Tuesday, October 27th 2009

HighPoint Announces Availability of First SATA 6 Gb/s Host Adapter Based on PCI-E 2.0

HighPoint Technologies - an industry pioneer of innovative SATA and SAS RAID host adapter manufacturing, today unleashes the Rocket 600 series - the industry's first SATA 6 Gb/s host adapter based on PCI-Express 2.0 technology. The Rocket 600 series delivers the next generation of SATA performance with robust SATA connectivity and will be available at the beginning of November 2009.

The Rocket 600 series brings a new level of cost effective pricing and will help drive mass adoption to the next generation of SATA 6 Gb/s technology. They are fully industry standard AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) compliant and deliver Out-of-Box Ready installation for the majority of operating systems. The Rocket 600 series are backward compatible to PCI-Express 1.0 technology and (SATA 3 Gb/s & 1.5 Gb/s) devices. They use the same cable and connectors as previous SATA generations to ease integration.
Pricing and Availability: The MSRP for the Rocket 620 Series is $69.99 and the Rocket 622 $79.99 and will be available at end of October 2009. All HighPoint RocketRAID products are available through channel distribution partners (Bell Micro, D and H, MaLabs and ASI).
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40 Comments on HighPoint Announces Availability of First SATA 6 Gb/s Host Adapter Based on PCI-E 2.0

#26
PP Mguire
twicksistedsurely then your best bet is to buy a motherboard with 6Gb/s controller on it... i see theres already a P55 with just that... rather than having an extra card and more cable mess
Buying a 70 dollar 6gb/s card as opposed to buying a brand new motherboard/cpu/ram. Id rather buy this card if i had an SSD that would use over 3gb/s. My P55 dosent support 6gb/s so id rather buy this card instead since ill have this combo for a while.
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#27
twicksisted
PP MguireBuying a 70 dollar 6gb/s card as opposed to buying a brand new motherboard/cpu/ram. Id rather buy this card if i had an SSD that would use over 3gb/s. My P55 dosent support 6gb/s so id rather buy this card instead since ill have this combo for a while.
your P55 has 3Gb/s sata already... you dont need this lol
by the time a single Hardrive is pushing 6Gb/s on its own then your cpu, motherboard and rig will be so out of date that youll have a new one, and chances are if they already bringing this tech out on the new P55's itll be standard on all mobos in a few weeks / months ;)

Also there no motherboards with PCIe X1 v2.0 out yet... so anyone with an old crappy system who happens to have the worlds fastest hardrive and that was their sole reason for buying this card... wouldnt be able to use this at 6Gb/s anyways as it would default to 3Gb/s on v1.0 PCIe
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#28
twicksisted
PingsSo I got a pair of WD Velociraptor 300GB, in raid 0. Would this benefit me, would I see any speed difference?
nope
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#29
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
twicksistedyour P55 has 3Gb/s sata already... you dont need this lol
by the time a single Hardrive is pushing 6Gb/s on its own then your cpu, motherboard and rig will be so out of date that youll have a new one, and chances are if they already bringing this tech out on the new P55's itll be standard on all mobos in a few weeks / months ;)

Also there no motherboards with PCIe X1 v2.0 out yet... so anyone with an old crappy system who happens to have the worlds fastest hardrive and that was their sole reason for buying this card... wouldnt be able to use this at 6Gb/s anyways as it would default to 3Gb/s on v1.0 PCIe
So you think 6.0Gb/s SATA controllers will be standard on all motherboards in a few weeks/months? I doubt it.

I'm starting to wonder if your posts are just trolling at this point. We've already explained that while no motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 x1 slots, these cards will work in the PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots that pretty much all high end motherboards have extras of.

And there are a bunch of people with high end x58, P55, P45, X48, 780i, 790i, 790FX, 790GX, 780FX....etc, boards that probably don't want to replace their high end motherboards just to use SATA 6.0Gb/s with SSDs that can benenfit from the speed.

Your statements are getting pretty tollish/ignornat at this point, so I'm going to stop responding. We've already explained to you why this controller, and others like it, will be useful. No need to dicuss it any further.
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#30
twicksisted
newtekie1So you think 6.0Gb/s SATA controllers will be standard on all motherboards in a few weeks/months? I doubt it.

I'm starting to wonder if your posts are just trolling at this point. We've already explained that while no motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 x1 slots, these cards will work in the PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots that pretty much all high end motherboards have extras of.

And there are a bunch of people with high end x58, P55, P45, X48, 780i, 790i, 790FX, 790GX, 780FX....etc, boards that probably don't want to replace their high end motherboards just to use SATA 6.0Gb/s with SSDs that can benenfit from the speed.

