Intel RST/RSTe Drivers (latest: v20.0.0.1038/ v8.5.0.1592)



Nice, just installed it. Do you guys have a recommended BIOS mod with all the latest oroms etc? (for my Sabertooth z77)

Thanks for the info and the links!

@ all:
As arkraider already has reported, Intel has published today new Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.0.1001 WHQL and the related complete drivers and software package.

Meanwhile I have downloaded, renamed and reuploaded the different parts (32/64bit drivers and the complete package) and offer them within this thread.

Update of the Start Post:

Changelog:

  • new: 32/64bit Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.0.1001 WHQL (dated 10/28/2013, usable only with Intel Chipsets from 5-Series up, suitable for Win7and Win8/8.1)
  • new: Intel RST(e) Drivers & Software Set v12.9.0.1001 WHQL (dated 11/21/2013, usable only with Intel Chisets from 5-Series up, suitable for Win7 and Win8/8.1)

Have fun with the new Intel RSTe drivers!
Fernando



So where can we download RAID OROM version 12.9.0.2006 ?

TIA

So where can we download RAID OROM version 12.9.0.2006?


Until now nowhere.
Intel has released the new OROM/SataDriver modules to the mainboard manufacturers and we probably have to wait until we see the first BIOS, which contains the new OROM/SataDriver version.

New OROM is here :smiley:

13.1.0.2030

http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php…l/516-intel-rst

And RST:
13.0.0.1072 beta


Merry Christmas :smiley:

Update of the Start Post:

Changelog:

  • new: 32/64bit Intel RST(e) drivers v13.0.0.1072 Beta (dated 11/01/2013, usable only with Intel Chipsets from 5-Series up, suitable for Win7and Win8/8.1)
  • new: Intel RST(e) Drivers & Software Set v13.0.0.1072 Beta (dated 11/14/2013, usable only with Intel Chisets from 5-Series up, suitable for Win7 and Win8/8.1)

Have fun with the new Intel RSTe drivers!
Fernando

Hello,

I finally purchased a Samsung 840 SSD for my comp but after doing a little research, I now have some concerns. I have a sabertooth x58 mb and I want to put my SSD on the ICH10R Sata2 port. I have 2 samsung HDs in Win7 software raid 1, DVDR, and Hitachi HD also on the ICH10R. Because of all the bad reviews I chose to disable the Marvell Sata 3 controller.

Here are my concerns. Before I install my SSD I would like to update my ICH10R driver to get the best performance. After reading your posts, I’m confused if I should be using the v11.7 or the v12.9 irst drivers. Is the x58 considered a 5 series sata controller? Will any of these irst drivers support the trim feature of my SSD?

I’m also reading a lot of posts here about OROMs. Do I need to update that as well?

Please excuse my ignorance.

Thanks

@ comb3846:
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!

  1. The original Intel RS(e) drivers of the v12 series do not support Intel X58 Chipset SATA AHCI Controllers.
    2. X58 Chipsets belong to the 4-Series Chipsets, because they have an Intel ICH9R or ICH10R SATA Controller.
    3. As long as your SSD is not a member of an Intel RAID array, TRIM will be active (preconditions: a) Win7/8/8.1 as OS, b) use of the in-box MS AHCI driver or any Intel AHCI/RAID driver v11/v12 series).
    The choice of the "best suitable" Intel RST driver depends on the SATA mode of your Intel SATA Controller. If it is set to "AHCI" mode, you can either run the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 WHQL or v11.7.4.1001 WHQL. If you want to install the Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.0.1001, you have to use the modded ones. If you are running the Intel SATA Controller in "RAID" mode, I recommend to install the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 WHQL.

This is only recommended, if you are running your Intel SATA Controller in "RAID" mode, but the update to an actual Intel RAID ROM version may be problematic, because many X58 chipset mainboard BIOSes don’t offer enough space for OROM modules, which have an uncompressed size > 100 KB.

Good luck!
Fernando

Thank you thank you very much. This forum is awesome thanks for all your hard work. Forgot to mention, yes, i am running AHCI mode. Using windows for my raid.


