ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi

[Anonymo]

I can confirm as well with others who emails Zotac

I asked: When/Where can we expect the Revision 3 to be shipped to? (Newegg/Amazon)

This has not been mass produced yet. We do not have any in the USA. We do not know if or when we will be getting them from Hong Kong.
**Name Removed**
ZotacUSA
17921 Rowland St
City of Industry, CA 91748
**removed**@zotacusa.com
http://www.zotacusa.com

 

[Bill_F]

Do we know for sure yet that a new revision will have more SATA ports? Some people mentioned it but I don't know if Zotac ever said that.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9300_mgpu_us.html
We should be able to get 2-3 more added onto the board internally no problem.
If they added just 1 more port I could see more people using RAID5 on this. It actually works decently. I'll have a more in depth write up after I finish my RAID testing.

I personally would sacrifice the wireless G for better 8 channel audio and some more sata ports.
I'd rather use a good wireless N USB dongle, especially since it (802.11N) might become a real standard soon.

Edit: Manual page mentioned by pureaxis below:
http://downloads.zotac.com/mediadrivers/mb/man/pa105.pdf
page 7

Also of note is the (new?) page 77. It warns about the intel CPU fans conflicting with the chipset heatsink.
This is the first mobo manufacturer I've seen that has posted this kind of info in the manual.
While it would be obvious to an engineer its nice info to have, especially to those who haven't bought the board yet.

 

[pureaxis]

The manual on the Zotac support page describes a third SATA port.

I haven't emailed Zotac but the representative on the Zotac forum claim that revision 3 is already shipping worldwide, so there are clearly conflicting information out.

 

[Taxidermista]

You're talking about revisions, maybe you can help me to find out what revision is my board. I bought this one 3 days ago here in Spain.

How-to from Zotac:

but this is what I have on the back of my board:

BTW, I have a 30" Dell connected through HDMI and can't get 2560x1600, only 1920x1200, I don't know if that means something.

 

[Yang]

Hi Taxidermista,

I saw this 0J1 BF somewhere on the web and as far as I remembered the "0J1" means the wake on USB is enabled (hence the "1").

BTW, HDMI is not supposed to support 2560x1600 anyway. However, could you please test DVI connection to Dell 30" ? I really want to get the version that has the dual-link DVI enabled since I have a 30" Dell too. If you got this board from Newegg and it can do dual-link I'll be jumping up and down since I took the risk and ordered the board yesterday!

 

[Cov]

My new board does show 236-DA105-0J1 BF on the back as well.

 

[__Miguel_]

You're talking about revisions, maybe you can help me to find out what revision is my board. I bought this one 3 days ago here in Spain.

Hmmm... Ninguna de las tres versiones?

Well, that is weird... You actually have a FOURTH version... My guess it's the new PCB revision, not a version of the old one. Which seems like good news to Portugal, too, since most of our stuff comes from the same suppliers that sell to Spanish stores (or we buy directly from Spain, whichever works best at the time... lol).

Btw, your nickname... lol

I saw this 0J1 BF somewhere on the web and as far as I remembered the "0J1" means the wake on USB is enabled (hence the "1").

Check Anandtech, they have covered this board extensively.

I, too, believe this is a version with wake on USB working correctly. Which means it's a brand new revision - AFAIK it's an "all or nothing" situation: you either have crippled DVI output AND lack of proper wake on USB support, or you have both working.

Since testing wake on USB is probably easier than getting a DVI-to-DVI cable, you might want to try that first. Just make sure you wait at least a minute before trying to power the computer up from S3, S4 or S5 (Suspend, Hibernation and OFF, respectively). PSUs and capacitors sometimes can play tricks on you (been there, done that).

If you got this board from Newegg and it can do dual-link I'll be jumping up and down since I took the risk and ordered the board yesterday!

Newegg doesn't ship internationally (sadly). Since he said he bought the board in Spain, no luck for you even if it's actually the newer revision.

Man, I can't remember the last time Europe had cool stuff before the US... If I remember correctly, it was back in the GA-965P-DS4 days (not available in the US). Or was it the premature EOS on the GA-G33M-DS2R over there?

