XPS 435MT SSD

Sorry - I just sold my Dell Studio to pay for GTX 970 for my new build.  Buyer just picked it up.

Sorry to see it go - I had done so many upgrades that I came to have a sentimental attachment to it.

But it is going to a good home - running a 3d printer in DIY shop.

Good luck!

My question was to argvargc, but glad to hear you're on to a new build.

Been building (on paper) a new PC myself.  Thinking about taking the new(er) PSU, GPU & SSD out of the XPS & turning my 435MT into a server using old PSU & HD('s).

Good idea.  I was going in that direction and then I got the bug.  Put everything back into 435mt and started from scratch.

Lots of fun.

I've managed to install Windows 10 on a Crucial mx100 512 gb with a clean install.Before I tried with no success with a cloned partition of the previous non raid installation.I've also attached the old hard disk as secondary device, I've not formatted it, it seems to be working. 

Device Manager states: 

Intel(R) Desktop/Workstation/Server Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller

After installing the Intel RST, there is an icon in the system tray. The application allows me to create a RAID array. I don't see any other benefit.

Now the problem is that I am actually running out of memory/ RAM. I have 6 GB of RAM and if I open 10 tabs of Chrome, I am out of memory.

I can see that one tab of Chrome and no other application - I am still using 3.5GB of RAM.

So, the reduction of page file that Samsung Manager has done is not helping me at all.

I had trouble with Intel Matrix Storage Manager right after the install.  Ended up removing it.  Guess it's called RST now.  Found threads at Tom's HW suggesting neither was necessary, some said machines ran better without.  & so have we for a year & half now.  

In fact I was surprised the optical drives had no issues.  Apparently they use the SCSI command set which is packetized within the ATA command set using a protocol called ATAPI. Optical drives will be passed through to a soft SCSI controller rather than to the AHCI controller (copied/pasted that, me not that smart). 

Here's something I copied from the Intel Matrix Storage Manager readme file:

5. From the Device Manager, look for an entry named
'Storage Controllers' for Windows Vista and
'SCSI and RAID Controllers' for Windows XP and later
operating systems.If this entry is present,
expand it and look for one of the controllers listed
in the Overview Section1. If the controller identified is
a RAID controller, then the system is in RAID mode.

If none of the controllers above are shown,
then the system is not running in RAID mode and
you should continue with step 6 below.

6. From the Device Manager, look for an entry named
'IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers'. If this entry is present,
expand it and look for one of the controllers listed
in the Overview Section1. If an AHCI controller is
identified, then the system is in AHCI mode.

If none of the controllers above are shown, then
your system is not in AHCI mode. No other modes are
supported by the Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager
software and you should continue with step 7 below.

My controller = "- Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO SATA RAID Controller" is listed the Overview Section1 so apparently my system is running in RAID. But I have no RAID volumes defined. 

Here's some more copy/paste info:

AHCI. This is the controller mode that was designed to go hand in hand with the SATA standard. Most operating systems native support for AHCI which allows for the advanced features found on SATA to be used

RAID. RAID modes are generally vendor exclusive. On Intel's PCH it enables a firmware service which sits between AHCI driven ports and the operating system. (enabling RAID also enables AHCI). Disk volumes that are members of a RAID will be exposed as a single volume through the RAID service. Disk volumes that are not members of a RAID will be exposed as normal AHCI volumes.

No RAID volumes = control by AHCI not RAID.  Do you really need RST?  Shut it down & see what happens, or remove it entirely.

Great posting, Daemoncycler!

That pretty much covers it.

Just to say that even passing from ATA to RAID, my internal dvd/BD reader still works!

I have not noticed any difference between the RAID and ATA mode in the BIOS on the performance of the SSD.

Samsung provides one RAPID mode and that takes up a lot of RAM. So, after the OS just boots up, around 3 GB of RAM is already used. I have just 6 GB.

BTW: What type of SATAcable are you guys using? Is it right angled on one side or both?

Is it SATA 3 Gbps or 6 Gbps cable?

Currently I have disconnected my BlueRay Drive and connected the SATA cable to the SSD.

What is your WEI for Disk data transfer rate?  It should be 7.8.

I would suggest going thru your RST readme file & check the varialbles.  As I outlined above from my intel matrix storage manager readme file.

I get a msg during boot = No RAID volumes defined enter the Configuration Utility by pressing CRTL-i. If I do nothing it proceeds to boot normally.  Hopefully you too are getting that msg.

Pretty sure I'm using SATA II cable on the SSD as well.

My 435 is using 10% RAM (or 1.2GB of 12) without anything running.

Something is awry with yours, that's why I suggest going back to basics.

I have a ssd on Raid 0 with windows 8.1 and a Hard disk in Raid 1 with no S.O. , how can I set the second hard disk as only storage? (Now it seems mirroring the ssd).

Thanks 

I am back on this topic after a long break.

I upgraded 435MT to Windows 10 Home 64bit.

WEI GUI is no longer there in Windows 10.

So, using this tool, http://winaero.com/download.php?view.79 I got the following score: 

http://i.imgur.com/afyYZks.png

Currently I do not have RAID enabled. Samsung Magician does not completely support Windows 10 (performance optimization feature is disabled).

I tried now to put the computer into SATA mode from the BIOS.

Windows 10 does not boot the OS. I get INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

Now, I am back to ATA mode.

FAILAX WROTE THE FOLLOWING POST AT THU, MAR 26 2015 11:40 AM:

I have a ssd on Raid 0 with windows 8.1 and a Hard disk in Raid 1 with no S.O. , how can I set the second hard disk as only storage? (Now it seems mirroring the ssd).

Better late than never I suppose :0)

Don't know if I can answer your question but I have no RAID volumes defined.  I enabled RAID only so I could get AHCI enabled.  Absolutely have to have it for SSD, at least on the Studio XPS 435MT Dell BIOS.

In fact there is a message that comes up @ boot telling me I have no RAID volumes defined.

I have a SSD for primary & a large Seagate Barracuda for backup/data drive.  Perhaps you shouldn't have any RAID volumes defined?

Everything has worked well for two years now.  Still no RST/Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed.