Which are the "best" Intel AHCI/RAID drivers?

old-intel · February 7, 2016, 3:59pm

Okay, so the recommend driver for me is the Intel RST(e) v11.7.4.1001 WHQL?

Fernando · February 7, 2016, 4:03pm

Yes.
By the way: This Intel AHCI driver is the latest one, which natively does support Intel ICH10R SATA AHCI Controllers.

old-intel · February 7, 2016, 4:30pm

Thanks.
So how do i update now the driver?
Simply uninstall the software (Intel Rapid-Storage-Technologie), restart and install the new driver.
Or exist a tool like DDU (DisplayDriverUninstaller) for clean old chipset driver?

Fernando · February 7, 2016, 4:44pm

Exactly this is what I recommend to do.
When you are going to install a new Intel AHCI driver, you have to expand the “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers” section of the Device Manager, to right-click onto the listed Intel SATA AHCI Controller and to choose the option “Update Driver Software”.

The_Iron_Wolf · February 10, 2016, 7:34pm

Firstly thanks for this forum, I now have TRIM working on my crappy DX79TO motherboard with unmoddable BIOS (per my understanding).

I have some questions:
* On the first page of this thread, 11.2.0.1006 is recommended for X79 as highest performer. But I can’t get installer to run (system not supported) on my Win10 x64. I even extracted .exe and ran .msi directly, it seems though that C600 controller still uses old driver 3.8.
* I moved to RST 3.8.1.1006 from the 3.6 version on intel website for DX79TO, and I got TRIM working. But, I get lower read speeds reported by Crystal mark Seq Q32 T1 (780mb/s vs 1050mb/s on 3.6 RST). Any comments? I realize this slowdown might be caused by something else, I didn’t test many times.

This probably has been in answered, but I hope someone can clarify some things for me as there’s a lot of information/chipsets/versions and easy to get lost.
I am now running 3.5.1005 OROM and 3.8.1.1006 RST from this site.

Thanks!

Fernando · February 10, 2016, 8:21pm

@The_Iron_Wolf :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
Here are my answers:

Your Intel mainboard has an X79 Chipset, which belongs to the Intel C600 Series Chipsets. It was the decision of Intel, that the owners of these “High-End” platform mainboards should use special Intel Rapid Storage Technolog “Enterprise Edition” (RSTe) drivers v3.x.x.xxxx/v4.x.x.xxxx and the related RSTe software. That is the reason why you cannot get the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 installed. The only chance to use any “normal” WHQL certified Intel RST driver and software is to switch the Intel SATA Controller from within the BIOS from “RSTe” to “RST” mode, but not all X79 mainboard BIOSes offer this option.
You are not the first RAID user with an X79 Chipset system, who has realized, that the Intel RSTe RAID drivers are less performant than the Intel RST RAID drivers as v11.2.0.1006.

My tip: Ask Intel for a BIOS, which gives you the option to switch the Intel SATA RAID Controller from RSTe mode (DEV_2826) to RST mode (DEV_2822).

Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

The_Iron_Wolf · February 10, 2016, 8:34pm

Thanks Dieter.
Out of 3.x/4.x set of releases of RSTe, any particular recommendations on best performer?

Also, please note that 1050mb/s benchmark was achieved on
RAID Enterprise: Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise Driver for Intel® Desktop Boards 3.6.0.1093

which also has this extra filter driver, what are your thoughts?

Fernando · February 10, 2016, 8:43pm

@The_Iron_Wolf :
Since I never used an X79 or X99 Chipset system, I dont have any own experience with mainboards like yours.
That is why I can only resume, what X79 RAID users have written within this Forum: The Intel RST RAID drivers are better performant and more stable than the RSTe ones.

The_Iron_Wolf · February 10, 2016, 9:51pm

Any ideas why I can’t install v13.1.0.1058 then? (and 14.x for that matter) This is RSTe driver, so should work, unless DX79TO only works with 3.x/4.x versions.

Fernando · February 10, 2016, 10:39pm

You cannot install the original RST/RST(e) drivers of the v11, v12, v13 and v14 series, because they do not support the DEV_2826 Intel SATA RAID Controller of your X79 system, but you can test them nevertheless, if you take the driver variants, which have been mod+signed by me to make them usable with all Intel Chipsets from ICH7R up. You can find them >here<.

They will work, but the required HardwareIDs are missing within the related original INF files.

The_Iron_Wolf · February 10, 2016, 11:06pm

Thanks! On a first page of this thread, in table of best driver versions:

Intel X79 Chipsets Intel RST(e) v13.1.0.1058 WHQL Intel RST v11.2.0.1006 WHQL (best performance) or
Intel RST(e) v13.1.0.1058 WHQL (much newer)
Note: Both options require the RST BIOS mode.