Your statements are getting pretty tollish/ignornat at this point, so I'm going to stop responding. We've already explained to you why this controller, and others like it, will be useful. No need to dicuss it any further.
wow... no need to get upset... chill out dude... all im stating is that I personally think this piece of hardware is useless... I have a right to an opinion and you have a right to yours

also anyone on one of the above motherboards you mentioned in your previous post wouldnt have a v2.0 pcie X1 slot so they wouldnt get the advertisted 6Gb/s bandwidth anyways...meaning that they would need to get a new board anyways just to be able to use the card at its advertised speed
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#31
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
twicksistedwow... no need to get upset... chill out dude... all im stating is that I personally think this piece of hardware is useless... I have a right to an opinion and you have a right to yours

also anyone on one of the above motherboards you mentioned in your previous post wouldnt have a v2.0 pcie X1 slot so they wouldnt get the advertisted 6Gb/s bandwidth anyways...meaning that they would need to get a new board anyways just to be able to use the card at its advertised speed
I'll say it again, since you seem to be unable to read, maybe if I'll really make it stand out you will get it:

THIS CARD WILL WORK IN ANY PCI-E 2.0 X16 SLOT

So, yes, ever single one of those boards I listed has multiple PCI-E 2.0 X16 slots, so they also have multiple PCI-E 2.0 X1 slots.

See, you're complete ignorance to this, despite the fact that it has been pointed out at least twice already makes me think you are arguing for the sake of argument, bringing up points that we have already went over simply to try and keep the argument going and make your "opinion" look like it might actually have some basis.
Posted on Reply
#32
twicksisted
newtekie1I'll say it again, since you seem to be unable to read, maybe if I'll really make it stand out you will get it:

THIS CARD WILL WORK IN ANY PCI-E 2.0 X16 SLOT

So, yes, ever single one of those boards I listed has multiple PCI-E 2.0 X16 slots, so they also have multiple PCI-E 2.0 X1 slots.

See, you're complete ignorance to this, despite the fact that it has been pointed out at least twice already makes me think you are arguing for the sake of argument, bringing up points that we have already went over simply to try and keep the argument going and make your "opinion" look like it might actually have some basis.
Seriously no need to be so touchy dude, you obviously misread my posts and take everything very personally... you been trying to turn it into an arguement by directing your posts at me for whatever reason

I am merely stating that this item dosent have a place yet in the market (with no drives being able to take advantage of it (yet)... and with there already being two motherboards available that have 6Gb/s sata onboard with loads more to follow, I think by the time any hardrive reaches the point where it can actually use this device, it will be mainstream on motherboards anyway... making it again, obsolete and useless in my opinion.

As I said before... you have your own opinion on this... and I have mine
Posted on Reply
#33
PP Mguire
And as was said, SSDs increase their speeds almost weekly. A few standard SSDs in raid 0 are capping the 3gb/s pipe already and since SSDs are increasing their speed so fast by the time 2010 comes around i bet the speeds will almost be capping the 3gb/s bus with a single drive.

And yes, i know P55 are coming out with them already but like was said these people that already have decent hardware now (like me, i JUST got my board and cpu and dont plan an upgrade anytime soon) this is something decent. I have a free 16x PCI-E 2.0 slot and if i get an SSD fast enough to cap the 3gb/s bus ill purchase a card like this.

Just because a piece of hardware has no place dosent mean it isnt neccessary. Its like saying having an overclocked i7 for games is unnecessary since games dont take advantage of the speed. Its the fact that its there that helps technology progress. And like i already said if you have a P55 board already your not going to drop another 200-250 bucks just for 6gb/s. Youll get a 70 dollar card instead.
Posted on Reply
#34
Static~Charge
newtekie1So you think 6.0Gb/s SATA controllers will be standard on all motherboards in a few weeks/months? I doubt it.
Guess again. It is standard on Gigabyte's P55A series. You can bet your ass that most, if not all, major brands will add SATA 6Gb/s as a standard feature within 6 months. Whether your drives can actually use this extra bandwidth is a different issue entirely....
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#35
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
Static~ChargeGuess again. It is standard on Gigabyte's P55A series. You can bet your ass that most, if not all, major brands will add SATA 6Gb/s as a standard feature within 6 months. Whether your drives can actually use this extra bandwidth is a different issue entirely....
SATA 6.0Gb\s controllers won't be standard on even half the boards on the market in a year. It will only be a feature of high end boards, and even all of those won't have them.
Posted on Reply
#36
twicksisted
newtekie1SATA 6.0Gb\s controllers won't be standard on even half the boards on the market in a year. It will only be a feature of high end boards, and even all of those won't have them.
How can you say, or know, that motherboard manufacturers wont be using it with such certainty?....

