Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

[SpinachEater]

I don't fully understand the benefits to using the Gigabyte (GSATAII) controller over the southbridge SATA controller other than freeing up the southbridge for other operations. The board is a GA-EX38-DQ6 and I plan on having two SATA HDDs without RAID. I am geared up to use the GSATAII controller but I am curious if there are any pros and cons to using the gigabyte controller over the southbridge. Thanks!

[spec]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

In a RAID config, I can say Gigabyte controller is better.
I've had my ICH9R RAID failed after changing some BIOS settings - very weak.

Not sure about NON-RAID, but if you're going to set it as NON-RAID, then
best would be if you could run some benchmarks and let us all know :)

I didn't try it as I have RAID and I can't move between controllers.

[GiggaByte]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

15MB/sec slower when using GIGABYTE controller over ICH9R here, both using the same HDDs in RAID 0 128k stripe.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

I found the GA controller on my board Much faster then the Intel one Same setup as above except I use 64k stripe. I do not remember how much faster it was when I tested them, but enough to not make me think twice about which to use for my RAID setup.

As for a NON raid, I would think they would be more likely closer or not noticable

[SpinachEater]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

Hmmm...interesting....sounds like it won't matter then. I have heard some mixed comments about it compared to the Intel controller regarding RAID but nothing on the old skool SATA. More than likely there won't be a difference but maybe I will mess around with it if I get time. Thanks!

[ashlar]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

I was wondering the same of my GA-X48-DQ6 but it's a different dilemma for me as I have two sets of raids running with two different sets of HDDs. 2 Samsung 1 TB HD103UJ 300 Gb/s vs 2 WD Raptor 80 GB 1.5Gb/s....

It would be an interesting test to run =D

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

I would think the Tb drives would be your faster bet, with larger cache and data speeds. raptors are quickly becoming a thing of the past.... At least that is how I see it, with newer drives having 32mb cache's and SATAII speeds.

But yeah, sounds like you would just really have to test each set, on each controller

[Jrman52]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

Do i have to reformat the drive when i switch motherboards? I have a drive already running winxp, I thought i could do the switch then install any nessacery drivers once I'm booted. The problem I"m having however is getting the Hard drive to read thru any sata drive on a non-raid boot.

Changed settings in bois, and still nothing. Only thing i can get it to read is the cd drives off the IDE cable. Please help.

[b_rubenstein]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

There are certain chipset specific drivers related to hard drives, and if they are the wrong ones you will never be able to boot off the hard drive without doing a repair install of Windows. The way to avoid this problem is to remove the drivers before disconnecting the HD from the old mother board. This way Windows will boot using its generic drivers.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Gigabyte vs ICH9R SATA controller: Which is best?

Jrman52 you need to post a bit more info.

What your old and new board is, and what your drive/drives are and how you had them before and how you are trying to use them now

Also, please post what color ports you have the new drive plugged into on the new board because this matters as to what settings you need to set to what in the BIOS