page and it was apparently missed by some people.

Needless to say, raid0 on either marvel or intel would be significantly faster than a single drive. If you want the last bit of performance, go with the intel controller as it doesn't have the bottleneck others were mentioning with the 1x pcie lanes.

Otherwise, the marvel will do you just fine. You can always plug your optical into the marvel, also. I would have done that if my drives were capable of saturating the marvel controller.

Anyway, you will probably have to format to make this switch. That makes it easy for you to do either option!

[zinsco]

How come windows 7 shows a lower cpu speed when bclk is low and multi is high? Is there a fix?