OK, OK, I'll shut up now.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[WhiteFireDragon]

You're talking about revisions, maybe you can help me to find out what revision is my board. I bought this one 3 days ago here in Spain.

does it have the 3 SATA ports that's been mentioned?

OK, OK, I'll shut up now.

nah, don't shut up lol. i read a lot of this thread and you've been extremely helpful and detailed.

i still had some questions on the xbox 360 power brick that you talked about. which version is a known fact to not work with the 150w picoPSU and which ones will work for sure? there's several 203w revisions and some 175w bricks also. i'm searching online/ebay and there's so many, i don't know which power brick is legit. and since these power bricks have a weird 6-pin connector, how can i make or where i can i buy an adapter for the picoPSU?

 

[Taxidermista]

does it have the 3 SATA ports that's been mentioned?

No, sorry, only 2 ports.

I, too, believe this is a version with wake on USB working correctly. Which means it's a brand new revision - AFAIK it's an "all or nothing" situation: you either have crippled DVI output AND lack of proper wake on USB support, or you have both working.

Since testing wake on USB is probably easier than getting a DVI-to-DVI cable

However, could you please test DVI connection to Dell 30" ? I really want to get the version that has the dual-link DVI enabled since I have a 30" Dell too. If you got this board from Newegg and it can do dual-link I'll be jumping up and down since I took the risk and ordered the board yesterday!

Tested, I'm afraid there's no dual-link working on this thing, I exchanged the HDMI-HDMI cable with a dual-link DVI-DVI and no changes, just the good old 1920x1200 pixels. My Dell is sad.

I bought the board here in Spain, it didn't come from Newegg.

you might want to try that first. Just make sure you wait at least a minute before trying to power the computer up from S3, S4 or S5 (Suspend, Hibernation and OFF, respectively). PSUs and capacitors sometimes can play tricks on you (been there, done that).

Wake up from suspension without problems using the usb mouse.

 

[darkmatter08]

Okay I talked to Zotac again today and I got the same responses that everyone else has been getting. What is going on now? Originally I was going to buy through my business a demo unit from Zotac and the sales rep said I would be buying revision 3. I was convinced because 2 Zotac employees told me the same info. Sorry for any confusion.

-darkmatter08

 

[__Miguel_]

nah, don't shut up lol. i read a lot of this thread and you've been extremely helpful and detailed.

Thank you for the compliment.

i still had some questions on the xbox 360 power brick that you talked about. which version is a known fact to not work with the 150w picoPSU and which ones will work for sure?

Sorry, I can't help you with this one. I didn't even know there was more than one version of the 203W brick... As always, I'm on the "educated guesses" side, not the "I've actually tried it" one. A few months ago I was seriously considering a setup with that brick, but stuff came up and once again one of my projects went belly up even before it started. I tell you, I've had so many of those I'd build a computer army by now if someone would build all of them...

and since these power bricks have a weird 6-pin connector, how can i make or where i can i buy an adapter for the picoPSU?

That I can help you with.

There is no adapter I know of for the XBox360 brick. Microsoft made it like that (or ordered it that way) because of "proprietary design" manufacturers are bound to include in their products. That being said, the pinout of the connector is known (Google is your friend there), and even if you can't find it, a multimeter will sort that out.

Let me tell you, though, that it's a 7-pin connector, not 6-pin. You have 6 major pins (3 12V+, 3 grounds) and a little hole above the central major pair, which is +5VSB. You don't really need +5VSB unless you need wake-on-USB (I don't know if the Pico can derive +5VSB from the 12V rail, or if there is some power draw from the Pico in stand-by mode, for those purposes, though).

To build yourself an adapter, just connect a wire to each hole, duck-tape the whole shebang, then solder the ground wires together, then the 12V wires, and finally use the two resulting "mega-wires" (you probably want to solder a small lead to the tip of each of the bundled wires to make things easier to work with) to a connector reverse of the Pico (be mindful of the polarities!). Just make sure to use heavy-gauge wire, or else you might end up with melted wires and/or shorts. 16A on the 12V rail produces lots of heat...

