Native IDE VS AHCI

[Taylor D]

I am using DELL desktop computer (Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 256GB HDD, Samsung DVD R, Windows XP). Now i want to upgrade the machine and will add SATA 3.0 drive to machine as the Operating System boot drive. So please suggest me which settings should i use for the SATA controller in the bios and will be the best(choices are Native IDE or AHCI)? Which settings should be use for combination drives??

[Hardwareman]

My personal choice would be to go with Native IDE which will be best and it should work/boot properly without any problem. I am also using the same Native IDE and causing no issues till now. And for combination of drive the problem can come with your bios and goto the bios settings and select the correct hard disk to boot from and the bios must also show all the hard disk install or attached to machine. Hope you would be able to solve the problem soon.

[Maxforu]

I think you need to use AHCI to get feature like NCQ, but now a days it is unrecognizable and find no differences. Also if you will install Vista or Linux later on, then won't be any hassle, but in case, choose to install Windows XP it can create a pain because you will require to use the F6 menu during the time of setup to install the AHCI driver. So would suggest that until you are running Windows XP use AHCI.

[Killen]

According to me , you should go for the Native IDE option only, which is better and simple. I am telling this because you don't need the AHCI enabled, as NCQ is mostly useful in a multiuser environment or in the server type. So just opt the Native IDE and note that you select the correct Hard disk drive to boot, make this settings in BIOS. This will solve your problem of using multiple/combination of HDD. Hope you will be able to fix the problem.

[T.J.]

My suggestion would be to use AHCI rather than native IDE. The SATA device (i.e host bus adapter's) do communication with software's by using AHCI. This AHCI option gives you the features like hot plugging and NCQ. The NCQ feature does improvement in machine as well as HDD responsiveness, specially in multitasking environment. And AHCI stands for Advance Host Controller Interface. Hope you will be able to fix the problem.

[Rawko]

I would suggest you to go for AHCI choice, it better compare to Native IDE. During long disk data transfer, check the CPU usage, it will be high in IDE. But the AHCI comes with good features like hot plugging and NCQ to increase the performance, lesser CPU usage, saving energy, support greater amount of hard disk, etc. Think so this is enough to go for AHCI option. Hope you do well with this AHCI option.