Thread for RAID discussion.  First see pages 5 and 6 here:
 
https://forums.evga.com/J...742608-p5.aspx#2745964

Locking.
 
EDIT:   Unlocked.

ok look here it is right out of the book support m2 and u2 and pcie under the 3d xpoint typs ssd,s witch are intel only at this time
times for gamers.
- Supports hot plug
1x U.2 slot       at this point they talk about sata port's and how they raid but nouthing yet on m2, u2, or pcie.
or Intel Optane devices.
tested u2 ssd drives . this should tell you something.
Intel 750 SSDPE2MW400G4 400GB U.2 NVME w\Cable
Azure Wave AW-NB165NF BT 4.0, WLAN B, G, N
now for how you can and can not set your drives up in the bois.
from your power supply.
controller.
they work
.
bootable, even with current operating systems. from here\to the end of the manule never say anything about raid for m2 , us , or pcie slots only sata on this board . you can use them like we did on the x99 board is all . will cove outher 2 board on next post back to work. does not have vroc header . next 2 later
 
 
 
 
 
 

Unlocked? GGTV-Jon Someone Must Like You

EVGA introduces you the ultimate in raw performance for the next gen Intel
® Extreme lineup, the EVGA X299 Dark. The Dark is crafted from the ground up to be the performance apex with everything you need to make a record-breaking benching run or a 24/7 number cruncher, and nothing you don't – a board that is as reliable as it is fast. The EVGA X299 Dark has all of the current gen top-tier component support, multiple M.2 slots, Intel® Optane™ support, multiple U.2 ports, up to 64GB of 4000MHz+ (OC) Quad-Channel RAM on a Skylake-X or up to 32GB of 4133MHz+ (OC) Dual-Channel RAM, dual Intel® GbE LAN, USB 3.1, and a full-featured GUI UEFI/BIOS.
U.2 Port (SFF-8639)
U.2, originally known as SFF-8639, is a high bandwidth connection specifically engineered for next generation SSDs. U.2 brings PCIe x4 (Gen3) NVMe performance to a 2.5" SSD form factor and provides a solution to potential heating problems that may be present in some M.2 solutions. Port function depends on installed CPU-type and BIOS Configuration.
M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM1)
M.2 is an SSD form factor standard, which uses up to four PCIe lanes and utilizes Gen3 speeds. Most popularly paired with NVMe SSDs, this standard offers substantially faster transfer speeds and seek time than SATA interface standards. All M.2 devices are designed to connect via a card-bus style connector and be bolted into place and powered by the connector, rather than by a dedicated data cable and power cable.
This socket will support Key-M devices of 110mm, 80mm, 60mm, and 42mm length.
This connector can only utilize a PCIe/NVMe based M.2 SSD devices.
M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 80mm (PM2)
M.2 is an SSD standard, which uses up to four PCIe lanes and utilizes Gen3 speeds. Most popularly paired with NVMe SSDs, this standard offers substantially faster transfer speeds and seek time than SATA interface standards. All M.2 devices are designed to connect via a card-bus style connector and be bolted into place and powered by the connector, rather than by a dedicated data cable and power cable.
This socket will support Key-M devices of 80mm, 60mm, and 42mm length.
This connector can utilize only PCIe/NVMe-based M.2 SSDs, SATA M.2, or Intel
® Optane™ NVMe devices.
key that will unlock advanced RAID functions, such as RAID5. SATA RAID does not require a VROC key.
At the time of print, VROC will work with many SSDs, but is only bootable with Intel
® SSDs. VROC is only compatible with Core™ X-series Skylake-X CPUs
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
so at this point we know we can build about any type raid we want if we have a key. except a bootable raid off any type unless using intel ssd in either m2 u2 or pcie slots. but we can build a raid 0 only with out a key as long as we use intel ssd's witch mean we can have band with of 64g to 128g but at the 128 g it will coast you some of your pcie lanes to do this. and if you use m2 or pcie cards to build your raids you will lose pcie lanes . but if you use the 2 u2 ports you can get 64g of raid 0 with out a key and no lose of pcie lanes just have to use intel ssd to do it . best set up I think.
If you plan on using an M.2 or U.2 as a boot device, click on or navigate to the "Advanced" menu, select "Onboard Device Configuration" and enable the desired port.
Once this is done, press F10 to save and exit, plug in your operating system installation medium (likely a thumb drive) and Windows 10 should be able to boot to M.2 or U.2 without issue.
*Note*
Some device manufacturers require specific drivers for HDDs or SSDs (such as M.2) before Windows can detect the drive for installation. Please make sure to consult the manufacturer’s instructions for your HDD or SSD before attempting to install Windows to determine if additional drivers are needed.
 

