Intel ICHR9, Dell Inspiron 530, Windows 7 x 64, Raid 0...Possible?...

[DRobe8]

Hey Guys,

Hope someone can point me in the right direction here 😉 I've tried posting over at Dell forums too as there seems to be a bit of cross-over between Windows/Dell/Intel in my case...

This is what I'm trying to set up -

Dell Inspiron 530

Windows 7 Ultimate x 64Raid 0 (I think)

I've been going round in circles a lot on this one so far. I have the original 500Gb (ish) drive, and 2 x 1Tb Barracuda SATA's I just bought. Only when I get into BIOS, change from IDE to RAID, then when the RAID config comes up (Ctrl and 'I'), it only has the option of RAID 1....

I've checked the driver in device settings, (hopefully the right one!) and I seem to have a http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=843226 ICH9R LPC Interface 2916 driver. from 2006. Windows reports this is up to date when I click Update Driver - but that seems quite old.

I've hunted the Intel support site and managed to get the Intel Processor Identification Utility installed, but the Chipset Identifier just won't run for me as Administrator, or in compatibility mode, or as an Administrator in compatibility mode....

I've had a look at the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, but can't see my 'Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz' as one of the supported chips, and as the chipset Identifier won't run, I'm not sure whether to download and run the Matrix S.M.....

In my ideal world, I'd like to run Win 7 x64 from the 500Gb drive, Raid 0 the two 1Tb drives. Or if that's not possible then maybe I can use the 500Gb drive for my Photoshop Scratch disk. I backup externally, so not too worried about Raid 0's increased chances of failure that I've read about. If I could get the OS and programs installed on the 500Gb drive, then that would be absolutely brilliant.

At the moment I have dual boot no problems - 32 bit Vista on the 500Gb, and 64 bit Windows 7 on one of the 1Tb drives. I've backed up everything ready to go, so a clean install isn't a worry for me at this stage.....I'll be getting divorced if I don't sort this out soon, ha!

I think I've posted everything - and any help at all gratefully received, even if you're not sure yourself I can look into it. I've had a look at the Seven and Dell forums as well, so will also post to them - if I hear anything back that's useful I'll try to link / re-post for others.

Thanks,

Darren.

Dell Inspiron 530

Windows 7 x 64 Ultimate / Windows Vista 32

6Gb Ram / 3.3 Gb Ram

1000 / 1000 / 5000 Gb Sata Hard drives

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT Graphics Card

PSU/motherboard/DVD all as delivered.

Oh - BIOS updated the other day - think it was 1.0.18 from memory.

[DRobe8]

Sorry another quick question -

Is my (-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - Chipset Intel P35/G33/G31 -) a 'Series 3 chipset?

Wondering what version of Matrix Manager I can download - that might give me the Raid 0 option I want.

At the moment will only allow Raid1....;-(