Does that mean that someone has validated those drivers with x79 RSTe and found them working good?

The_Iron_Wolf · February 10, 2016, 11:19pm

Actually, it doesn’t matter. I installed one of 1x. versions and TRIM is gone, so not good for me. I’ll stick with 4.x Thanks!

Fernando · February 10, 2016, 11:49pm

All Intel RST/RST(e) drivers from v11.x.x.xxxx up do support TRIM in RAID0 (provided, that the Intel RAID ROM version, which is within the BIOS, does it as well).
Which Intel RST/RST(e) driver v1x.x.x.xxxx did you test and how did you check the TRIM activity?

The_Iron_Wolf · February 11, 2016, 12:24am

I installed modified: 14.8.1.1043. I made sure controller has correct driver version in the control panel. Then, I tried to invoke “Optimize” in “Defragment and Optimize Drives” app in Win10. With 14. driver, Optimize isn’t available on SSD RAID0 volume. I reverted to 4.3.x and that came back, I can invoke trim (“Optimize”) now.

One thing I am confused is OROM versions + driver relationship. I can’t tell off top of my head which OROM I am running at work, (funny, x79 here as well!), but at home OROM is 3.5.1005. Should OROM be 1x.x something to use 1x.x drivers?

Fernando · February 11, 2016, 9:08am

That is the newest Intel RST(e) driver for the brandnew Intel 100-Series chipsets, but the worst you could try with your old X79 chipset system. The best choice would have been RST v11.2.0.1006 (maybe a fresh OS install required) or one of the earliest RST(e) drivers (v11.7.4.1001 resp. v12.9.4.1000).

You probably know, that this is not a method to detect TRIM activity within the RAID0 array.

If you want to get the best RAID0 performance, the Intel RST/RSTe RAID ROM version should belong to the same developent branch (e.g. 11.2, 12.9, 3.8, 4.3) as the in-use Intel RST/RSTe RAID driver.

The_Iron_Wolf · February 11, 2016, 5:51pm

I am aware of trim check utility and used it in my tests at home. However, I did invoke TRIM via "Optimize" button, and TRIM check would detect trim working in that case (and detect nothing otherwise).

So, if I am running 3.5.1005 OROM, it is better to run 3.8.x RSTe than running 4.3.x RSTe? Thanks!

Fernando · February 11, 2016, 6:03pm

Yes, but even better would be, if the Intel RSTe RAID driver version and the Intel RSTe RAID ROM module version belong to the same development branch (v3.8 or v4.3).

Music_Maker · February 13, 2016, 5:30pm

Hi Fernando,

Thank you so much for all the valuable information you’re sharing with us on this great forum!

I’m using my PC as an audio workstation.
My config:
Windows 10/x64
Intel 8280 HB(M)/IB(M) ICH8(M)/ICH9(M) - SATA RAID Controller

I’ve downloaded and installed your modded Intel RST 11.2.0.1006 driver and that completely solved my problems using my RME/FireFace audio interface with which I was experiencing many audio dropouts and glitches with more recent Intel drivers.

The only inconvenient is that my PC is now no more able to boot in UEFI mode. I have to switch to legacy mode to be able to boot.

I was wondering if this problem can be addressed or if this is inherent to using the Intel RST 11.2.0.1006?

I’d be grateful to receive any advice from you.

M_M

Fernando · February 13, 2016, 6:06pm

@Music_Maker :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!

In your case this has nothing to do with the in-use Intel RAID driver. You cannot boot with your old system in UEFI mode anyway, because your mainboard has no UEFI BIOS.
Only for users with a modern Intel Chipset system having an UEFI BIOS with the option to completely disable the “Compatibility Support Module” there is indeed a restriction, if they want to use the “best” Intel RAID0 driver and its matching Intel RAID BIOS module: They are not able to boot in “clean” UEFI mode (CSM disabled), because there is no matching Intel EFI “RaidDriver” BIOS module available for the “classical” Intel RST drivers (latest: v11.2.0.1006). Intel’s first EFI RaidDriver module was v11.6.0.1702 and belongs already to the RST(e) series (having an additional SCSI filter driver).
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

Music_Maker · February 13, 2016, 6:20pm

Thank you very much Dieter for your quick and detailled answer.

I’m still a bit confused, because so far I have been able to boot in UEFI mode using Intel official RST drivers 13xxx or 14xxw. My PC is a one year old HP Pavillion.

To be more specific I can sum things up like this:

With recent Intel RST drivers 13xxx and up —> My PC boots in full UEFI mode
When I use the recommended (and excellent!) Intel RST driver 11.2.0.1006 —> My PC shows a “No bootable device found” (or such) and freezes.

I have then to enter BIOS settings, deactivate “Secure Boot”, activate “boot from legacy devices”, and reboot to actually boot my computer.

Is this the expected behaviour?