richard_george_herrmann

Not everyone can drop $2K on a robust NAS solution which serves your needs well. How many of us have a few extra drives/cables lying around, unused ports on the MB, room in the computer case, and the MB manual to show the steps? All is needed is a little push towards taking the first steps towards safer data with a RAID 1 volume. Are you willing to loose whatever changes occurred since the last backup if the work drive goes away? Layers of defense

An OS does not know and does not care about the underlying workings of a hardware RAID volume. An OS sees a volume to read/write and nothing else. The OS drivers working in tandem with the RAID hardware handle all the actual grunt work. A RAID 1 volume on a work machine is the first layer of defense against catastrophic failure. second layer of defense, on-site backups via your chosen method: NAS, other internal drives, external HDs, optical media, physical film archives, whatever floats your boat. Finally the third layer: offsite repository like a safe deposit box, converted salt mine, or the cloud for the chance of fire/theft/meteor strike.

Using a laptop as a main workstation, external local storage makes perfect sense. Its the only option Consider a tower case with gobs of space for drives combined with a modern MB with drive ports to spare. The recent X99 boards come with ten SATA ports, some with even more if you look at the high end WS grade offerings. Why not have automatic near real time safety with a hardware RAID 1 volume?

Network Attached Storage is OK for an external secondary backup. Offsite in the cloud is even better in case of disaster. Networked solutions are painfully slow compared to a hardware solution. If I was in the market for an external storage solution, I'd get a Thunderbolt or a USB 3.1 based RAID enclosure. These are the bee's knees in current tech for bandwidth. RAID 1 on main machine, some local external safe storage solution, and finally the cloud for tripled protection. None of this helps if you don't plan and execute a sound backup strategy.

One final note if you go with a hardware RAID supported by the MB. Any action that resets the BIOS back to factory settings, like updating the BIOS or pressing the reset button/switch/jumper/remove battery, will likely unhook your RAID volumes. Just make a note to check drive mode and settings before booting in the OS after a crash or upgrade. Usually switching from the default drive mode (like IDE or AHCI) to RAID is all that is needed.

Good advice regarding the underlying drives being tied to the controller hardware. Say you bought a new motherboard with different chipsets Consider moving from a Marvell to the Intel chipset with your RAID drives. They likely will not just plug in, tell BIOS the RAID type, and just work. If however you stay within a chipset family, the underlying drives should just mount. They try not to break you with their upgrades. I've been lucky because I have used the Intel RAID contained in most if not all MB's. I've moved my RAID 1 volume through a few MB upgrades. YMMV

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) comes in many flavors. The RAID number has nothing to do with how many drives it needs to create. The array itself can be a safe file system RAID 1, or unsafe RAID 0 which is fast but doubles the apparent capacity of the underlying drives. These are the simplest types only requiring two physical drives. The higher RAID types are more elaborate that require a minimum of three or more physical drives to create. RAID 10 or RAID 01 are built combining a hierarchy of drives and their underlying data layout (stripe set versus mirroring) into the single RAID volume. Mainstream motherboards don't support higher level RAID volumes in hardware. RAID in software is a waste of your time, don't do it.

Hardware RAID 1 with two disks is the only RAID worth doing with a home setup. It is a safe file system and is supported by most motherboard chipsets. When one drive fails, it gets replaced and the RAID volume is rebuilt from the other drive's contents. A rebuild takes a while (hours or days depending on drive size and your hardware), but you are back to a safe condition. Read times are better than a single drive because of parallelism, content can be pulled from either drive in array. Write times slower because of needing to write to both drives in the array. Sure there are plenty of other flavors of RAID, but you are not running a data center that needs 24/7 up time. And you are limited by the number hard drive ports on the motherboard.

As per the report, the DRAM frequency is not getting anyplace near the expected XMP speed. Its goes from 1065Mhz to 1199Mhz when XMP is enabled, it should be up at 1500Mhz.

Randy, Can you provide a screen shot of the CPU-Z "Memory" tab with the XMP enabled. It should report the memory running at full speed which is 50% faster than the base line RAM frequency. If its not, then something is still not right with the build. Maybe a newer BIOS version could help. Speeding up the ram will help over the lifetime of the computer for all software, seconds saved each operation, adds up in the aggregate over the lifetime of the machine. I just want your hard earned cash investment you all ready paid for, to be working at its peak factory rated performance. I tip my hat to you getting the XMP profile enabled. Its like tinkering with cars without having to get greasy hands.

