Precision 7x60 AHCI vs RAID On

Question

On a Dell Precision 7760 and 7560 after initial Windows setup, I switched the machines from RAID On to AHCI using the below steps.

I am curious what others think on using AHCI vs RAID On.

Is there a benefit or downside of keeping RAID On. I am not running any RAID setup and Running Windows 10.

From what I read online, sticking with AHCI if RAID is not needed is better. But with the newer machines, is this still the case or is it better to leave RAID On and use the intel RST drivers opposed to Windows Standard NVMe Driver?

I am debating if I should switch back to RAID On (same procedures below).

On the 7760 I did install two Samsung 970 EVO 2TB and have Samsung Magician which I really only need to see if there is a Firmware Update for these drives. I have not checked if Magician will see the drives if I switch back to RAID On, but read that for Magician to see the drives, AHCI must be selected in the Bios.

Switching from RAID on to AHCI:

Suspend BitLocker
From the desktop, hold "Shift" while selecting "Restart" from the start menu.
A boot options menu will appear.
Select “Trouble Shoot”
Select “Advanced startup options”
Select “Startup Settings”
At the Screen “Restart to change Windows options such as:” Select “Restart”
The system reboots
At the Dell logo, hit "F2" to go to BIOS and change the AHCI/RAID mode. Then exit the BIOS.
When Windows starts, it will show the "Advanced startup options" menu; Select safe mode.
After Windows boots to safe mode and complete loading, reboot - to normal mode.

Same procedure works to switch back to RAID On if the system was setup with RAID On. I did it once a few months ago, but decided to switch back. At the time I only had the one OEM Drive (Samsung PM9A1 2TB).

cushlomockree2 · Answer

I am trying to configure a new Precision 7560 loaded with Win 10 for Workstations on the OEM 1TB NVMe drive (0), and add Windows Server 2022 Standard to an empty OEM 2TB NVMe drive(1) so that it will dual boot.

I have a 7730 and 7710 with similar configurations (dual boot different versions of Windows and Windows Server). On the older machines, I couldn't get anything to install unless I turned off RAID and Secure Boot. Don't know why these newer machines come with RAID enabled since there is no great advantage to that technology unless you are using disk/SSD arrays.

So, upon receipt of the 7560, I immediately went into Setup and switched to AHCI/NVMe mode---THE MACHINE would not BOOT! Finally got back into Setup, changed back to RAID and it booted

I followed your procedure above, but also disabled Secure Boot as well, at least for the time being. It all went as you described.

Thanks!

chamseddine76 · Answer

RAID mode is required when you're pairing a spinning hard drive with a small SSD cache

Intel RST software and drivers directly from Intel,

youtube How To Enable or Upgrade an SSD Cache Using Intel Rapid Storage RST

Asheville Hawker · Answer

I know this is an old thread, but I want to confirm these steps worked like a champ on my Dell 7760.
I had been trying to figure this out for a while. Another thread said I needed to boot to safe mode but didn't explain the crucial hold shift to force that the next boot trick that you described. Thank you very much for posting this.

I_Jani_I · Answer

see https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/New-NVMe-drive-installed-and-underperforming-due-to-RAID-on-set/m-p/8387471#M108702

Precision Mobile Workstations

Precision 7x60 AHCI vs RAID On

RAID mode is required when you're pairing a spinning hard drive with a small SSD cache

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