You csn set up two separate RAID0 arrays, but not an array of 4 drives.

SATA 3G is useless for this system anyway, as it does not support that bandwidth. However, SATA 3.0Gb (SATA300, etc.) is backward compatible with SATA 150.

i didn't know sata II was so new.

If you'd searched, you'd have found your answers here. Good luck.

Unless you can find something I've not seen, the RAID BIOS in that system supports only two drives. It is a dual-channel controller, but only two drives are supported per channel - either RAID0 or RAID1, X2.

Yes, I know the Intel chipset supports other RAID configurations - but the BIOS on the board does not. I doubt you'll see RAID5 support on any Dell (or HPaq, etc.) desktop because the companies have a server business they need to protect.

Use software Raid in XP. With 4 drives, install OS on one and configure remaining 3 as RAID 5.

Or install XP on one drive, then mirror it with a second, then configure remaning pair as RAID 0.

Should be able to combine 2 SATA and 2 EIDE -- eliminating optical drives-- any way you want, but

haven't tried this.

oops-i meant the tool would not work with the 9100

i'm pretty sure the 9100 does support 3.0 gbps.  the bios says the link speed is 3.0 gbps.  also i had to use the hitachi feature tool to enable the 3.0 gbps data rate on my hard drives and before i changed it, the feature tool stated that the hard drive(s) will be completely useless if my motherboard doesn't support that speed.  I did have to enable the 3.0 gbps data rate for my hard drives on another computer though-the tool would work with the 9100.