Question : Problem: Setting up RAID 0 - does the OS system have to be re-installed. Gigabyte GA-8I945P Pro

Hi, would someone be able to put my mind at rest (or stop me making a whooping mistake) by clearing up a question on RAID installation for me.

I have a Gigabyte GA-8I945P Pro motherboard. It has four SATA ports and a Intel ICH7R RAID controller.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=1905&ProductName=GA-8I945P%20Pro

At present there is a 80GB SATA HDD containing the OS and a 250GB SATA HDD used for storage.

I want to add two 250GB SATA HDD's together in RAID 0 using the remaining two SATA ports to form a 500GB virtual HDD for video editing.

Can I install the two new HDD's, enter the BIOS RAID set up section, create the RAID 0, restart and find XP still running from the original 80GB HDD with a new virtual 500GB HDD present. Or dosn't it work like that.

I have checked the manual but that only deals with either installing the OS on a single SATA drive or on a RAID. It dosn't seem to cover creating a RAID for storage etc.

Also whilst hunting about I found a review of the mobo and part of it says "The only drawback to using the RAID mode is that all four connectors become dedicated to the RAID array. So, you can't use two of the channels for a RAID array and use the other two for optical drives or other storage devices". Does that mean that once a RAID is set up using say two of the ports the other two cannot be used or have I misunderstood what is being said. Link to the full article below.

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/motherboards/gigabyte/GA-8I945P/page4.htm

Thank you

Answer : Problem: Setting up RAID 0 - does the OS system have to be re-installed. Gigabyte GA-8I945P Pro

If i understand correctly you are wanting to add 2x 250GB drives as storage drive leaving OS on 80GB drive?

If this is right then NORMALLY no problem at all, just install the raid drivers in windows, create the array and it will then see your new array for storage.

But that review does surgest that it would not be posible, I can't see a problem with it seeing the 2 exsisting drives as stand alone drives even if raid is enabled for there controller as long as the RAID drivers are installed in windows before you enable the RAID contoller in BIOS.

You cna test by installing the raid drivers in windows and rebooting enter BIOS enable the RAID chip and reboot.
You may have to enter BIOS to make sure your 80GB drive still selected as boot. if it boots correctly then you can purchase your new drives and add if not just disable the raid chip and make sure 80GB drive selected as boot to revert back.

Be aware that there is no redundancy with RAID 0 so if one drive fails you loose all data on the array so make sure any valuable data is backed up.