Looking for a SATA III Card

[holygamer]

I have a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H Motherboard. It has 4 SATA III ports but 2 are Gsata and can't be used if I want to use the 2 eSATA ports on the back of my PC which I use. I also have 4 SATA II ports.

2 SATA III ports contain my SSD C drive and a 4TB hard drive for my video projects.
2 SATA II ports contain 2 Bluray drives. The other 2 contain another SSD for my personal files and another 4TB hard drive. I'm only using those ports because there isn't more Sata III ports on my motherboard.

I would like to add at least another 4 SATA III ports - ideally I want to add several more than that. I will be upgrading to a more high end motherboard in future with more ports but for now I just need a card.

Only 3 hard drives will actually be in use at any one time. C drive, Project drive, Videos for burning to Bluray.

I don't need anything fancy such as raid, etc. I simply need more SATA III ports and for them to work as normal.

[kalniel]

Sounds like a Sata II card would be fine for your uses

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-...ontrollers/all

[Bonebreaker777]

I know most people are skeptical but I always had a good experience with controller cards from eBay (origin China or HK). If you would be quite comfortable with such a purchase and the slight time delay between placing the order and delivery (potential time delay, in my experience it is 50% on time, 50% sooner that expected).

You could save some money with > SATA III plus e-SATA 4 ports PCI-e controller for £17.98 with shipping - Looks like even this is located in the UK

Or if you would rather have an 4x internal SATA III controller card with RAID (apparently) > 3.0Gbps SATA II 4 PORTS PCIe RAID Control Card JMB JMICRON CHIP for £19.99 from UK

Or if you are set for more that 4x ports then > Promise SuperTrak Ex (EX8350) 3Gb/s SATA 8-Port RAID 5/6 card w/ box cables for £39.94

[holygamer]

Thanks but I'm not intersted in stuff off Ebay or Sata II cards. I'm looking for a Sata III card with 8 ports. Could anyone point one out to me that has reviews?

[kalniel]

Do all 8 need to be internal?

The cheapest I could find is this one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8-por...-sas2lp-mv8%29

But if you want high quality then I'd go for something by LSI but most of them are 4int/4ext.

[Bonebreaker777]

For that much might as well buy a new MoBo, I recon.

[holygamer]

Do all 8 need to be internal?

The cheapest I could find is this one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8-por...-sas2lp-mv8%29

But if you want high quality then I'd go for something by LSI but most of them are 4int/4ext.

Bit confused as it says it has 8 Sata Ports but I can only see two on the picture?

[kalniel]

Bit confused as it says it has 8 Sata Ports but I can only see two on the picture?

You use a connector between those SFF ports and your hard drives. Eg: http://uk.startech.com/Cables/Drive/...TA~SAS8087S450

[holygamer]

Quite expensive. Isn't there an 8 port Sata III card that actually has 8 sata ports on it?

[kalniel]

Quite expensive. Isn't there an 8 port Sata III card that actually has 8 sata ports on it?

It's by far the cheapest solution you'll get for SATA III. And no for 8 port - you'll generally find SAS controllers with SFF->Sata connectors.

There are some oddball cards:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SYBA-SI-PEX4...-/291039981671

But I don't know why you'd want them over the neat SAS solutions.

[holygamer]

Thanks. Do you know if that sata card's any good or not? I've bought cheap £30 graphics cards in the past as it was all I needed for my purposes but they always seem to break down after 2 years.

[kalniel]

Thanks. Do you know if that sata card's any good or not? I've bought cheap £30 graphics cards in the past as it was all I needed for my purposes but they always seem to break down after 2 years.

I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole. I'd go for an LSI SAS-SATAIII card or if absolutely not mission-critical and budget was tight the SuperMicro card.

[holygamer]

How about this: New LSI Internal SAS SATA 9211-8i 6Gbps 8 Ports HBA PCI-E RAID Controller Card

Will that do the same thing as the Supermicro card? It's cheaper than the Supermicro card. All I'm using it for is to add 8 Sata III internal hard drives to my PC. I don't need RAID, etc.

[Splash]

That card has 2 SFF8087 miniSAS ports: you'll need forward breakout cables like these to connect 4 disks to each miniSAS connector.

[holygamer]

Which of these do you think I should get?

New LSI Internal SAS SATA 9211-8i 6Gbps 8 Ports HBA PCI-E RAID Controller Card

Supermicro 8-Port SAS/SATA Card

[holygamer]

Should I still go with the LSI over the Supermicro card? All I'm looking for is a way to add 8 Sata III ports. Would the LSI card be more reliable?