No, sorry, only 2 ports.

Tested, I'm afraid there's no dual-link working on this thing

Wake up from suspension without problems using the usb mouse.

Well that is weird... Not only it doesn't fix all the issues at hand like I thought it would, but it's not even one of the versions Zotac says there are available...

Just in case, do take a look over at Anandtech's coverage on this board, it might help clear out a few questions you might have.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[Bill_F]

Has anyone tried using a 13-19 volt laptop AC adapter that puts out 150-200 watts and some step down converters?
For example you could use this:
http://www.provantage.com/asus-90-nktpw4000t~7ASUL0KF.htm
with this:
http://www.newark.com/texas-instruments/tps40195pwr/controller-ic/dp/34M0172?CMP=AFC-JY6146109556
And have a 12 volt adapter. You could possibly even shove the chip into the main PSU case and add a new power label and connector to it.

Since there are a lot of people that want these PSUs there is definitely a market for somebody to make some home made ones.

Or you could just use one of these and you wouldn't need to do any extra power conversion.
http://www.mini-box.com/M4-ATX?sc=8&category=101

Edit: I've almost completed my RAID0/5 testing on this board. I'll have the results up probably tonight or tomorrow night.
I might also test RAID1 performance and maybe see how software RAID compares.

 

[Yang]

No, sorry, only 2 ports.



Tested, I'm afraid there's no dual-link working on this thing, I exchanged the HDMI-HDMI cable with a dual-link DVI-DVI and no changes, just the good old 1920x1200 pixels. My Dell is sad.

I bought the board here in Spain, it didn't come from Newegg.


Wake up from suspension without problems using the usb mouse.

I received my Zotac board today from Newegg and it's exactly the same revison as yours "236-DA105-0J1 BF". Have you flashed your BIOS to the latest? Maybe the board is capable of dual-link but requires the BIOS update. Anyway I'm waiting for the case to come in so I can only fire up the board and do the test next week.

I really really hope this one is dual-link capable, otherwise I'll have to buy another one...

 

[Mach]

i still had some questions on the xbox 360 power brick that you talked about. which version is a known fact to not work with the 150w picoPSU and which ones will work for sure? there's several 203w revisions and some 175w bricks also. i'm searching online/ebay and there's so many, i don't know which power brick is legit. and since these power bricks have a weird 6-pin connector, how can i make or where i can i buy an adapter for the picoPSU?

My experience was with one of the 203 w power supply not working. My 175w rev 01 worked. I have not tested with any other power supplies.

On the XBox bricks the revisions that I've listed seem to work but they're by no means a complete list. I do not know how many different versions of the 203watt power supply that there are. I bought one from ebay claiming to be OEM but it was returned as it wasn't marked as Microsoft OEM. I've been buying them from ebay used as Microsoft requires a power supply serial number and and Xbox serial number to order a new one. (If anyone wants to help me out on an 203 w Xbox serial number, I'll buy a new one and post results with the Pico 150 and PW-200-V ).

I pulled the connector from an Xbox MB using this worklog.

http://www.instructables.com/id/XBOX-360-Power-Supply-to-12V-Accessory-Adapter/

Also details here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1438655

I bow to _Miguel_'s knowledge but my connector had 8 wires as detailed in the instructables. I'd wired as they suggested and it worked ok.

I connected the 5vSB to the ground across the toggle that you see. If I throw toggle is off the power brick glows orange. If it's on, it glows green. You could short it out at the power supply so it's always on but I'm assuming it has to be shorted to work. Miguel please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[__Miguel_]

I pulled the connector from an Xbox MB using this worklog.

Hehehe Yes, I guess that's one way of getting an adapter... Though it does mean ruining an XBox 360 in the process... lol

Do keep in min, though, that there are at least three different versions of the XBox 360 PSU connector (to prevent newer, lower-wattage PSUs from being connected to older, more power hungry consoles), so you might need to check on that one.

I bow to _Miguel_'s knowledge but my connector had 8 wires as detailed in the instructables.

