775 board, help choosing :)

[Mussels]

Short version: i'm starting a new job, and looking at upgrading my storage system.

I'd still like to stay 775 and most of the hardware, with one change - i need more SATA ports!


Does anyone know of an OCing (400FSB) 775 board thats not insanely expensive with 8 or more sata ports? if not, any reccomendations on decently priced PCI-E SATA cards?

I'm looking around 12-16 drives total, WITHOUT running RAID.

 

[btarunr]

Why do you need a new board? Can't you just add PCI-Express based SATA cards to your current storage system? Since you're not doing RAID, you can even get PCI based SATA cards.

I doubt if you have desktop boards with 12 SATA boards. I'd recommend you take the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R or the GA-P35-DS3R (Rev. 2.0) they come with six ports from the ICH9R southbrige plus two from the GA SATA II controller (8 in all) + take a four port SATA card.

If you're using a P35 based board, I'd suggest you not to use the PATA/IDE for connecting your optical drive(s). The IDE controller has been disintegrated from the southbridge and runs from the GA controller. I am facing erratic operation with it.

 

[Mussels]

its P965 and someones asked to buy it off me - so i'm looking if theres better alternatives to the PCI-E cards (i wont go PCI, too slow)

The problem i'm facing is that its only got two PCI-E slots free and they're only 1x. That would let me buy 2x cards for an additional 4 drives, but no more.

If you know of any PCI-E 1x cards with 4 sata II ports, that would be a big bonus

 

[King Wookie]

Umm, check out the Sunix cards.
I'm pretty sure they do 3 way SATA cards.

They're quite cheap and seem to be reliable.

 

[Mussels]

Umm, check out the Sunix cards.
I'm pretty sure they do 3 way SATA cards.

They're quite cheap and seem to be reliable.

thanks but they seem rare in Australia - i can only find a single store with one, and its a two port.


Just to clarify - the current mobo has 7x SATA-II and 1x E-sata. 3x PCI-E 1x slots means i can add another 6 drives total - making 13 my max. all 4 port cards i find, need a 4x slot

The cost of that would add up to 100-150, which is in the ranges of an entirely new motherboard, hence the idea of looking for a new one.

I am definately up for suggestions at this point, as i want to add more storage to the system soon and SATA ports are the limiting factor.

 

[OnBoard]

Mine has one PCI-e 4x slot if it would help, other than that it's pretty close to yours, being only the Plus version. http://pics.computerbase.de/1/7/6/8/1/22.jpg
Surely there has to be one with 8 sata too, I remember seeing one sometime last year and wondering who'd ever need them all

 

[Mussels]

your board is quite different!

7th sata II is in the top left of the board - above the USB plugs. Its black and a very weird location.

The problem isnt needing just a board with 8 sata (As i DO use the E-sata) its finding one with at LEAST 8 sata (hopefully e-sata too) _AND_ more PCI-E slots. I'd want 2 16x slots, or 1 16x and 2 4x.

with a 16x card i can fork out a lot of dough, but get a card that takes at least 8 drives.

 

[King Wookie]

The only boards I've seen with 8 x SATA, are the more expensive boards.

Would it not be more cost effective to simply consolidate on a few high capacity drives?
Terabyte drives go a long way.

 

[G0DZLR]

i was about to suggest that just as you posted lol ^

im finding that to be the way to go. a billion small drives is just aiming toward a heavier system thatl break your back imo. a few big drives could solve that prob

 

[Mussels]

two problems: most tera drives are having reliability issues right now, and i already have 6x500GB drives in the system. I've got various other drives around the place (consolidating them)

Its a tricky situation, as the only solution seems to be ditch the video card and get a 8 port SATA card in the 16x slot, or buy an actual server system.

 

[King Wookie]

Do you actually need to have all the drives connected at the same time?

If not, a decent caddy system would go a long way.

Icybox make some nice ones.(or Icebox, can't remember off hand)

I'll be looking for boards for you in the meantime.

 

[King Wookie]

MSI P965 Platinum

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R

Asus P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP

The Asus is probably your best bet, as a dual slot gfx card will be covering only a pci slot, and the black pci-e x 16 slot runs at pci-e x 4.
As I don't know any supplier sites in your neck of the woods, you would have to check on pricing.