Installed the new drivers on H81M-A and write performance decreased significantly: read performance also turned worse, but not much.
this on both a Samsung 830 SSD and Western Digital Caviar Green

While doing some searching for the best drivers for my motherboard, I found these drivers. RST_11.6.0.1030_RAID_AHCI_driver_GUI_CLI_2012.10.11. I don’t see them listed here and I was wondering if you had some info on them. Would they work better for my Sabertooth x58 mb?

Which version (32/64bit/full package) do you need?
Why do you think, that this early RST(e) driver version will be the best for your system?
Which mode (AHCI or RAID) is your SATA Controller running?

Better than which version?

WIN7x64 AHCI mode. I’m not sure if it would be better but last time you recommended either 11.2 or 11.7. What is the difference between these two?

The Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 is the last and best "conventional" Intel AHCI/RAID driver, which works without an additional SCSI filter driver. It has the best RAID performance with all Intel chipsets (maybe except 8-series and 9-series).
The performance differences are generally great with RAID systems, but minimal, if the SATA Controller runs in AHCI mode.

Again sorry for my ignorance, but what is a SCSI filter driver? Do I need it for SATA controller? Does it provide any benefit for AHCI?

The regular Intel AHCI driver is named iaStor.sys, iaStorV.sys or iaStorA.sys, but all Intel RST(e) drivers from v11.5 up do contain an additional SCSI filter driver named iaStorF.sys. This driver sees all ATA devices as SCSI devices.

No, it is not needed, but may benefit SSD RAID0 systems to get TRIM.

Probably not, if your mainboard doesn’t have an actual Intel chipset.

Hi Fernando,

I’m about to start installing my new Raid 0 with trim enabled on my p67 system using the especially P67 TRIM modded RST(e) RAID ROM 11.6.0.1702 and the Intel RAID drivers v11.7.4.1001 WHQL as you recommended me in another thread.
Last time i formatted my computer, I had to pre-install (using the f6 method) the IRST drivers while windows installation because i was using AHCI mode and everything went well.
But now with the Intel RAID drivers I downloaded from your IRST download thread there’s no AsMakeDisk application to create the disk required for pre-installation so I’m wondering what I should do.
When I looked at the readme it tells me which files I need to copy on the disk, but I can’t find the TXTSETUP.OEM that i’m supposed to include on the disk.
Please let me know what I should do.

Thank you very much.

Alex

The TXTSETUP.OEM file is only required for pre-Vista Operating Systems like Windows XP.
Which Operating System do you want to get installed?
If it should be Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you cannot use any Intel RST(e) driver from v11.5 up. The latest Intel RST driver, which supports Windows XP (and contains the needed TXTSETUP.OEM) is v11.2.0.1006.

Thanks alot for your incredibly fast answer, I will be installing windows 7 so I will just copy every file except TXTSETUP.OEM on the disk I will be using when reinstalling windows.
I have a few other quick questions if you dont mind:

1) Is it possible to set up 2x raid 0 arrays (one for data composed of 2x caviar black 640gb and the boot one 2x mushkin chronos deluxe 240gb) considering I’m using a p8p67 pro motherboard
2) If yes, what should be their stripe size ?

Thanks

I don’t understand what you mean.
Which driver version do you want to use as F6 driver at the beginning of the Win7 installation?
If you take the RST(e) v11.7.4.1001, there is no TXTSETUP.OEM at all. You can take this IRST(e) version nevertheless, because Windows 7 Setup neither needs nor will use a TXTSETUP.OEM file.
If you want to take the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006, you can copy the file TXTSETUP.OEM onto the USB flash drive without any problem. The file will not be used, but its presence is harmless.

Yes, if your mainboard has 4 or more RAID supporting Intel SATA ports.
Nevertheless I suggest to create as first step just the RAID0 array, where you want to install the OS and to unplug all other HDDs before you start with the OS installation.

The usual stripe size for a RAID0 array is 128 KB.