It does appear I will have limitations to what I can do with the existing Intel controller hub. Unfortunatley I have the Intel 82801FR controller which appears wont let me go beyond a 2 drive RAID 0 or RAID 1 array as per chart - See chart Intel Matrix Storage Manager
What types of RAID migrations are supported?
http://support.intel.com/support/chi.../CS-020674.htm
"The migrations do not require re-installing the operating system. All applications and data remain intact."
I guess I have my question answered. It depends on the brand ,version of the I/O RAID controller hub and if it supports RAID Migrations . So I'm not even sure if a "work around" would do the trick.
Another informative link if you have an Intel controller attempting to migrate from RAID 0,1,10 to 5
Intel Matrix Storage Manager :
How do I migrate from RAID 0, 1, or 10 to RAID 5?
http://support.intel.com/support/chi.../CS-022164.htm