User`s manual

Performance Tips

Here are some tips that may optimize performance in a RAID 0 striped array. If you are using an audio/video

editing card, we also recommend to review your card’s documentation for additional information.

Use MBFastTrak133 Lite as D: or other non-bootable drive in a Striped Array

For A/V editing, keep the original system boot drive on the standard IDE controller as C: drive. Partitioning

software such as FDISK will see the array as one physical drive, D: drive (or later). This will prevent file

fragmentation and provide better accessibility to the array.

Re-Configure PCI Latency Setting

The PCI Latency setting appears in some

Mainboard BIOS. The setting governs how much time is allocated

to service each PCI slot. Promise recommends a value of 64. An optimal value is neither too high nor too low

and will vary from system to system.

Optimize Array for “Performance”

The Promise FastBuild BIOS Utility auto setup menu allows optimizing the array for A/V Editing . The default

Performance setting (Striping) selects a Stripe Block size of 64. This larger block size is recommended for

the data streaming requirements of A/V editing. You may select an even larger block size in manual mode

(see page 15).

FastTrak (tm) / MBFastTrak133 Lite (tm) BIOS Version 2.00.0.xx

[ Auto Setup Options Menu ]

Optimize Array for: Performance

Typical Application usage: A/V Editing

[ Auto Setup Configuration ]

Mode ......................................... Stripe

Stripe Block Size.............................64

Drive used in Array............................2

Array Disk Capacity...................13044

[ Keys Available ]

[↑] Up [↓] Down [←, →, Space] Change Option [ESC] Exit [Ctrl-Y] Save

Change Setting of PCI Bus Utilization

Certain brands of video capture cards can produce a “glitch” on play back of .AVI files. A setting of “Less” for

PCI Bus utilization reduces the time which MBFastTrak133 Lite occupies on the PCI bus and frees that time

for use by other PCI devices and will remove the “glitch” dropout effect on playback.

Once a bus setting has been selected, click the Apply button to implement changes immediately. No reboot

is required.