quick BIOS settings question

[wizzackr]

I have two MaxLine III 250GB drives hooked up to an ASUS A8R-MVP. In the BIOS there is two options I cannot figure out what to set them to:

1. In the "storage configuration" tab I have the Option to enable/disable "32bit Data Transfer". By default it is disabled, do I want that enabled?

2. One Option I can set is called "SATA Mode Selection", which is set to "emulated PATA mode" by default. The other option would be to set it to "AHCI Mode" - ?!?

Thanks a lot in advance,
j

 

[unhappy_mage]

1) I assume not, but look it up in the manual and see what it says.

2) That probably means it pretends to be an IDE controller Windows knows about so you don't need a driver disk. It should work fine in either position, but changing it would probably mean you have to install drivers.

 

[mikeblas]

For "32-bit mode': yes, you absolutely want it enabled... unless you're using a very ancient drive. The setting allows two 16-bit transfers to be coalesced into one 32-bit transaction.

A solid reference on the subject is at Storage Review.