GGTV-Jon
Here is a side note / thought I just had. With all the new issues out with Intel having to rework their context switching / speculative stuff is the performance hit (large or small - not a scope in my thought here) going to make all this raid talk (meaning Raid 0, since Raid 1, 5 and 10 all have a place) a mute point, esp with VROC?
With the processors (Intel, AMD, ARM) being affected and becoming a bottle neck a single 960 Pro will suffice
 
/random thought

Excepting special cases (like Prime95 stress tests), CPU spends almost entire time waiting on IO.  IO remains bottleneck by huge margin, even after fixes.

??? What about Non M.2 Key-M, But actual Intel SSD, Drives? Am I going to be able to Raid 0 three Intel SSD 545s Series (512GB, 2.5" SATA, 64-Layer TLC 3D NAND) drives, and make them bootable, like I did on my X58 that quit, it worked but they were limited to sata 2 speeds, and Bottlenecks.  Like the poster above, I am a little disappointed I cannot Raid zero the two Samsung (MZ-V7E1T0BW) 970 EVO SSD 1TB - M.2, I bought for this Build, or Boot from them. I did not know about this VROC thing, or Keys, when I found out I was getting a X299FTW, for my E762 RMA. Guess I have a lot to learn, if anyone wants to teach. I hear they are killing off IRST too? So much is and has changed since my X58 Build,,, PCIe lanes based on what CPU you buy, Features that are disabled if you buy the wrong CPU, Still waiting on all my Parts, it's looking like the build will be the easy part, and making everything work, a bear, I was looking forward to learning about UEFI BIOS, But the more I read, the more worried I become. Any other tips and tricks I need to know about? I just learned the 10980XE was about half the price of the 9980X, but just a little more than I originally paid for my 980X. I Hope it's Not true what they say about teaching old dogs new tricks.

arestavo
Also, per core overclocking seems to not be fully stable even at all core settings that were. I'd stick to the standard all core OC if I were you, but if you do per core OC remember that your (per core) vcore will use default (hard coded) values if you use adaptive voltage and the per core frequency is lower than the turbo boost 3.0 single core boost speed. This translates into 1.3+ volts being used on that core, and a VERY hot core. Using voltage override instead of adaptive voltage fixes that. Also, it's the only way to set lower than 1.2 volts for vcore. These large core chips get HOT, and less voltage helps keep the temps down.

As long as you are satisfied with Cores Runniing 43x, per Core Ratio and per Core VC may be used. ;)
As of now thats the mayjor bug when using per Core VC: you set something say 45x for per Core Ratiio in Bios and under Load in OS you get 43x.
Pretty much annoying but with adaptive per Core VC i got the 10900X stable with offsets of MINUS 60-70mV.
So its a good CPU(10900X) which could easyly do 45x with per Core VC under Air cooling if th EVGA UEFI wold not be that bugged.

wait, so I can not add a second SM961 NVMe to my Dark X299 ?
I was just about to purchase one, and add it, I am currently running one already in the NVMe slot near the 1st PCI-e bracket, and I was going to try and configure RAID 0 , and use this for my OS.
 
Or, has this been corrected some how, I read now I need a VROC thingy ?
 
This is so confusing. Can't I just add the NVMe hen go to INTEL RST and make it RAID with the other NVMe I boot off and it will rebuild into one I can use ?

woodzstack
so apparently RAID 0 is no issue at all for this, according to EVGA, I called them. They confirmed. 

It won't boot with VROC RAID0.
It won't boot with RST CPU Attached RAID either.
 
RST RAID0 will boot only if the drives are on the PCH lanes. You'll have to put one drive in M.2_2 set to PCH lanes, and another in PE4 or PE6 set to PCH lanes.