53 Chapter 2
Intel Serial ATA RAID Introduction
The southbridge ICH5R provides a hybrid solution that combines two independent SATA ports for support of
up to two Serial ATA (Serial ATA RAID) drives. Serial ATA (SATA) is the latest generation of the ATA interface.
SATA hard drives deliver blistering transfer speeds of up to 150MB/sec. Serial ATA uses long, thin cables,
making it easier to connect your drive and improving the airflow inside your PC.
1. Supports 150 MB/s transfers with CRC error checking
2. Data handling optimizations including tagged command queuing, elevator seek and packet chain
command.
Following are the Parallel ATA (P-ATA) and Serial ATA (S-ATA) device configurations supported by Intel
ICH5R.

Introduction

Following are the Parallel ATA (P-ATA) and Serial ATA (S-ATA) device configurations supported by Intel
ICH5R.

ATA Operate Mode

There are two modes to select: Legacy mode and Native mode.

Legacy Mode:

TIn this mode, system BIOS just assign the traditional 14 and 15 IRQs to use for HDD.
TOlder OSs that do not support switch to Native Mode (DOS, Win2K, Win98/ME...) should set SATA
and PATA to Legacy Mode.
TMaximum 4 ATA devices to connect.
TCombine mode and Non-Combine mode.
(1) Non-Combined Mode: P-ATA devices only. Maximum of 4 devices.
(2) Non-Combined Mode: S-ATA devices only. Maximum of 2 devices.