Yes, it sets all the values like timings, voltages, etc. That's what makes XMP great, no guessing, no possible data entry errors. Go for it!

overclocking versus OVERCLOCKING Search for computer Liquid Nitrogen cooling solutions for an example of overclocking in all caps. Enabling the XMP profile is not technically overclocking since its a value supported by both the MB and the RAM. It is a value tested/verified at the RAM factory. Each chip gets tested: some fail to operate and are recycled, some are slow, and some are faster, and so on. Each chip gets placed in the matching bin for its tested top speed rating. Further assembly into the complete RAM stick occurs down the production line using chips from the same speed bin. >> I am on Bios Version 1004. (from OCT/2014) Add updating the BIOS to your tech guys punch list. 1. BIOS update to current version 2. Enable XMP profile #1 3. Verify Fan Speeds and MB component temps are all A-OK Don't be afraid to try simple changes to the BIOS. That warning is for lawyer proofing :) Change one thing at a time and take notes or screen shots with your camera for before/after records. Most changes won't brick the machine. Plus there is a push button on the X99-A MB to reset the settings to factory fresh. I had to do this yesterday to my machine (with a jumper no less, the horror, the horror) with the whole 400/800Mhz confusion. RAM not happy running at twice rated speed You will get plenty of warning from the BIOS if you are getting into possibly dangerous territory.

One final note regarding DRAM frequency as reported by CPU-Z. It reports the actual speed of the DRAM. This value will be half the rated speed since its Double Data Rate (DDR) ram. I was confused with my setup only reporting 400Mhz via CPU-Z (The Asus skinned version), but I have 800Mhz DDR2. Now I know why, and knowing is half the battle (GI-JOE) So in Randy's case, the actual speed should be about 1500 (3000/2) if it was running at full speed. No longer confused regarding actual RAM speeds.

Now if it was a jumper on the motherboard instead of a switch, I not ask you to try it. Those were dark times I tell you :)

The X99-A manual in section 1.2.6 part 6 with the heading "EZ XMP" switch implies that moving it to Enabled will enable the default XMP profile for the RAM. Cool design if it works It should have the same affect as booting into the BIOS ( which you should really just try at least once) and turning on the default XMP profile by following the instructions in chapter 3 of the manual. What it will do is speed up your ram by applying so called 'overclocking' settings to the system based on values approved by the RAM maker. It will tell the motherboard the ram is really fast and be able to use it at its rated maximum speed. Check a previous posting of mine on this thread where I linked to some Intel marketing explaining XMP to the gamer mindset. CPU-Z "timings table" in the "SPD" tab reports what each RAM stick reports as supported speeds. Not what its currently operating under which is what the "Memory" tab reports. Its just telling you that yes, this RAM has an XMP profile. Thus "SPD ext" reports "XMP 2.0" The switch should be moved only when the machine is off, unplugged from the wall outlet, and the power button pressed to discharge any remaining capacitance stored in the MB. The only risk is big hands and low visibility inside the case flipping the wrong switch or breaking something fragile nearby. It could not be any simpler than that...

Don't confuse NB (north bridge) timing with DRAM timing. Two different but related values. Lets examine the report from the Z-CPU "SPD" tab from Randy's screen shot. The section in the SPD tab called "Timings Table" lists what the RAM reports as valid values. The first two are JDEC for backwards compatibility. The third is the XMP value I keep bringing up. It has the right timings 15-16-16-35-2N and voltage. The forth is obviously not a XMP profile, but likely a bug in Z-CPU reporting invalid values. The ram is defaulting to the correct values. It defaults to a safe voltage and timing so the machine will boot. You need to turn on XMP for it to choose the XMP profile. Randy Try flipping switch 16 on the motherboard and see what happens. Please try this. Its a simple switch to move from one side to the other. If it does not help. Switch it back and wait for your tech guy

As of 2015/02/17 "X99-A BIOS 1401" is the current BIOS for the X99-A MB. Adds support for USB 3.1 and NVMe. Randy, once you get yourself into setup. You can add this to your list of things to check. What version of the BIOS are you running?

Randy, </rant on> Random searches on the internet will give you outdated results and expose novices to harmful downloads. Don't run .exe from untrusted sources. And avoid all the other potential attack vectors like .SCR (who uses screen savers any more). And the rest.. Example: The file name was "What_I_Searched_For.PDF.EXE", what do you mean I am infected. It said PDF right in the file name. I am not implying the software you downloaded was infected. Be more careful next time. <rant off/> Please read section 3 in the X99-A manual called BIOS setup. It goes through how to switch the BIOS into Advanced view. It is EZ View by default. You should have a hard copy in the X99-A box OR print out the pages from the online version. How to do it: Power up the computer and start tapping on the keyboard key labeled Delete. Keep tapping until the machine boots into BIOS setup. If this does not work, try a hard wired keyboard in the PS/2 port and try again. If X9-A does not have PS/2 port try a hard wired usb keyboard in one of the legacy USB 2.0 ports. Keep tapping on delete and it should NOT boot into windows. OR refer to Section 1.2.2 Mother board Layout and try switch number 16 "EZ XMP" switch. It should also enable the default XMP profile. That seems the simpler thing to try first. You should also look at the ASUS tools for made for the X99-A. http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/X99A/HelpDesk_Download/ They might have a utility like Intel's that works in windows and you can set these BIOS settings from the comfort zone of Windows. Hopefully with the advent of UEFI, Asus tools might actually work. p.s. Asus has had this board on the market for months now. Why isn't the memory layout issue even mentioned in the FAQs for this board and likely all their other 8 RAM slot X99 products?