Yeah, that's why specifically said I'm the "educated guesses" guy. I had only seen one pinout on the net so far, and it lacked the 8th pin (it only showed voltage pins).

Now, while I do appreciate when someone bows to me or to something about me, really, that's not necessary. Especially when I just screwed information up... lol

Thanks for the compliment, though.

I connected the 5vSB to the ground across the toggle that you see. If I throw toggle is off the power brick glows orange. If it's on, it glows green. You could short it out at the power supply so it's always on but I'm assuming it has to be shorted to work. Miguel please correct me if I am wrong.

I have NO idea whatsoever on that one, sorry.

Unfortunately, to answer that question I'd either have to know about the specific schematics on the XBox 360 power brick or have more of an in-depth knowledge of how electricity and electronics work. Which is kind of two or three light-years away from my current mindset. I'm a lawyer, after all... lol

I, do, however, think you might want to keep it in such a way some power is still available even when only the brick is connected to the power lead, so that the Pico can actually convert it to +5VSB if needed be (btw, does the Pico support +5VSB power?). Maybe the XBox 360 manual can help you with this. Try finding out if you can power up the console through the command when the console is off, and if so, what the power brick LED color is.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[Taxidermista]

I received my Zotac board today from Newegg and it's exactly the same revison as yours "236-DA105-0J1 BF". Have you flashed your BIOS to the latest? Maybe the board is capable of dual-link but requires the BIOS update. Anyway I'm waiting for the case to come in so I can only fire up the board and do the test next week.

I really really hope this one is dual-link capable, otherwise I'll have to buy another one...

No, I didn't flash my board because I didn't know wich revision I had. That's crazy...

I sent the picture (see above) to Peter Tang from Zotac's tech support and today he sent me an email explaining that "236-DA105-0J1 BF" is a revision 1 motherboard.

 

[Yang]

No, I didn't flash my board because I didn't know wich revision I had. That's crazy...

I sent the picture (see above) to Peter Tang from Zotac's tech support and today he sent me an email explaining that "236-DA105-0J1 BF" is a revision 1 motherboard.

Well, I flashed the BIOS to the latest (for rev03) and it actually messed up the DVI dual-link connection to my Dell 3007: the display became scrambled. However, regular single-link DVI connection has no problem up to 1920x1200 on my 24" LCD.

BTW, the Morex T3500 case with 140mm x 20mm slim fan as Robaer configured is awesome. The fan and case almost made for each other. I'm too using the stock sink of Q9550S without fan, so the 140mm fan is the single fan in the case and it works great. The CPU idles around 37-44C, GFP around 40-50C idle.

It's only not so great if I stress the cpu by 4xPrim95 torture test. The temp will eventually run away to >90C after 20-30 mins. But I hardly imagine I'd use this PC under such a strenuous condition. For my daily work (internet, word, powerpoint, PS/imaging processing etc) the case and cooling will be more than sufficient. It weights about 5lbs without AC adaptor, lighter than most laptops! And I can carry it between my office and home easily. The idea is that by putting the XP to hibernation and using identical monitor setups, I can work seamlessly between home and office by just carrying this single piece.

 

[Anonymo]

Newegg is offering rebates on the board. I agree with previous person that they are trying to clear inventory of revision 1/2 boards.
Rebate ends on the 31st. We might have to wait until at least September to see the revision out
Hopefully the Aopen board gets released soon, I see from the specs that it has better sound, yet I read that it takes laptop memory???

 

[pureaxis]

Newegg is offering rebates on the board. I agree with previous person that they are trying to clear inventory of revision 1/2 boards.
Rebate ends on the 31st. We might have to wait until at least September to see the revision out
Hopefully the Aopen board gets released soon, I see from the specs that it has better sound, yet I read that it takes laptop memory???

The Aopen board cost 190 to 200 at retailers in Asia, its not exactly a cheap alternative. And yes it does use SODIMM ram and come with realtek 8xx audio.

 

[pistachio]

I got this board also rev. 236-DA105-0J1 BF yesterday and tried to run AHCI mode with XP (already running with IDE mode) after installing the chipset drivers. Anyone knows how to install the driver to make it work without BSOD? Any special registry settings required? Thanks.