You're also saying only "High End" motherboards will have it as if a 6Gb/s hardrive is not considered "High End"? lol they dont even exist and they most likely will not any time soon by the growth of SSD speeds to date... and with that, by the time such a drive does exist theres a lot more chance of having 6Gb/s sata on boards before then as that tech is already in place and exists.
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#37
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
twicksistedHow can you say, or know, that motherboard manufacturers wont be using it with such certainty?....

You're also saying only "High End" motherboards will have it as if a 6Gb/s hardrive is not considered "High End"? lol they dont even exist and they most likely will not any time soon by the growth of SSD speeds to date... and with that, by the time such a drive does exist theres a lot more chance of having 6Gb/s sata on boards before then as that tech is already in place and exists.
Well I can know with such certainty because I know how the computer industry, specifically motherboard manufacturers, work. And I have paid attention to history.

SATA 6.0Gb/s will only become mainstream, and be put on all motherboards, once an actual chipset supports it natively. Until then, we will only see a select few high end motherboard that have it. The majority of the motherboards will continue to not include SATA 6.0Gb/s as a standard feature.

Yes, for the most part, only select high end motherboards will include it. Which SATA 6.0Gb/s is a high end thing, however you are confusing what I'm saying with all high end boards having it. Not all high end boards will have it, again, only a select few will have it as a feature. The current high end boards will continue to be the high end boards for some time, and they don't have it. People already using these boards will likely want to take advantage of this technology.
Posted on Reply
#38
Static~Charge
newtekie1SATA 6.0Gb\s controllers won't be standard on even half the boards on the market in a year. It will only be a feature of high end boards, and even all of those won't have them.
Yeah, right. The early adopters will likely be the high-end boards, but it won't take long to trickle down the line. Gigabyte is already trying to get a jump on the competition:

[INDENT]"Gigabyte today (Tuesday, October 27, 2009) announced seven new P55A-series motherboards that feature GIGABYTE 333 onboard acceleration. This thrilling trio of technologies includes USB 3.0, Serial-ATA Revision 3.0 (6Gbps) and a 3x boost in USB power, and redefines the highly successful P55 platform. The newly announced P55A Series motherboards are the GA-P55A-UD6, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4, GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, GA-P55A-UD3, and the GA-P55MA-UD4."

www.coolcomputing.com/article.php?sid=3332
[/INDENT]
The entire freakin' line, not just one or two models.
Posted on Reply
#39
Static~Charge
newtekie1Well I can know with such certainty because I know how the computer industry, specifically motherboard manufacturers, work. And I have paid attention to history.
As long as we're dusting off the crystal ball, here's what I predict:
  1. One motherboard vendor adds SATA 6Gb/s and loudly proclaims its superiority, noting that their competitors are still using the "slow" SATA II interface.
  2. Not to be left behind in the "Me, too!" features race, other vendors introduce their own boards with SATA 6 Gb/s.
  3. One vendor adds SATA 6 Gb/s to an entire product line of boards (like Gigabyte has already done); other vendors follow suit (see #2 for justification).
  4. AMD makes SATA 6Gb/s a standard feature of their chipsets and proclaims this to be a performance advantage over Intel's products.
  5. Motherboard vendors start clamoring for SATA 6 Gb/s to be a standard feature in the chipset.
  6. Intel, seeing that there's money to be made by supporting SATA 6 Gb/s, finally gets off its high horse and adds this feature to their chipsets (pricing the chipset a little less than the cost of the old chipset plus the SATA 6 Gb/s support chip).
By the time that Intel finally adds SATA 6 Gb/s to their chipsets, this feature will be common on many motherboards via a third-party chip.
Posted on Reply
#40
M-Stor
Useless Controller

For the most part this controller is useless. First of all it is strictly a non-RAID controller. Also it is a PCIe 1x card. So it is not even capable of hitting the 6 Gb/sec that SATA III is supposed to be able to hit. You need a MINIMUM of PCIe 4x in order for a SATA III controller to work without bottle-necking, and higher depending on how many lanes the controller card has. If you need a decent first generation SATA III RAID controller, then look at the LSI controllers. They give you a pretty decent bang for your buck controller and they are a pretty reputable company (not that Highpoint is not). I like Highpoint products. I use them in our labs and in the servers and NVRs we sell. Dollar for dollar, they are typically the best controller cards out there (in my opinion which I am sure there are plenty of those who would argue that with me). However, these new SATA III cards are awful. I contacted Highpoint directly to see when they would be releasing a SATA III controller with RAID functionality and a PCIe 4x or better bus. I was told there are no plans in the immediate future, but maybe sometime late next year or the year after that will change. I hope this is not true, but we will see.
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