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[PREBUILT PC] How NOT to Screw up your STORAGE SYSTEM with RAID/AHCI experiments.

geniusdevil
Level 9
How NOT to mess up your STORAGE System:

When it comes to pre-built machines, we often blame on the Manufacturer/Brand rather than ourselves, or our own mistakes. A pre-built machine is put together by an expert/system builder, so what goes into that machine, in terms of the components -- are all well thought keeping the machine's functionality, usage, capability etc., in mind

Let's take my case for an example. I bought ASUS Rog Tytan G30AB four years ago for $1600. Literally fingered it left and right for many years... You can read more about it here. And, never was satisfied with every change i made to it. Result? Dissatisfaction. Anger. Frustration. More Expenses. Waste of Time and Resources.

Today, i finally set down and got everything back to where it was, except for my SSD, AIO cooler and GPU. You can view my system spec on my profile. The original machine had 120GB Scandisk as the OS drive, and Toshiba 3TB HDD as the stroage, along with that, there's an Optical SATA CD/BDROM, Front USB 3(2 ports), USB 2(2 ports), and Digital Media Card(SD/MC/SF-Card n stuff).

With my Frankenstein experiments in the past, I had literally tried everything. So, today i will teach you as an expert how NOT to screw your STORAGE System. You see, when a system builder puts a system together, storage plays a vital role.... this machine i had, was aimed for multimedia experience, recording this that, you could play game while recording, you could watch movies while playing game... God knows what! But, i never used it up to its potential and started upgrading components.........cuz them Marketing material, always showing me their tempting lollipops, and making me feel like a kid in a candy store.

STORAGE SYSTEM:

RAID:
If your system came with RAID as it's default setting in BIOS. Don't be stupid and change it to AHCI. Analyze your components first. Smaller SSD paired with a bigger HDD on an Intel Storage RST? I suggest you stick with it! Cuz, it's the BEST solution for YOUR system. Switching to AHCI and bigger SSD -- will not harm but change how other components in your system work. The functionality of your whole system will change.... and down the road, you will still experience the PURCHASE DISSONANCE (feeling unsatisfied, or unsure/confused with your purchase).

Changing Storage Controller not only change how the storage system behaves, but also other system components. You may also experience the issue of SSD downgrading to SATA 3GB, Optical Drives not working properly, External SD/Digital cards behaving oddly, USB drives issues, System Fans issue, AI Suite Issues etc.,
The internet is full of Advises and Reviews. They are good if you want to build a system right from the scratch. Don't apply those advice on a prebuilt machine -- and kind of saying to the person who built it: Hey f u! I don't like your work, imma try my own things. Then, all i can say is.... you'll get screwed over by your own self.

Even though, i am still using this bigger Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500 GB. I will soon buy a smaller Kingston 240GB and let my Intel RST configure it automatically. That way, my prebuilt machine will come back to it's normal speed etc., It's not behaving strange at the moment with the following configuration:

- BIOS > F5 Optimized Defaults which sets Storage controller to RAID mode: SATA0 (SSD), SATA1(HDD 3TB), SATA2), ASUS Sata Optical Drive)
- Fresh installation of Windows. Original one the PC came with. Windows 8.1 Home. I downloaded from MS.
- Installed chipset, MEI, Intel RST, Audio, Intel Gigabyte Lan, nVIDIA drivers,
- MS Updates(all of them)
- Bitdefender Total Security(I know, you would say that antivirus should be installed right after OS, but there's Windows defender, and the Installation media was recent.... also, i didn't want Bit Defender's secure boot/File protecting features an the firewall interrupt with other installations)
- And then finally, AI suite II(which i added after creating a restore point, cuz i wasn't sure if it would work or not... but luckily, everything is back to normal, fan sinning quiet and system is super smooth)
- Installed Samsung Magician, yes even when i have Intel RST installed. I installed SM to authenticate my SSD, cuz in the past i had played around with it, and still have encryption on.

WORD OF ADVICE: Never turn that encryption feature on. I can't get to turn it off, or do a secure erase. Even though the SSD isn't encrypted with Bit-locker anymore
Samsung Magician says that the drive cannot be brought back to disable encryption state through SM software. Contact Microsoft etc., MS agent was on my system and couldn't figure it out either. So, don't use that Bitlocker encryption feature. It's useless on Desktop PC. And, if you're careful with how you share stuff on network, use your USB storage devices... then, you don't need to worry about the encryption feature -- that now a days being shove into our throats through Marketing. They add one extra feature and then make their product a Golden egg laying Hen. LOL.

- Even with RAID, your SSD will perform as per your system's requirement. Don't try to be a hero and save one component while keeping others deprived.
- RAID feature can still be enabled, but like i said, why do i need more storage speed than my system's requirement? Always question that.
- Choosing Samsung Magician over Intel RST. Well, if you have a prebuilt machine, i advice that you stick to your OEM storage system with Intel RST. Intel RST keeps your RAM, SSD, CACHE, Storage all in check. Switching to another system means compromising other components.
- Use Samsung Magician to only authenticate your SSD, perform a Trim operation, Do a benchmark perhaps, and set Over-provisioning Space. That's about it! Uncheck it from System startup. Reboot, and voila! Let your system show you the heaven! 🙂
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