 

[__Miguel_]

Anyone knows how to install the driver to make it work without BSOD?

Well, that is one VERY complicated thing you want to do, man... Seriously, if it were me, I'd drop it altogether and do a fresh F6-install...

If you REALLY want to keep your data, I've seen a couple of tricks in Google. You'll probably need to find your particular registry hack for the 9x00i chipset, but it seems feasible.

Check this, this, this, this or this link to see if it helps.

Or Google "windows xp ahci without reinstalling", as I did.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[proroc]

Picture of my build so far. Cooler Master Geminii S cooler on my Zotac 9300 mobo. This cooler clears the GPU heatsink and ram like it was made for this board I am building this in a Lian Li PC-Q7 case. The PicoPSU 150W helps out big time, because a full size ATX PS took up too much room inside of the case, which led to high cpu temps with the stock intel cooler. Now it is all open, and vents very well. Im still trying to decide if I should block-off the ATX hole in the back of the case, or leave it open for airflow/venting.

 

[pistachio]

Thx Miguel. Indeed, I did that post installation trick for my friend's compaq notebook (intel chipset) with registry hack and it worked. But I just couldn't find similar things for nforce chip set. Anyway I already gave up on XP. I tried fresh installation of both Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 but neither works. I thought Vista/Win7 support the sata drives in native mode. It seems not true. They just did the same, BSOD. (I installed the sata drivers after the fresh installtion.)

Do Vista or 7 need the F6-install?

Though I tried Load Driver during Vista installation, it just refused to install the drivers (nvstor64.sys 10.3.0.42) that I downloaded from zotac website.

I just found one more strange thing. The board couldn't boot from CDROM when it is set to use AHCI mode in BIOS. Is it the cause of problem? Please could anyone help.

 

[proroc]

Can anyone tell me if this board supports DTS audio through the hdmi port?

 

[Anonymo]

Anyone know where I can get replacement clips for the chipset heatsink? I bent mine too much and can't find replacements. I have googled btw

 

[__Miguel_]

Thx Miguel.

No problem. Glad to help.

I thought Vista/Win7 support the sata drives in native mode. It seems not true. They just did the same, BSOD. (I installed the sata drivers after the fresh installtion.)

Well, that is weird... I know at least Vista has generic AHCI drivers (and since W7 is like Vista SE...) Those should work out of the box without you needing any extra drivers... I don't know why that's happening, really

Do Vista or 7 need the F6-install?

Well, F6-install was dropped starting with Vista, since it has a MUCH more powerful setup GUI. That option is now called "Load Driver"

Though I tried Load Driver during Vista installation, it just refused to install the drivers (nvstor64.sys 10.3.0.42) that I downloaded from zotac website.

I always tend to download chipset drivers directly from the chipset manufacturer, NOT the motherboard manufacturer. Unless there is some sort of MAJOR driver revamp going on with the board drivers, the generic ones should be able to handle it just fine without possible bugs and stuff.

There are a couple of reasons why Driver Install might not work. In XP, if you had slipstreamed some drivers, you'd loose the ability to F6-install (it would BSOD). If your Vista/W7 version is VLited, then that might happen too (also, VLite can have removed the storage drivers, which would be a bad thing). Last, but not least, do keep in mind what the OS version is. x64 drivers will not go along with x86 ones, and vice-versa...

The board couldn't boot from CDROM when it is set to use AHCI mode in BIOS. Is it the cause of problem?

I have heard stories of some storage controllers that don't work well with AHCI modes, but that was mostly with the JMicron controller that came with the Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard... I've never read something about NVIDIA storage controllers not liking AHCI, though...

If your optical drive is working through an IDE>SATA adapter, that might be the issue (the adapter is expecting IDE mode); if not, you might need to go to the BIOS again after changing modes.

Otherwise, I'm clueless.

Can anyone tell me if this board supports DTS audio through the hdmi port?

I don't think so. In fact, I don't think there is ANY HDMI port that handles advanced audio specs like DTS. Other than the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe. But do also check the audio codec decoding capabilities. NVIDIA-based GPUs need an audio codec linked to it for audio capabilities (ATI, on the other hand, implemented an audio codec inside the GPU), so if that's available, you might have it.