There's probably alot more options, but I'll leave it to you to go digging.

 

[OnBoard]

GA-P35-DS3R is better option than GA-P35C-DS3R, still 8xSata, but no DDR3 support to raise price. 114€ here, propably cheaper there.

http://www.links.co.jp/html/press2/image/gag33ds3r7.jpg

 

[Mussels]

the asus is the one in my main rig i know the board well.

pondering this board with the 8600GT in the 4x slot, leaving the 16x slot free.

Might be a good option. Its looks better thinking about it - doing that would give me a 16x slot and 2 1x slots all in the same location - easier for cable management too.
10x SATA ports if i use the PCI-E 1x first, and depending on my needs i can get a 4/8 port PCI-E card for the big slot.

Thanks for the ideas, i originally was just looking for more onboard SATA.

GA-P35-DS3R is better option than GA-P35C-DS3R, still 8xSata, but no DDR3 support to raise price. 114€ here, propably cheaper there.

http://www.links.co.jp/html/press2/image/gag33ds3r7.jpg

good points/suggestions. I think the P5K-E might be the winnar due to the second '16x' slot - the PCI-E/sata capabilites of that giga match the one already in the system/

 

[King Wookie]

Don't forget that an external on the firewire works well.

They're pretty much a standard in the recording industry, and their data throughput is quite good. (we record multi channel 24 bit audio straight to them.)

 

[OnBoard]

Well how about GA-965P-DS3P then, if you can still find one?
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimage_ga_965p-ds3p_3.3_big.jpg

EDIT: oh, didn't notice that P5K-E has 2x e-sata

 

[Mussels]

Don't forget that an external on the firewire works well.

They're pretty much a standard in the recording industry, and their data throughput is quite good. (we record multi channel 24 bit audio straight to them.)

the problem is that its mostly for media storage, not backups. Its quite a chore to connect/disconnect multiple drives, and the amount of power bricks would be much excessive.

The other concern is overheating - i've got a an E-sata cage, and unless i open the cage and direct a fan at it, every drive in its overheated to some extent.

Well how about GA-965P-DS3P then, if you can still find one?
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimage_ga_965p-ds3p_3.3_big.jpg

That fits the needs too, but its only $25 cheaper than the P35 asus board.

 

[Wile E]

Short version: i'm starting a new job, and looking at upgrading my storage system.

I'd still like to stay 775 and most of the hardware, with one change - i need more SATA ports!


Does anyone know of an OCing (400FSB) 775 board thats not insanely expensive with 8 or more sata ports? if not, any reccomendations on decently priced PCI-E SATA cards?

I'm looking around 12-16 drives total, WITHOUT running RAID.

What cpu do you plan to put in it? If you don't need more than fsb 1066 support, a 975X board might be an option. Like the P5W DH Deluxe.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131025R
6 sata ports, and you can use the the gfx slots at 8x. Running your card at 8x, and a SATA controller at 8x.

Alternatively, have you considered getting an eSATA HDD tower?

 

[Mussels]

Could you describe this HDD tower? I'm not sure what you mean (more than one drive in the same cage??)

 

[Wile E]

Something like this, tho if you hunt, there are cheaper alternatives. Many of them come with a controller card already, so that drives the price up a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332017

 

[tzitzibp]

I doubt if you have desktop boards with 12 SATA boards. I'd recommend you take the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R or the GA-P35-DS3R (Rev. 2.0) they come with six ports from the ICH9R southbrige plus two from the GA SATA II controller (8 in all) + take a four port SATA card.
QUOTE]

price grabber:-

Strengths: Solid Capacitors, Great overclocking, No fans, lower temps than Asus P35.
Weaknesses: IDE/SATA connectors are a bit low, this may lead to some annoying cabling around the graphics card. Audio connectors are far back near the audio ports which would be tricky for front audio.
Summary: This motherboard was specifically purchased due to a number of features that the Gigabyte P35 board has. One is Ultra-Durable 2 which combines solid capacitors, low rds mosfets, and ferrite core chokes. Another is the great layout of the board where all 8 sata connectors are easily available. Also there are no bulky heatpipe structures on the motherboard and no fans that block heatsink installation.

