Some questions about SATA controllers

vbimport

geno888 2011-02-04 11:07:28 UTC #1

Hi everybody :bigsmile:

I'm planning to get a sata controller to expand my mainboard, and I have some questions.

The most important thing is that I prefer to not use any RAID set, only separate and independent disks.

There is a real difference in performance between PCI and PCIe 1x controllers?

There are some specific things I have to check before to buy about Linux compatibility?

Is it possible to use more than 1 controller or there is a high risk of conflicts, bottleneck or BSOD?

Any suggestions? Of course at a reasonable price

Thanks

mciahel 2011-02-04 11:29:51 UTC #2

Hi,[QUOTE=geno888;2573475]
There is a real difference in performance between PCI and PCIe 1x controllers?[/quote]Yes. PCI is maxed out at 133 MB/sec. This transfer rated is shared with other PCI devices.

There are some specific things I have to check before to buy about Linux compatibility?

If you are interested in running Linux on that computer you should of course check if this controller (or its chipset) is supported by your distribution.

Is it possible to use more than 1 controller or there is a high risk of conflicts, bottleneck or BSOD?

Works here. Promise PDC20579 and SiI 3512A on the same machine. No BSOD, but boot time is somewhat longer.

Any suggestions? Of course at a reasonable price

Want cheap? Then go for Silicon Image. You can flash most of them to non-Raid firmware.

Michael

geno888 2011-02-05 07:23:28 UTC #3

Thanks Michael

I have to do some searches to find a not too costly controller somewhere

Dartman 2011-02-05 08:15:38 UTC #4

I’m running a silicon image 3124 with win7 ultimate 32 and 64 bit versions. It has worked great with both, is flashable, has raid and non raid bios and drivers available and works with optical drives just fine even with the raid bios and drivers for me. It also supports SATA 300 speed so it can be used with most newer drives except the newest SATA3 ones, though not sure if that just means it just wont let them go at full speed.
I picked it up from Ebay for around 30 shipped. It has 4 ports and runs great with all 4 full of DVD burners. I got it for the same reason you want it, ran out of ports for all the extra devices I have stuffed in my full tower Stacker case:cool:

geno888 2011-02-05 10:46:14 UTC #5

Thanks for suggestion Dartman I’ll try to find one in local stores.

I can get this one at a very nice price: any feedback?

getit29 2011-02-05 11:12:33 UTC #6

I was at one time running 3 seperate SATA controller cards a Sil-3114, Sil-3512 and
a Sil-3132 without any problems. I’m still using the 3114 and 3132 cards but since I
have done a mobo upgrade I have enough SATA ports that I didn’t need the 3512 any
longer so I retired it.

Dartman 2011-02-05 11:21:41 UTC #7

[QUOTE=geno888;2573629]Thanks for suggestion Dartman I’ll try to find one in local stores.

I can get this one at a very nice price: any feedback? :)[/QUOTE]
Well it only works in PCIE slot of 4x or higher so you have to have a free one available, no comments on whether it supports optical drives yet that I can find on my searches as some older cards like that wouldn’t. If you need it for a burner or something make sure you can return it if it doesn’t work for you, other them that sounds like a nice card as long as it has enough ports to make you happy.
Found a review on New egg that said he had his running with a HP DVD burner so sounds like Optical’s are fine, and it seems to work in many non Asus boards as long as you have at least a 4x slot open so probably a safe bet

mciahel 2011-02-05 11:29:45 UTC #8

[QUOTE=geno888;2573629]
I can get this one at a very nice price: any feedback? :)[/QUOTE]Marvell Sata chipset. Hm. Compatibility with ODD is limited. No idea what you want to connect. I’d consider this a waste of money if you plan to not connect a Sata 3 drive (i.e. SSD) to this controller.

Michael

geno888 2011-02-05 13:22:52 UTC #9

Thanks everybody for feedback