VROC Keys for X299 platform

[Artah]

2 Months later I get a response from what appears to be senior level management (Name and info withheld to protect the innocent) that may be finding a resolution. Ill post back if this is resolved within a few days and hopefully can become an ambassador that ASUS is going to make this right.

I have two R6E and two R6A. I'm confident that Asus is doing what they can to remedy this. I was also expecting for this to be solved and I also bought 3 M.2X16 boards and with a bunch of M.2 drives. My investment on this with the expectation that VROC will be available at some point is mounting. I'm not worried though I have every confidence in Asus, they seem to always get things right for me, if you know of some email alert list that I can get on when keys are available please share. By the way I don't see this as an issue that Asus created, I blame everything on intel on this.

[JustinThyme]

Without getting into politics........Intel never said they would sell the keys to the general public and ASUS is still marketing this as VROC capable by purchasing keys that are not for sale to the general public so its in their arena. A few sources are found here and there for the intel only keys in limited quantites and they have been listed as EOL by intel. I did have 100% faith until a rep through out the "Specifications to change without notice" clause at me.
I'll post up if it gets resolved by ASUS and if its not a NDA thing Ill let everyone know how its addressed and what to expect down the pipline. Like I said, was contacted with a semi promise just not told exactly what....

[JustinThyme]

Resolved.
I cant speak about what ASUS is going to do with this going forward.
What I can tell you is
The correct Key for this platfrom that revolves around the statements from the beginning of X299 only supporting Intel drives is.

Intel HW Key
VROCISSDMOD
Version # j55733-100
MM# 956822

This key offers up raid 0,1,5 and 10 (0 can be done in passthrough with no key, all the rest requires a key)

One site has said this is listed for EOL by Intel so if you want it I would suggest ordering up however many you think you may need.

The VROCSTANMOD that is recognized by this board gives less options and cost 10x as much, the VROCPREMMOD gives the same as the VROCISSFMOD for 15x the cost. The standard and premium are meant for Xeon platforms to support 3rd party drives and have shown they will not support 3rd party on this platform.

[Brighttail]

Without getting into politics........Intel never said they would sell the keys to the general public and ASUS is still marketing this as VROC capable by purchasing keys that are not for sale to the general public so its in their arena. A few sources are found here and there for the intel only keys in limited quantites and they have been listed as EOL by intel. I did have 100% faith until a rep through out the "Specifications to change without notice" clause at me.
I'll post up if it gets resolved by ASUS and if its not a NDA thing Ill let everyone know how its addressed and what to expect down the pipline. Like I said, was contacted with a semi promise just not told exactly what....

Well The key that I got is not like yours.. It is J55903-103. I did not get this from Asus nor has Asus ever answered my query on it. I have just got my second Intel 900P and I was going to try it tomorrow in RAID 0 and am hoping it will work in passthrough mode without the need for a key. I suppose we'll find out. Good on you Justin for getting the proper key from Asus. I wish they were more forthcoming to help us other users in the same situation.

[audime]

Resolved.
I cant speak about what ASUS is going to do with this going forward.
What I can tell you is
The correct Key for this platfrom that revolves around the statements from the beginning of X299 only supporting Intel drives is.

Intel HW Key
VROCISSDMOD
Version # j55733-100
MM# 956822

This key offers up raid 0,1,5 and 10 (0 can be done in passthrough with no key, all the rest requires a key)

One site has said this is listed for EOL by Intel so if you want it I would suggest ordering up however many you think you may need.

The VROCSTANMOD that is recognized by this board gives less options and cost 10x as much, the VROCPREMMOD gives the same as the VROCISSFMOD for 15x the cost. The standard and premium are meant for Xeon platforms to support 3rd party drives and have shown they will not support 3rd party on this platform.

1. I thought Passthrough was using NVME on PCIE as none raid only (data), but now im reading above RAID 0 can be achieved without key. CPU is better from my understanding (which needs Key for Raid 0). Or has a BIOS update rectified this?? Confused!


2. If I bought a Hyper M.2 card and loaded 2,3 or 4 NVME cards into it for RAID 0, Which NVME cards specifically to use? Intel I guess (from what I read), but which intel NVME cards to sure?

I'm clearly confused, apologies for that. Im frustrated partly as the information I find all night is soooo contradicting!

[Brighttail]

1. I thought Passthrough was using NVME on PCIE as none raid only (data), but now im reading above RAID 0 can be achieved without key. CPU is better from my understanding (which needs Key for Raid 0). Or has a BIOS update rectified this?? Confused!


2. If I bought a Hyper M.2 card and loaded 2,3 or 4 NVME cards into it for RAID 0, Which NVME cards specifically to use? Intel I guess (from what I read), but which intel NVME cards to sure?

I'm clearly confused, apologies for that. Im frustrated partly as the information I find all night is soooo contradicting!

RAID 0 can be achieved without the key if you have two Intel drives. For any of this to work you will need the Intel 900p or 905p drives. The drives that fit in the PCI-e slots you can RAID 0 two or three, depending how many PCI-e lanes you have available. You can use the Hyper x16 but you would either need the 900p with U2 to M.2 connector. These will fit in the hyper x16 but you'll have a lot of unsightly cables going to the Hyper x16 and you will either have to cut the cover to allow the cables to fit under the heatshield or keep it off.

There are 905p M.2 drives now, so this would probably be the better solution as they will fit into the Hyper x16 with no issues and no cables. Either way, you can ONLY use the Intel 900p or 905p drives. Nothing else will work as a BOOTABLE RAID drive. If you just want a RAID drive that isn't bootable, then you can use ANY m.2 drives in the Hyper x16.

Honestly after trying the RAID 0 array, using the VROC software that creates the RAID array, the latency that is there slows the drives down significantly. I would NOT suggest creating a RAID 0 array for a bootable drive. It simply isn't worth it. If you are wanting a RAID 1 or 10 array, then the drop in performance may be worth it.

[audime]