Intel RST and SSD

[thescreensavers]

Are the Intel RST drivers needed? What exactly do they do? My friend over at another forum who has the same laptop as me got a OCZ Vertex 2 SSD which is the exact drive I am looking at.

But if he installs the RST drivers from intels website the computer "won't even get past the "Starting Windows" screen" (Yes the chipset is compatible based on the literature on Intel's web page for RST)(North Bridge: Intel Crestline-PM PM965 South Bridge: Intel 82801HBM ICH8-DO)


So how important are the RST drivers? The latest chipset drivers for my laptop are these I am unsure of what my friend used so I am waiting on that. And I have no idea if that has an impact with RST.

And a little side note, With CES in a few days, do you think prices will drop on current SSD's?

 

[hclarkjr]

no they are not needed, i believe windows installs it's own version which is almost as good. main use is for RAID i believe.

 

[sxr7171]

no they are not needed, i believe windows installs it's own version which is almost as good. main use is for RAID i believe.

Yes, it's only needed to manage the Intel MB RAID. Even still the array works without it. I would stick with the MS drivers.

 

[Old Hippie]

The RST drivers aren't really needed for anything but it's usefull if you have an Intel SSD or RAID setup.

It can be used as a disk/device manager for HD info and settings.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I don't use them. I thought they were necessary

 

[bacillus]

But if he installs the RST drivers from intels website the computer "won't even get past the "Starting Windows" screen"

Is his laptop bios set to use AHCI?

I use the latest Intl driver instead of the MS one as it's newer and I'm led to believe the MS one is actually produced by Intel.

 

[semo]

Yes, make sure you enable AHCI before starting the Windows setup and use the 64-bit drivers if you are installing 64-bit OS (can't remember if Intel provides different versions). Intel's AHCI drivers usually offer better SSD performance. I can't verify this now but if you use the MS drivers and open the Cmputer window, you might notice a slight pause. I think this is a particularity of the MS drivers.

With the Intel AHCI drivers you also get full hot plug capability but you loose TRIM (I don't think you will miss this feature though).

 

[bacillus]

With the Intel AHCI drivers you also get full hot plug capability but you loose TRIM (I don't think you will miss this feature though).

No, you don't lose trim if you use the intel rst driver with a single hdd .

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Do you have to have the Intel RST installed to get trim support on a Sandforce controlled SSD drive?

 

[Old Hippie]

Do you have to have the Intel RST installed to get trim support on a Sandforce controlled SSD drive?

No.

 

[semo]

No, you don't lose trim if you use the intel rst driver with a single hdd .

My bad, that's actually correct. As long as your drives are not in a RAID configuaration, TRIM should work

Do you have to have the Intel RST installed to get trim support on a Sandforce controlled SSD drive?

Intel or MS will be fine as long the SSDs are not part of a RAID volume and AHCI is enabled in your BIOS

 

[thescreensavers]

ok So RST is not needed I see

This step may be unnecessary to most as many tests have resulted in no appreciable performance difference between the standard MSAHCI driver and that put forward by Intel.

http://thessdreview.com/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/

 

[Makaveli]

The RST drivers aren't really needed for anything but it's usefull if you have an Intel SSD or RAID setup.

It can be used as a disk/device manager for HD info and settings.

^^^This.

MS drivers are fine for most but I recommend them also if you are running an intel SSD.

 

[thescreensavers]

Thanks for the help guys! I just pulled the trigger on the OCZ Vertex 2 60gb!

Should be coming in on Wednesday, Ill pull my HDD and put the OCZ in and reinstall windows 7.

Current HD

 

[thescreensavers]

After tons of reading to bring my self up to speed with SSD tech, I found a very interesting post regarding the booting issue my friend had

In the RST driver iaAHCI.inf file

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2681&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C1&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8R/DH/DO SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH8M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH9R/DO/DH SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2929&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A02&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH10D/DO SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3A22&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B29&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 5 Series 4 Port SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B2F&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 5 Series 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller"
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B22&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series SATA AHCI Controller"

bolded is my Chipset. But what is weird is under the Microsoft Driver the hardware ID is "PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106" (via device manager)

I have since edited the driver to implement my hardware ID under the correct chipset.

Ill try it out when I get my SSD on wed.

Only problem I see is that the ICH8M-E/M has the same hardware ID now, should I change it to lets say 2830? So that I dont have some type of conflict?