Intel Matrix/Raid

I’m going to be reinstalling XP and this time I would like to use Intel Matrix for my SATA Hard Drive. It won’t be in a Raid configuration but Matrix will improve drive performance even when not used with Raid and when I do utilize Raid in the future, the OS won’t need to be reinstalled.
So…Does anyone have any tips or comments about doing this?
I know the Raid disks have to be used while installing the OS. Any step by step instructions? Change something in the BIOS?
Thanks for any help.
James