Intel RST RAID controller cache settings optimizations

AltmanTC

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I have an HP EliteBook 8760w laptop (XU099UT#ABA) running Windows 8.1 64-bit with an Intel hardware RAID 0 array that contains two 750 GB WD hard drives (WDD7500BPKT-75PK4T0). I just upgraded the Intel RST driver to the latest version (12.8.0.1016). I recently discovered that if I go into the Windows volume settings and check the box for "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device" then enable cache mode in the Intel RST Manage Volume settings it would greatly increase performance. I'm wondering if my current settings are optimized for my setup or if I should do additional optimizations. My laptop is plugged into a power outlet 99% of the time these days and usually when I take it somewhere I shut it down completely so I'm not terribly concerned with data loss when enabling caching. What I want to know is if I should leave write caching enabled in the Windows volume settings and also in the Intel RST volume settings or if one option is better over the other? Does having both caches enabled hurt performance? I posted my settings below and if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Here are my current settings:

Computer Management > Disk Drives > Intel Raid 0 Volume
Enable write caching on the device [Checked]
Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device [Checked]

Intel Rapid Storage Technology > Manage Volume
Write-cache buffer flushing: Disabled
Cache mode: Write back

Intel Rapid Storage Technology > Manage Array
Disk data cache: Enabled

Intel Rapid Storage Technology > Manage Disk
Two 750 GB WDC WD7500BPKT-75PK4T0 drives with firmware 01.01A01
Disk data cache: Enabled (no option to change this)
Native command queuing: Yes
SATA transfer rate: 3 Gb/s
Physical sector size: 4096 Bytes
Logical sector size: 512 Bytes
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP EliteBook 8760w
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