Choosing a SATA II controller

[Robster]

I have the ASUS Rampage II Extreme mobo, and I've occupied all the 6 SATA ports.

My harddrives in order as displayed in Vista(64)...

WD V-Raptor SATA II 300GB
WD Caviar SATA II 500GB
SAMSUNG F1 RaidEdition SATA II 1TB
SAMSUNG F1 RaidEdition SATA II 1TB
Maxtor MaxLine III SATA 300GB
WD Caviar SATA II 300GB

1. AT THE MOMENT I do NOT use RAID on these drives (in this case it would be the Samsungs), but I might in the future - you never know. That's why I've bought the RE editions. (NOTE They were bought on separate occasions, about 8 months or so, so that I'd have to do some file backup before launching the RAID function). Anyway...
EDIT Nvm, i could simply use the raid controller from the mobo. But for future disks...

2. What I'm looking for is a SATA controller that delivers speed and reliability (although I guess cheap (~150? controller) cards aren't as reliable as the motherboards controller (or? anyway..), but I'm pretty much out of choices here).

3. Preferably 4 ports (for the future), but for now a controller with 2 ports would do.

I'm not familiar with SATA II controllers at all, so I do not know whether a normal PCI controller delivers the same speed as a PCI-E? (According to the specs at newegg, even the PCI SATA controllers are said to deliver 300MB/s. Is this true? Or have I misunderstood it all. Are the differences between PCI and PCI-E SATA controllers then based on something else, other than their physical slot?).

So far I've been researching about the PROMISE controllers. The TX2300 and TX4310 to be exact. But the downside of these cards are said to be their compatibility with newer motherboards (since these cards were released few years ago). They do have a list of motherboards that are compatible, but neither one of them has mine listed.

Another product line would be the HighPoint controllers. I've been looking at the HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 to be exact. But reading one of the customers reviews, I feel VERY insecure.

If one of your disks fails, you can add another and rebuild your array. BUT, if the controller ITSELF fails, you are completely 100% X'd. Because NO OTHER PLATFORM will read the disks once initialized into the Highpoint controller. If the point of a RAID system is to protect you against data loss from hardware failure, THEN THIS SYSTEM IS A FAILURE, because while it may protect you if one of the hard drives fails (as long as you don't mind the fact that the HD will never work anywhere else), it will not protect you if IT ITSELF FAILS. If Highpoint discontinues this model, you will not be able to recover your data. Believe me, I've tried

You may read the entire review yourself (its posted 1/27/2009 10:29:15 PM). Press here.


I plan to spend about 150? for the SATA controller. Above 200? - no way.
Basically just to be short, i just want the controller to work with my mobo and deliver.

Another option to expand would of course be buying an external hdd, but that doesn't come close to the speed and other abilities of an internal disk - that I definately need.

Please someone with knowledge and experience - help me..

 

[Syntax Error]

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 if you want eight ports on PCIe, though you'll need to get ~$15 SFF-8086 SAS-to-SATA breakout cables to connect to your PC. Still, for ~$100 with clean cable management and simplicty, that can't be beat.

Of course, there's the AOC-SAT2-MV8, which is a PCI-X card (that can be mounted in PCI ports) for 8 simple SATA II ports connected to drives by individual SATA cables. You'd be limited to the PCI bus if you're planning on some high throughput from your storage pool, but for simply connecting drives, it's a good card. Many people use it for cheap WHS boxes that need lots of SATA ports.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...124020&Tpk=syba%203114

 

[Robster]

I looked for the AOC-SASLP-MV8 here in Finland, but unfortunately couldn't find it.
However I did find the AOC-SAT2-MV8. Not a bad price at all for an 8 port SATA II controller either - 103.90 ?. Although missing the RAID 5 feature, I'm quite sure RAID 0 is the one for me (that is if i plan to set up an array in the future).

I guess now I'm just curious "how good" this controller is. Do you/your friends own this product?
If you do... Does it support the disks I've included in my first post, plus, 2TB disks? (since I'm planning on buying a 2TB real soon). And how compatible is it with new (x58) motherboards?

I know, I can mail and ask them directly myself. I just thought if you already were familiar with the quality and functions of it, you could lay it out to me from a customers/users point of view.

Overall, it looks very good. I'm keeping it now as my top consideration.

BTW,
VirtualLarry:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...124020&Tpk=syba%203114

This is just a SATA controller, not a SATA II? (the latter is in my case what I was looking for...).

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Robster
This is just a SATA controller, not a SATA II? (the latter is in my case what I was looking for...).

Why do you care? There's no magnetic disk on the market yet that can outrun the SATA I interface.

 

[Robster]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Robster
This is just a SATA controller, not a SATA II? (the latter is in my case what I was looking for...).

Why do you care? There's no magnetic disk on the market yet that can outrun the SATA I interface.

Know what, you're absolutely right. So I'll play along Larry.

All I'm asking for is a fast and reliable controller that has RAID features and supports my disks (2TB) and mobo. Has at least 4-8 ports and doesn't cost more than the SuperMicro controller Syntax Error recommended (that I am considering buying), and preferably that you or your friends have used.

If you have one in mind, I'll consider it!