Also, do check Anandtech's most recent HTPC analysis (especially the 785G coverage) for some info.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[Markdek]

["I don't think so. In fact, I don't think there is ANY HDMI port that handles advanced audio specs like DTS. Other than the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe. But do also check the audio codec decoding capabilities. NVIDIA-based GPUs need an audio codec linked to it for audio capabilities (ATI, on the other hand, implemented an audio codec inside the GPU), so if that's available, you might have it.

Also, do check Anandtech's most recent HTPC analysis (especially the 785G coverage) for some info.

Cheers. Miguel"]



I think what you are saying is that there are only 1, and very soon to be, 2 PC sound cards that can do "Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD"......however, there's plenty of HDMI motherboards out there that can do standard dolby, DTS, 8 channel pcm, etc.; right?




..

 

[proroc]

Hmm maybe im asking it wrong... By DTS over HDMI, my WD HD TV box sends DTS audio to my Onkyo receiver. Whenever I watch a MKV file with DTS audio, the DTS light appears on my receiver.

When I watch the same mkv file on my htpc, the display says PCM Multichannel, not DTS.

Do I have to enable 5.1 or something?

 

[__Miguel_]

I think what you are saying is that there are only 1, and very soon to be, 2 PC sound cards that can do "Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD"......however, there's plenty of HDMI motherboards out there that can do standard dolby, DTS, 8 channel pcm, etc.; right?

Now I know why I had the feeling I was saying something wrong...

Yes, you're right. Sorry about that. However, I do believe the audio codec (be it the integrated codec on ATI GPUs or the system sound card) must also handle the format for it to be passed through HDMI, right?

Sorry for the slip-up. Either I read DTS-HD or I was thinking DTS-HD when writing the answer.

If I understand it correctly, you can have raw audio output (PCM, in which case the amp will need to decode the audio path) in up to 5.1 channels over HDMI (please correct me if I'm wrong), any lossy Dolby, DTS, etc. formats directly over HDMI (provided there is an audio codec processing it in the PC, which means there is a rather narrow range of options right now), or lossless formats (DTS-HD, DolbyTrueHD, and so forth) with the Xonar. So far, only 8-channel PCM audio seems to be utterly missing from the list of options.

So, I believe this time I got it right, but do feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. HTPC audio is not really my specialty.

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[BertFTA]

Picture of my build so far. Cooler Master Geminii S cooler on my Zotac 9300 mobo. This cooler clears the GPU heatsink and ram like it was made for this board I am building this in a Lian Li PC-Q7 case. The PicoPSU 150W helps out big time, because a full size ATX PS took up too much room inside of the case, which led to high cpu temps with the stock intel cooler. Now it is all open, and vents very well. Im still trying to decide if I should block-off the ATX hole in the back of the case, or leave it open for airflow/venting.

Is the Gemini S quiet?

 

[fr500]

It all depends on the fan you use, my geminII is totally silent as I use no fan at all

 

[rontruong]

user deleted post

 

[simonw]

... my geminII is totally silent as I use no fan at all

Just out of interest, what case are you using? And also what temps are you getting with the GeminII running passive?

In addition, is anyone using a passive TR AXP-140 in a Sugo SG05? I know it fits the case, but I can't find any info on temps.

 

[proroc]

Is the Gemini S quiet?

Im pretty picky about noise and I am very happy with the Geminii S, compared to the stock intel cooler on my e8400...

 

[fr500]

Just out of interest, what case are you using? And also what temps are you getting with the GeminII running passive?

In addition, is anyone using a passive TR AXP-140 in a Sugo SG05? I know it fits the case, but I can't find any info on temps.

Right now it's at 37c but has been on for 2 days, when I just turn it on it sits at 31-33c, reached 64c after two hours of playing GRID. It's an [email protected].

Same case as you.

 

[simonw]

Im pretty picky about noise and I am very happy with the Geminii S, compared to the stock intel cooler on my e8400...

