Hero? A disappointing Hero...

[squawker]

Well, we all know that new technology brings challenges and needs some time to be well established and we have to tolerate some flaws until this happens.

But this could not be a pretext to launch a product that does not was well conceived for its function or that misses a simple characteristic.

That said, i’m very frustrated that a Hero motherboard does not allow to set up a hardware M.2 NVMe raid array, at least with UEFI version 1202.

NVMe raid arrays have been established in lower cost motherboards as ASUS Z170-A and ASRock Z170 Extreme 7+, as shown in The SSD Review, Tom’s Hardware, Hardocp Forum, and others.

The Extreme 7+ is a case by itself with its 3 M.2 sockets, but it is embarrassing that raid can be done in ASUS Z170-A, with only one M.2 socket and a PCIe slot that has raid support and it cannot be done in Hero.

Hero also has a M.2 socket, but its PCIeX4_3, with its lanes going through chipset, and the slot that should be used via a PCIe/M.2 adapter, does not support raid, as i have checked trying to set up a Samsung 950 PRO raid0 array.

I really hope this issue could be fixed in a future bios update and that it’s not an irreparable hardware design failure.

For the time being, ASR E7+...:p
Regards

[Chino]

I don't see why the M8H wouldn't support PCIe RAID. Are you sure you're not doing something wrong?

[squawker]

Chino wrote:
I don't see why the M8H wouldn't support PCIe RAID. Are you sure you're not doing something wrong?

After some more tests and a little research i found out why M8Hero and M8Ranger cannot setup a NVMe raid array: they do not support PCIEX4_n PCIE Storage Raid Support, as M8Extreme and others do!!!

From M8E manual:




From M8H manual:




From my M8H motherboard with 1202 UEFI:





It lacks the option to enable slot PCIEX4_3 PCIE Storage Raid Support that makes the NVMe drive in that slot to be seen by IRST 14.6.0.2285 and this way allowing a raid array to be done together with the drive in the M.2 socket, that is seen by IRST.

I’m conjecturing if this M8H deficiency is not one of the (main) reasons behind the launching of M8H “Alpha”.

Hope this problem could be fixed by a simple UEFI update and it is not a motherboard design flaw.

So, this way, after many years with ROG motherboards, I’m out of ASUS (at least until this is fixed!!)

Regards,

[squawker]

Maybe i'm doing something wrong, but there is not a way of making the PCIeX4_3 to support raid, since this function does not exist in M8H bios (1202), if we see ASUS Z170-A bios, there is an explicit item that enables PCIeX16_3 raid support.

So, the 950 PRO attached to that slot, via a PCIe/M.2 adapter, is not recognized at all, making impossible to have a raid array.

Only the drive attached to M.2 socket is seen by IRST 14.6.0.2285.

[Menthol]

While I understand the possibility of raid with 2 or more fast pcie nvme drives seems exciting and the fact other boards have that functionality, from the reviews at SSD reviews it doesn't seem to make a big enough difference to me, especially with the headaches that RAID can sometimes cause, a single drive is so fast I don't believe that in any user environment the difference would be noticeable. A friend of mine created a software raid of 2 950's and installed all his games to see if he would get faster map loads, he said it seemed slower than on a single 950. This was on a X99 platform mind you and it's not possible to create a bootable pcie raid on that platform. My self, I have not used a raid array for a bootable OS since SSD's hit the 500mbs speeds, just not worth the hassle. That"s just me of course and even though I wouldn't do it I would still expect every option on the motherboard to be functional, whether I use it or not.

[brkkab123]

JJJ from Asus stated in a build video he did on the Maximus VIII Hero that you need a NVMe bracket as the Maximus VIII Hero doesn't support it. I have the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2 ssd for my Maximus VIII Hero build.
I don't believe the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 ssd's are NVME. I think the new Samsung 9** series are. Double check with Samsung's support.
As far as the install you need to do a clean install by hitting the delete key during startup and using your dvd or flash drive that you have your os's iso file on. Also, while in the UEFI press F5 first to load optimal defaults, then set your ram to XMP and then hit F10 to save. After your pc restarts hit delete key to go back into the uefi, thrn press the F8 key to select whichever drive you have your os's iso file on and make sure you choose the one that has UEF next to it so secure boot will work.