RAID, Windows 2000 and ICH9R

I was going to buy a Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R but noticed at the last
minute that the page for that motherboard
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Products/Mot...ProductID=2740
says:


=== begin quote ===

"Duo to chipset limitation, Intel ICH9R RAID driver does not support
Windows 2000 operating system."

==== end quote ====


I was hoping to create a system with 3 x RAID 1 arrays (i.e. 3 x 2-
drive mirrored pairs for C:, D:, and E: ) and want to use Windows 2000
Server for compatibility with other s/w, but seeing this has stopped
me from ordering it.

Other boards (e.g. ASUS) with the ICH9R chipset don't carry a similar
warning about RAID under Windows 2000, e.g.
http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=...37&modelmenu=2

This Expert's Exchange page (scroll to the bottom for the answer)
http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/M..._23413739.html
says:


=== begin quote ===

You probably already know this, but Intel shows support for Windows
2000 only through its ICH7 hubs.

See: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...02000&lang=eng

The page above has this line:

"Note: This is the final version of Intel® Matrix Storage Manager with
Microsoft Windows 2000* support."

However, Gigabyte shows a pre-installation ('press 6') driver for
Win2k for their GA-P35-DS3P board, which uses the ICH9R hub

Usually the chipset drivers are provided by the board vendors and are
specific to the board - you probably can't use a Gigabyte driver on a
non-Gigabyte board.

==== end quote ====


... and I've got a box running Windows 2000 which uses an ASUS P5B
Deluxe motherboard (ICH8R chipset) with 3 x RAID 1 arrays with the
Matrix s/w and it seems to be fine.

Can anyone please clarify; if I were to buy the Gigabyte board and
install the RAID driver on installation (i.e. "press F6" ) is it a non-
issue? Or is it just an issue with Gigabyte boards, and could I buy
another ASUS board without the same concern?

And for a bonus point... does anyone think the same issue would exist
with a board with the ICH10R chipset?

Thank you for any help!