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X79 Extreme6 and DSA

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  • X79 Extreme6 and DSA

    Hello

    I have a X79 Extreme6 motherboard and I'm trying to enable Intel's DSA (Dynamic Storage Accelerator). I'm following the instructions within the Intel RST help files to turn it on. One of the steps to turning it on requires a bit to be set in the BIOs which I can't seem to find anywhere. The DSA bit is required to be set in the BIOs but I haven't found it there or in the Intel OptionROM configuration utility (CTRL-I). I know that I should be able to use this feature since the board is equip with a Intel desktop express RAID configuration. I was going to contact the ASRock technical support about it but figured I'd post it here first. Please advise how I can go about enabling this feature.

    Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Re: X79 Extreme6 and DSA

    DSA is a relatively new feature added when Haswell processors and their 8 series chipsets were introduced, in mid-2013.

    DSA requires support from the chipset, the IRST driver, and even the processor. Currently DSA is only supported on the Intel 8 and 9 series chipsets, IRST version 12 and greater, and most Haswell processors.

    Sorry to say, the X79 (introduced late 2011) chipset does not support DSA. As you said, there is a BIOS/UEFI option to enable/disable it, but it only applies to the Intel 8 and 9 series chipsets. The IRST Windows UI has a configuration screen for DSA in the Performance option, but if the chipset, etc, does not support DSA, that configuration screen is not available.

    For example, my Z97 board with an i5 Haswell processor fully supports DSA, and the option is available in the IRST Windows UI. If I install a Pentium G3258 processor in that board, the DSA option in the IRST Windows UI is gone. The DSA option is still shown in the UEFI/BIOS, and the bit enabled, but the IRST program detects the processor and removes the DSA configuration screen.

    There is no chance that DSA will be made available for X79 or other platforms older than the 8 series chipsets, sorry to say.

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    • #3
      Re: X79 Extreme6 and DSA

      Originally posted by parsec View Post
      DSA is a relatively new feature added when Haswell processors and their 8 series chipsets were introduced, in mid-2013.

      DSA requires support from the chipset, the IRST driver, and even the processor. Currently DSA is only supported on the Intel 8 and 9 series chipsets, IRST version 12 and greater, and most Haswell processors.

      Sorry to say, the X79 (introduced late 2011) chipset does not support DSA. As you said, there is a BIOS/UEFI option to enable/disable it, but it only applies to the Intel 8 and 9 series chipsets. The IRST Windows UI has a configuration screen for DSA in the Performance option, but if the chipset, etc, does not support DSA, that configuration screen is not available.

      For example, my Z97 board with an i5 Haswell processor fully supports DSA, and the option is available in the IRST Windows UI. If I install a Pentium G3258 processor in that board, the DSA option in the IRST Windows UI is gone. The DSA option is still shown in the UEFI/BIOS, and the bit enabled, but the IRST program detects the processor and removes the DSA configuration screen.

      There is no chance that DSA will be made available for X79 or other platforms older than the 8 series chipsets, sorry to say.
      Thanks for the reply. I'd have to say that's quite a bummer saying I just bought no less than a year ago a X79 chipset with a 4930k processor. For the most part everything you said makes sense, except that why wouldn't it ever be supported on a X79 chipset? Are there any sources that can confirm that?

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