This is not quite a budget board, but for a P35 motherboard, it's a pretty good deal. The non-visible feature is that this board can hit 450-500mhz when overclocking. It also handles memory up to around 1150mhz. The bios has many overclocking features and can both overvolt and undervolt the cpu core.


The board also held up well under pressure when installing a very challenging heatsink mount. Now installed, it has been very stable and doesn't run too hot. Highly recommended.

check details....
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/motherboards/m/38519572/details/

 

[Mussels]

Something like this, tho if you hunt, there are cheaper alternatives. Many of them come with a controller card already, so that drives the price up a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332017

i. like. that. cage.

This is even better than a storage system, E-sata ftw.

The only concern is that it ONLY seems to run RAID - what about individual drives? Also cant find it for sale in aus


http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_E-VPMA-7...m_5_Bay_VPMA-75511R_SATA_HDD_eSATA_Black.html

Found this one - mentions "1x5 port Multiplier Functionality or JBOD mode"

http://en.vipower.com/products01_01.php?ID=166
Manufacturers link.

* 1-to-5 Intelligent, native SATA II storage processor
* Compatible with today's SATA Gen1 and Gen2 host controllers
* OS independent, Driverless, Auto Configuration
* RAID 0, 1, support
* Embedded fast SteelVine Storage Processor
* Virtualization engine to simplify and improve utilization of storage devices
* Ultra-fast 3Gbps host and device port capability
* Compliant to SATA 1.0a specification, and the following SATA II specifications: Extensions to SATA 1.0a, Phy specification; Cable and Connectors Volume 1 and 2: and port Multiplier Specification
* 1x5 port Multiplier Functionality or JBOD mode

This seems almost exactly what i wanted - 5x SATA-II drives using one e-sata port. The P5B-E on the system now has 2x e-sata, thats 10x drives already

The only concern is the price - can anyone reccomend other models with 4-5 drives, especially if they're available in aus?

 

[Wile E]

i. like. that. cage.

This is even better than a storage system, E-sata ftw.

The only concern is that it ONLY seems to run RAID - what about individual drives? Also cant find it for sale in aus


http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_E-VPMA-7...m_5_Bay_VPMA-75511R_SATA_HDD_eSATA_Black.html

Found this one - mentions "1x5 port Multiplier Functionality or JBOD mode"

http://en.vipower.com/products01_01.php?ID=166
Manufacturers link.

This seems almost exactly what i wanted - 5x SATA-II drives using one e-sata port. The P5B-E on the system now has 2x e-sata, thats 10x drives already

The only concern is the price - can anyone reccomend other models with 4-5 drives, especially if they're available in aus?

The one I recommend does Jbod as well. But it's a moot point really, considering you can't find one in Aussie land. lol.

Give some good places to hunt for them online that are for Aus, and I'll try to help you find one.

 

[Mussels]

i dont want JBOD - i want each drive available seperately. in JBOD, if one drive goes it, it can contain partial files from other drives, making it more risky.

mostly i just use www.staticice.com.au and www.shopbot.com.au

Two requirements after reading up: it mustnt need a specific E-sata (the one you linked only worked with sil image chipsets) and it must support NON raid mode. JBOD isnt good enough.

Hot swap would be great too - eventually i'll get more than one of these, and it'd be awesome to have an anime dedicated one

 

[Wile E]

i dont want JBOD - i want each drive available seperately. in JBOD, if one drive goes it, it can contain partial files from other drives, making it more risky.

mostly i just use www.staticice.com.au and www.shopbot.com.au

Two requirements after reading up: it mustnt need a specific E-sata (the one you linked only worked with sil image chipsets) and it must support NON raid mode. JBOD isnt good enough.

Hot swap would be great too - eventually i'll get more than one of these, and it'd be awesome to have an anime dedicated one

Lifted this from wiki. I know my DFI mobo does this too.

Some RAID controllers use JBOD to refer to configuring drives without RAID features. Each drive shows up separately in the OS. This JBOD is not the same as concatenation

But at any rate, I'll get to lookin around. lol.