Hard drive mode: IDE or AHCI?

[childofthetao]

Hi, I just want to know what the best mode is, IDE or AHCI, my board has defaulted to IDE so that's what I'm currently using.

Thanks

 

[slh28]

If it's an SSD then you should change it to AHCI and reinstall Windows. If all of your drives are normal HDDs then it won't make any difference.

 

[childofthetao]

I have windows on an ssd, I have a hybrid, and some regular drives.

Should I still change it and reinstall?

 

[slh28]

Yes, at the moment you're not getting the best out of your SSD. IDE is legacy now.

 

[LookinAround]

I've never tried it but is my understanding that if you're running Windows 7 or Vista you don't need to do a full reinstall to switch to AHCI. See here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

 

[St1ckM4n]

The above works.

 

[childofthetao]

Cool, I assume this will increase the speed of the drive?

 

[St1ckM4n]

In a way, yes.