Are you telling me that Sata Driver v11.2 with another combo of a Sata oRom aka v11.0.x or v11.1.x combination could be much different or a combination of the oRom v11.2 with another IRST Sata Drivers ?
And you mean only the "fast booting" when you’re using Windows 8.1 ?
No, I meant something else:
The "clean" UEFI boot with disabled CSM, which bypasses the RAID initialization at each boot/reboot, doesn’t work, because there is no appropriate Intel RST RAID EFI module named SataDriver v11.2 within the BIOS. The lowest Intel SataDriver module version I have seen is v11.5.0.1582, but this version belongs already to the Intel RST(e) development branch.
OK, that’s make it clear to me. 
Meanwhile I have done some additional benchmark tests with these new Intel RST(e) drivers v13.0.1.1000 running a single SSD in AHCI mode and with 2 SSDs as members of a RAID0 array.
The results are added to the completely updated start post of this thread.
Additionally some Z77 RAID0 benchmarks can be found >here<.
Great thread!
Thanks for taking the time to do all the benches.
I have gone back to v11.2 as they seem to perform the best on my Z77 system and as I can’t disable the CSM to UEFI boot (GTX580’s have no GOP firmware) there is no negative effect for me.
Since there are new Intel RST(e) drivers v13.0.2.1000 WHQL available since yesterday (04/28/2014), I have added the related benchmark results.
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
- added: Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.0.2.1000 test results with my Z77 AHCI system (1x512 GB Samsung 840 PRO)
- added: Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.0.2.1000 test results with my Z77 RAID0 system (2x256 GB Samsung 840 PRO as RAID0)
Regards
Fernando
Does this mean that the latest 13.x driver WHQL is the best performer for AHCI systems? How about the recommended OROMs for AHCI systems? I thought there should be an AHCI driver inside the RAID OROM?
Yes, but please consider the following:
- My benchmark test results were done with an Intel Z77 system and are only valid for similar hardware configurations.
- Only AHCI systems with an Intel Chipset from 7-Series up (except 7-Series Mobile systems) are natively supported by the original Intel RST(e) drivers v13.x.x.xxxx.
- The performance differences are minimal and probably will not be recognized by the AHCI user while working.
The Intel RAID ROM/EFI BIOS modules obviously will not be used, when the Intel SATA Controller has been set to "AHCI". Consequently the RAID ROM/SataDriver modulule version is irrelevant for AHCI systems.
This is what I thought as well for a long time, but meanwhile I am pretty sure, that recently built Intel AHCI systems neither need nor use an Intel RAID ROM or SataDriver module.
In the past I have seen some rather new Intel chipset systems, whose BIOS doesn’t contain any Intel RAID ROM or SataDriver module, but are running fine in AHCI mode.
The brandnew Intel RST(e) drivers v13.0.2.1000 really seem to be the best performant AHCI drivers up to now.
Meanwhile I have done an additional test with my Z77 AHCI system and its 512 GB Samsung 840 PRO running with enabled Magician RAPID mode.
What I got were nearly unbelievable benchmark results, which are far better than those I got with 2x256 GB Samsung 840 PRO as RAID0 array. You can see all related benchmark results within the start post of this thread.
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
- added: Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.0.2.1000 AHCI RAPID mode test results with my Z77 AHCI system (1x512 GB Samsung 840 PRO)
Regards
Fernando
Time for benchmark RST 13.1.0.1058 ? 
When the first WHQL certified v13.1 Intel RST(e) drivers are available, I will do an additional test.
Just tested the 13.1.0.1058 Beta on my Z77 system with four 80GB X25-M G2’s in RAID0 and got the best performance I have seen since 11.2.0.1006 WHQL in AS SSD Benchmark.
4K random write is back to normal range and 4K random read is the highest I’ve ever seen on these drives!%20Windows%20Write%20cache%20buffer%20flushing%20disabled%20+%20IRST%20Write-back%20Cache%20Enabled.png)
@ chinobino:
Thanks for the RAID0 benchmark results, which are looking good.
@ all:
Next weekend I will test the Intel RST(e) drivers v13.1.0.1058 as well.
So here’s mine with 2 OCZ Vertex 460 in RAID 0. It’s equal to the 12.9 branch for me but overall a good performance I think.
Since I am home again and now got access to my Z77 RAID0 and AHCI systems, I have done some additional benchmark tests with Intel’s newest AHCI and RAID drivers.
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
- updated: AHCI/RAID0 test results running Intel’s RST(e) driver v12.9.3.1000 WHQL (replaced the previously published results with v12.9.2.1000)
- updated: AHCI/RAID0 test results running Intel’s RST(e) driver v13.0.3.1001 WHQL (replaced the previously published results with earlier v13.0 series drivers)
- new: AHCI/RAID0 test results running Intel’s RST(e) driver v13.1.0.1058 BETA
Regards
Fernando
@ all users with an Intel 6-Series Chipset RAID0 system:
In April I had published >here< some benchmark comparison test results I got with my old Z68 system.
Since we recently got some new and interesting Intel RST(e) drivers, which belong to the v12.9, v13.0 and v13.1 series, I decided to do some additional tests with these drivers using the Z68 RAID0 system (same configuration as in April).
Here are the results:
-
Intel RST(e) v12.9.3.1000 WHQL (in combination with Intel EFI SataDriver v12.9.0.2006):
[[File:Anvil-Z68-12931000+12902006.png|none|fullsize]] -
Intel RST(e) v13.0.3.1001 WHQL (in combination with Intel EFI SataDriver v13.0.2075):
[[File:Anvil-Z68-13031001+13002075-RAID0.png|none|fullsize]] -
Intel RST(e) v13.1.0.1058 BETA (in combination with Intel EFI SataDriver v13.1.0.2030):
[[File:Anvil-Z68-13101058+13102030-RAID0.png|none|fullsize]]
Evaluation of the RAID0 benchmark results (including those from April 2014:
- Although it is not the newest, the “classical” Intel RST driver/OROM combo v11.2.0.1006/v11.2.0.1527 is still giving the best performance to my Intel 6-Series chipset RAID0 system.
- The newest Intel RST(e) drivers of the v12.9, v13.0 and v13.1 series are faster than the previous driver versions of the same series, which I had tested in April this year.
- The performance differences between the tested latest Intel RAID driver/OROM combos v12.9, v13.0 and v13.1 are minimal. Users with an Intel 6-Series chipset RAID0 system, who are searching for the “best” combo, should focus their tests on the system stability.
Since there are new Intel RST(e) drivers v12.9.4.1000 WHQL available, I have done some additional benchmark tests.
Update of the Start Post
Changelog:
- updated: AHCI/RAID0 test results running Intel’s RST(e) driver v12.9.4.1000 WHQL (replaced the previously published results with v12.9.3.1000)
Regards
Fernando
Here are the benchmark results, which I got with my Z68 RAID0 system after having flashed a BIOS with the newest Intel RAID ROM and SataDriver v13.1.0.2126 and installed the Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.1.0.1058 WHQL:
[[File:Anvil-Z68-13101058+13102126-RAID0.png|none|auto]]
This confirms my previous statement, that the Intel RST(e) v13 series is not the best choice for Intel 6-Series chipset RAID0 systems.
Here my test Samsung 840 Pro, Raid Rom 13.1.0.2030 and RST(e) driver 13.1.0.1058, 3 real-time security product enabled during test, Windows_7_x64 Full set.
Ghostearth.
@ Ghostearth:
Thanks for the benchmark results, which are very good.
By the way: Since you obviously are running the SSD in AHCI mode, the Intel RAID ROM version doesn’t matter.