Me too, something I was considering was the Scythe Big Shuriken which is also fairly quiet, but from the pic, it overhangs the board. It looks like it may be too large and will hit the side panel of the Sugo SG05. If anyone can confirm, pls let us know.

 

[simonw]

Right now it's at 37c but has been on for 2 days, when I just turn it on it sits at 31-33c, reached 64c after two hours of playing GRID. It's an [email protected].

I think someone had a quad core with similar temps but they added another intake fan to the side of the case. Those temps do look acceptable for a dual core especially when the hsf is passive. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Bill_F]

Well I have completed a few RAID benchmarks on this board.
Here is a RAID5 with 3 of those 7200 RPM seagate drives.

A single drive in non-RAID has a faster average speed sadly.

I unplugged a drive while it was playing an HD movie and it kept going. (IE, RAID5 actually works, zotac should advertise that on their board)
I then benchmarked it (after stopping the movie of course) and got this while it was degraded.

After letting it rebuild itself I migrated the install to RAID0.
However the RAID controller is not fast enough to keep up with the speed of even 2 of the hard drives.

I am now switching back to my AHCI install on my other 500 GB Hard drive and I'll see if I can setup 2 of the 7200 RPM drives in a software RAID0 in windows XP. (apparently it has this feature where you can merge 2 partitions on 2 separate drives)
The controller had a burst speed of over 200 MB/s so maybe the pure software RAID0 will be faster than the fakeraid.

 

[pistachio]

Thx a lot, Miguel. After a day break, I finally got AHCI running in Vista after getting a clue from one of the links you provided (though it's for XP). I installed the nforce SATA controller driver in the IDE controllers section by updating ATA0 driver and it works. What I did and failed was I kept trying in the Storage controllers section in device manager. But I still don't understand... hope anyone can give me some idea.

Why the nforce SATA driver (both from zotac or nvidia site) cannot be installed directly using the INF? and

Why the nforce SATA driver included by Vista (I think) can be installed in the Storage controllers section though it didn't make it work? (two days ago, I did that by forcing to add a new device and it was installed okay but it kept saying the driver is up to date even I tried update.)

I was wondering if it's a chicken & egg problem. Running IDE mode and installing SATA drivers, Vista does not see the SATA controller and is unable to configure it properly?

btw, my optical drive is LITE-ON iHAS324 SATA, I'll try again to see if any other cdrom can boot with bios set to AHCI mode.

 

[__Miguel_]

Thx a lot, Miguel. After a day break, I finally got AHCI running in Vista after getting a clue from one of the links you provided (though it's for XP).

Glad to help. Though I was aiming for XP, not Vista, tbh... lol

I installed the nforce SATA controller driver in the IDE controllers section by updating ATA0 driver and it works. What I did and failed was I kept trying in the Storage controllers section in device manager. But I still don't understand... hope anyone can give me some idea.

That's kind of expected... Windows sees IDE controllers as just that, IDE controllers. Anything that appears on the "Storage Controllers" area is something OTHER than IDE, usually AHCI, SCSI, or RAID drivers; or even secondary drivers that run over standard IDE drivers (I've seen those on occasion, and NVIDIA's way of approaching driver building might just well explain it).

Why the nforce SATA driver (both from zotac or nvidia site) cannot be installed directly using the INF?

As I said, not a clue. My guess is you either got the wrong driver version (x64 for a x86 system, or vice-versa; or even a different OS than the one you were installing) OR you need to create a full driver disk (on a pen drive) and try to load the stuff up from there. I actually never owned an NVIDIA-based motherboard (my brother did, and had hellish driver problems, too, but mostly because of that dreaded NIC/firewall software...)

Why the nforce SATA driver included by Vista (I think) can be installed in the Storage controllers section though it didn't make it work?

Again, no clue whatsoever. As I said, I have no experience with NVIDIA storage drivers.

Do keep in mid, though, that Vista seems to disable a Registry key pertaining to AHCI drivers (as well as other kinds) if no such drivers are needed during OS install. I've read it somewhere more than once, and that might explain why you can't convert easily.

Cheers.

Miguel