Agreed regarding the speed. XMP takes care of that problem Here is the memory in the OP's final build. Rated at 3000MHz and XMP 2.0 ready http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-3000c15q-16grbb

I bothered to read the Intel marketing BS referenced above. Intel has written an Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility for Windows 7 *, Windows 8*, Windows 8.1* Download Here https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=24075&lang=eng No need to even enter the BIOS at POST. Hopefully it runs on all supported boards containing Intel chipsets, not just Intel brand boards. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface makes this possible

Eric are you asking how to do this with an Asus A99-A, or suggesting the OP check for himself? Randy (the OP) is over his pay grade to use his words in regards to the inner workings of the PC. XMP profiles http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/extreme-memory-profile-xmp.html takes the guess work out of custom memory settings. No messing with voltages, timings, and other stuff which will brick your machine if you happen to enter the wrong values. Poof, the magic smokes comes out. Leave overclocking to people with time and money to burn. XMP is easy enough for the muggles to operate via the BIOS. Asus has made it even easier to enable/disable XMP with a DIP switch on the MB. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA2011/X99-A/e9736_x99-a_ug_v2.pdf has more info for those interested.

If the RAM is not in the correct layout, the system will access the RAM sticks one at a time. Slow Most systems these days access memory in pairs. In X79 and X99 systems, if you have the RAM installed in sets of four, in the right slots for the plumbing to work right, you access all four at the same time. Net result is much higher memory bandwidth speeds. This is why you bought an X99 system. See http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/x99-chipset-diagram.html

Memory wise, the manual recommends filling the 4 grey RAM slots with your 4 stick kit. Thanks to Mary for some arrows! The X99-A BIOS defaults to AHCI. Press DEL when the computer first boots (POST) to verify your settings. Don't freak too much regarding the assembly by your tech guy. Custom builds always involve some trial and error to get things to fit just right, some disassembly when things don't fit the first (or second) time, and finally be optimized with BIOS changes and DIP switch settings. Asus X99-A has a few simple switches that control some performance tweaks like enable XMP profile for the RAM. I'd turn this on It looks as if the RAM will be accessible to swap slots. Randy, if you can look closer with the CPU fan removed, you can see if they will lift out. Even better, take another photo from directly above the CPU to show RAM placement. No rubber shoes, no wool sweaters, no cats, lay the case on its side to make access easier on a non conductive surface. Disconnect the AC power cord, then press the power button to fully discharge residual juice. Unclip the fan from the side of the cooler. If the RAM is not obscured, you should not have to remove the CPU cooler itself. If its in the way, then you can buy another matching 4x4GB ram kit OR remove the cooler. Run the math if you need to hire out removing and replacing the cooler. If you do transport the case as is, lay it on side to minimize stress from the CPU cooler. Having the GPU in its current location is not a deal breaker. If you had two or more, then it starts to matter a lot if the first PCIe x16 slot is covered by stuff.

Applications need to be installed to non removable media in Windows. This is a non negotiable condition. Consider what happens when you eject a drive that contains the currently executing application? Not a good user experience. An app expects its package contents to be accessible at all times. Even after the OS insists its a really bad idea, users can un-mount drives. Please don't do this. In Windows 8.0 you cannot control where the metro apps (aka Store apps), aka Universal Windows Apps packages and their application data are stored. Soon it was found this really sucks. Like a lot since the Amazon developers chose default roaming storage for their Kindle app 1.0. And you have a Windows RT tablet with 32GB. That's another story Windows 8.1 allows you to set the default drive for Store app data. Pop in your SD card and... From the Start screen, Swipe in from the right to bring up the charms menu. Choose Change PC settings. PC settings app launches. Choose PC and devices, Choose Devices, Scroll the right content pane so this moves into view, Choose Default Save Locations. It should offer up the removable SD drive as a location to set as default. Works great! It all has to do with locking down the file system for apps. They don't get to ask where their Default data is stored. You can get the users permission to access the entire file system, but people are paranoid these days. I don't know why ;) Does not solve your problem, but I hope it helps

Also check what slot the GPU is installed. See section 1.2.5 and verify its in slot 1 (no PCIe 3.0 in its current slot) The CPU cooler might need to be reclocked (rotate) to fit and relocating its fan to fit in the case. Hopefully your RAM is not super tall to complicate things further. Photos really do help, thank you for thinking of posting them