Sata 3 Controller card advice!

robgmun · 20 Apr 2011 at 13:01

Hi

going to need your help on this one as google is failing me on this one.

I need the following

*A PCI card (NOT express)
*2-ports for SATA3 (or SATA2)
*I want to run my OS boot drive off it.

I bought a Dynomode card that i thought fit the bill
http://www.dynamode-drivers.com/ind...i-sata3&catid=43:controllerpcicards&Itemid=62
But i have a feeling that i cannot run a boot drive off it, after the DELL splash screen it goes stright into not detecting a boot device

Please help otherwise i will be stuck running my SSD on my motherboards SATA-1 ports

Philtor · 20 Apr 2011 at 13:21

You might have trouble getting one that work's on a PCI slot to be honest. The Highpoint Rocket is one of the best going at the moment but it's PCIe im afraid.

robgmun · 20 Apr 2011 at 13:27

Highpoint RocketRAID 1720 SATA 3Gb/s Raid Controller Card looks good, but i want to know if you can use this without the RAID feature and use it as simply a 2-port controller card.

I have an sata2 SSD and a 2TB (Sata2) drive that i don't want to RAID.

At first i bought a dynamode sata3 RAID card but that didn't work when i wanted just to use it in non-raid mode

rpstewart · 20 Apr 2011 at 15:19

There's no point in buying a SATA3 PCI card if you have free SATA ports, even if their only SATA1. PCI devices are limited to sharing a 133MB/s bus, SATA1 is a point to point 150MB/s link.

lionheart766 · 20 Apr 2011 at 15:34

Ive recently added an Asus sata 6Gb card to my mobo for my C300 ssd. It could only be attached to a Pci-e x4 slot minimum to allow the speed for the data transfer.

Works a treat by the way.

robgmun · 20 Apr 2011 at 17:11

Hey, i've just realised that i have a PCI-Express slot free (x16) that's meant for Graphics cards. Can i slot a PCI-E card into there, would that work?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CC-010-OK&groupid=701&catid=49&subcat=424

PS - This website is a nightmare today, up and down like crazy

DIABLO · 20 Apr 2011 at 21:46

Yes it should work fine in the x16 slot.

robgmun · 21 Apr 2011 at 11:13

Ok, just to update you guys, i went for the Asus Gen2 PCIe card.

Installed it and at first i didn't notice any difference, ran the disk tests and it looked like it matched the spec of the drive. The about 10mins later i suddenly noticed that IE9 became faster, much much faster!

Then i did some general OS stuff and everything is lightening fast!!!

The only thing i have to worry about now is how this will impact my SLI config. As the PCIe is taking up 4 channels. it might take up some that was used for SLI