What does AHCI Mode, IDE Mode, RAID Mode, & SATA Mean in the BIOS settings

Question

What does AHCI Mode, IDE Mode, RAID Mode, & SATA Mean in the BIOS settings

Anonymous

My Computer had problems when I first purchased it was from another provider which came as an overclocked PC set up unit all it needed was to be put into my case & add the existing hard drives & DVD players etc added onto the set-up. I used same shop for well over 10 years before that I always built them myself I can build a good setup computer I match different parts inside to each other then it's tested & sent out.

Unfortunately, the shop has closed down & the owner is ill cannot get hold of him any more & I needed to get some add on stuff like new S.S.D. Drives & few other bit's built into my system & the young lad said he would & could do this work, but it all went wrong & I lost everything again so I decided to Retrain myself as I used to do before windows 7-64 came out I was going through a rough patch with me being paraplegic anyway it's awkward to build a new PC up, So I chose this shop & trusted them which has gone wrong now & i have been looking & learning to catch up with the new technology I must do this I am like that any way.

Thing is my system is never one you can buy off a manufacturer & I left this with the lad & he took all the memory out & there was no need but the this of course upset Ruined the overclocked setting completely so I have done this myself & I have got the PC working quieter & faster that ever, I just have reached the score it had before now so I am happy with it But the names I came across whilst overclocking I came across which I don't know what the mean or really stand for especially as were dealing with Fast CrossfireX RAM DDR 1600 MHz.

Please don't tell me I should not be messing around with this I done so since 1989 & made big strides into how everything works I am not up to speed on this sort of thing I know SATA what it is & does, but these load of setting were from part of the overclocking in the BIOS I have set then correctly, but I wanted to know what they stand for in more depth. Thank You to anyone who can put me wise on these 3 items only. Malcolm.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

6 additional answers

Answer 1

I'm fairly sure you're on the wrong "forum" for this type of topic. This forum is meant as a support for Surface-type tablet and Surface Pro-type ultrabook/tablets.

That said,

AHCI - Advanced Host Controller Interface - this is a hardware mechanism that allows the software to communicate with Serial ATA (SATA) devices. It offers features such as hot-plugging and native command queuing (NCQ).

IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics - IDE is basically the "old" version of AHCI without hot-plugging and NCQ. (This is usually used during the Parallel ATA (PATA) era hard disks)

Now. AHCI mode and IDE mode -- what is it? IDE mode is to give you the greatest compatibility with older operating systems. While AHCI is as I mentioned above, modern version of the IDE -- use AHCI mode if you are running recent operating systems (Windows Vista+ and Linux kernel from 2.6.19+). IDE mode will allow you to connect older operating systems to SATA drives.

As I mentioned above, SATA is Serial ATA, and is the replacement for Parallel ATA (PATA) hard drives.

RAID - This is a storage technology where you combine multiple disks into a "single" unit, depending on the mode, there can be RAID-0 through RAID-6, and each with different configurations of the hard drive. I'll just explain the simple examples: RAID-0 which is striping but no parity or mirroring, this means there is no redundancy for data, If there is a failure on one disk, it will cause the data loss of the entire RAID array. Ex: You have 0110 as data to be written, 01 will go on Disk 1, and 10 will go on Disk 2, allowing for faster read/write access to the data.

RAID-1 -This is the opposite of RAID-0, which is mirroring without striping (no parity either). This basically means you have an exact clone of Disk 1 on Disk 2, in case Disk 1 fails.

RAID0+1 does both what RAID 1 and 0 does, that is to say striping (writing data simultaneously to two [or more] drives. plus mirroring in case of failure) the minimum amount of drives required for this type of setup is 4 IDENTICAL drives.

There are also RAID 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6. Which is just more implementation of different configurations of striping/parity/mirroring across drives.

That being said, your RAID mode will allow you for some type of RAID configuration, should you choose to do so.

Supplemental: Many SATA controllers can enable AHCI separately or in conjunction with RAID support. Intel recommends choosing RAID mode on their motherboards, which also enables AHCI, rather than AHCI/SATA mode for maximum flexibility (in case you ever want to build a RAID array), since there are some issues that occurs, usually BSOD, when you choose a different mode once an operating system has already been installed.

Answer 2

My opinion is as follows.

I'm no tech guru, just someone fed up with the lies, BS & intentional lack of support from Microsoft (usually by sending you to another webpage, that also sends you to another webpage, over & over, until you end up back where you started. Without answers).

.......................................................................................................................................................................

That said-

You do NOT want to enable the rapid wake. It is about the same as waking from hibernation.

I also say do NOT accept an upgrade from Microsoft, specially if it is "free". I tried 8.1 & 10, reverting back to Windows 8 enterprise OEM.

..............................................................................................................................................................

The answer given by HowardLS is one of the better answers I've seen. But it is still incomplete, what are the other Raid modes & how can we change an OEM OS if we wanted to.

My statements are from 4 decades of using windows systems & getting tips from an Uncle, that is more than a systems analyst. I now use win8, because it is fast & easier to manipulate than win10. but it has crashed 8 times in the past few years.

I suggest you get Ubuntu for an OS overlay, the Belarc advisor & Spybot Anti-Beacon, ASAP. These 3 companies still have ethics & morals. Unlike most companies today.

Without these 3 downloads I'd never use a Microsoft product again or trust them again. I pray this get posted unedited.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

Anonymous

Howard you are a stud, the man, a God to us mere mortals! Thank you!

0 comments

Answer 4

Anonymous

One of the best answers I've seen, But incomplete.

What are the other Raid modes & how do we enable/use any of them on a windows OS, any version?

Without free exchange of all knowledge we are doomed to barbarism.

0 comments

Answer 5

Hi Howard, Thank you very much for this reply it's solved more than some older problems which is how the now closed PC shop went out of business.

I have managed to get through lot's of information & these items were not clear in my own mind, you very kindly have opened my eye's to many past problems which were basically put into my pre built PC unit & how they set up several Hard drives & even given me a very good insight as to the reason why I had a new S.S.D. Drives go faulty on me not once, but twice.

I have setup my own system again from how it should have been setup by so called professionals IE: Ex PC shop & answered why they closed down (No Doubt) Sorry on wrong Forum it's been a long time since I knew all of this kind of knowledge & because I'm paraplegic & always built my own PCs personally, I just happened to meet the wrong person (Who did know his stuff) but then left this PC shop.

The thing is I should have realised, but we all know some people can talk the talk but not walk the walk, & you have given me enough answers to help my knowledge get back up to today's Termanology some I did remember, but wanted another persons re-assurance & you given me that. Many Thanks. Malcolm.

Share via

What does AHCI Mode, IDE Mode, RAID Mode, & SATA Mean in the BIOS settings

6 additional answers