ASUS Z77 with eSATA support (or lack thereof)

[TheMadScot]

I've been waiting patiently to upgrade my heavily OC'd E2160 rig with IB. I'm basically looking for:

2X PCIe 3.0
WiFi Go
At least 1 eSATA port
At least 1 PCI slot
All the standard USB 3.0 ports, SATA 6.0 ports, etc.

The problem seems to be that all the ASUS boards below $225 have either WiFi Go or eSATA, but not both. The P8Z77-V PRO comes with an expansion module with 2 USB 2.0 and 1 eSATA connectors, but I can't find anywhere in the manual that says there's actually a header to connect the eSATA cable to on the board. I'm not clear on why they seem to have omitted eSATA from so many of these boards, unless they just think USB 3.0 is all you need.

Also complicating things is that the following page on ASUS's website contains a chart at the bottom indicating that the P8Z77-V has one eSATA port, but, again, looking at the specs and the manual, I don't see any mention of it.

So, am I just missing the board that has the combination I'm looking for, or is there really not a board below the $275 ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE that has everything I want?

 

[vailr]

Newegg.com has product photos for the motherboard I/O panels, as well as for "what's in the box" photos.

 

[TheMadScot]

Newegg.com has product photos for the motherboard I/O panels, as well as for "what's in the box" photos.

I've spent a lot of time looking at those, including the box contents, I/O panels, and the boards themselves. That's why I know about the board that has the USB and eSATA module in the box but that doesn't appear actually to have an onboard connector for the eSATA port on the module.

 

[DigitalWolf]

I've spent a lot of time looking at those, including the box contents, I/O panels, and the boards themselves. That's why I know about the board that has the USB and eSATA module in the box but that doesn't appear actually to have an onboard connector for the eSATA port on the module.

If you go to the Asus site for the Pro board you mentioned. In the downloads section you can get a pdf of the manual. In the manual there is no specific esata connector shown on the board. If you search the document for "esata" you can find a picture of the "module". If you zoom in on it.. to me it appears to be using usb type plug for both the usb and the esata on that bracket. Besides the page that shows the bracket the only other mention of esata in the entire manual is a listing that mentions there is a bracket... So I don't believe there is any specific esata interface on the board from what I could see.


*edit* like you appear to have done.. I also spent time on Newegg going over the board pics with the magnify option and didn't see any specific connector there. I'm not sure the picture in the manual is an accurate depiction of the adapter as its more of a drawing.. but if its accurate it sure looks like two usb connectors dangling off that module.

 

[MooMooCow]

Nvm

 

[blackened23]

Here's your answer from the #1 asus fanboy (aka me)

I am using the P8Z77-V deluxe motherboard and it does have 2 E-SATA ports on the back I/O panel. On the 2nd row down from the top, it has 2 red E-SATA ports and then 2 blue USB 3.0 ports right beside of it. The top row has 4 USB ports.

None of this is mentioned in the manual, but the E-SATA ports *are* there. The P8Z77-V pro, however, does not appear to have the same I/O panel. Does not appear to have e-SATA on the back I/O panel, but it may have connections on the motherboard itself. My case has an e-SATA port on the front case panel that hooks up to the mobo, does your case have such a feature?

 

[TheMadScot]

My case has an e-SATA port on the front case panel that hooks up to the mobo, does your case have such a feature?

Buying a new case, as well, so I'm planning on it.

 

[blackened23]

I've never used the eSATA feature, however my coolermaster HAF-X case has an eSATA connector on the front panel that works with any setup to my knowledge. Basically, you just connect the front panel cable to a SATA power connector from your PSU (the same power connect that any SATA6G HDD uses) and then you can connect an eSATA drive to the front panel.

You should be fine if you get a case that supports eSATA. The advantage here is that you don't have to buy an expensive specialized motherboard (such as the deluxe) and you can still use eSATA using standard power connectors from any PSU.

PS. The P8Z77 is an *awesome* mobo you will love it:thumbsup: I made my PC a wireless access point with the wifi feature, without having to shell out dough for a router

 

[HexiumVII]

You'll have to go for the pro or the sabertooth if you want eSata. I was going to go with the Vanilla being an Asus fanboy, but had to look at the sabertooth just to get esata. Made me look around some more and now will settle with the asrock extreme 4 as its so much cheaper ($135). It has broadcom NIC but if you look at hardocp the chip performs close to Intel NICs in speed and CPU usage. Much better than Realtek. Unless NE does a really awesome Asus + ivy combo, thats what i'll replace my main with. I'll probably upgrade my work comp when a new stepping of Ivy comes out, see what round of mobos come out then!

 

[greenhawk]

if you want esata then a bracket is easy enough to come by to convert a internal sata into a esata.

 

[vailr]

Fix for missing eSATA:
http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...itle_3?ie=UTF8&m=AJJDLHUCVHEJC&user=u00000687http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WFBG0S
Just connect to a secondary internal SATA port, which on Asus boards are run under the Asmedia SATA controller. And: configure the SATA port for AHCI mode, to enable hot swapping.