PCI-E to 4 Sata (I know often asked...)

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Wladyslaw

n00b
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
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Hi Guys,

Okay so I'm after a PCI-E 4 port to sata card. Its quite a common request but I have some more questions :

- I am not worried about raiding (actually I might snapraid) so I just want the OS to see the ports like it does to the ones on my motherboard.

- I have a few SIL3112 based cards (PCI) and they seem real flakey (sometimes dont boot up in a different system). I really dont trust them, so id love something super reliable (happy to pay a bit more).

- I know the IBM one is often suggested, and it needs to be flashed to IT mode (what does this mean, just that the OS sees the ports as normal ports)? Whats the difference between this and a stand alone 4 port sata controller?

- Why cant I buy a PCI-E version of the ports already on my motherboard?

- Could a flakey controller card cause data loss / corruption?

- Lastly back to the original question. Any suggestions for the best one? I read that the ASMedia ASM1061 is a popular choice but it has just 2 ports, I'm after 4.

Thanks
 
I used an Adaptec 1430SA in my backup server. I worked well under Linux, can't comment on Windows driver quality. It is only SATA2 though.

The often suggested IBM M1015 (basically an LSI 9211-8i) is an SAS controller. Those are compatible with SATA drives, but do not support SATA port multipliers. Those cards can be flashed with IT and IR firmware. The IR firmware has some RAID functions (which are basically done by the host CPU) but can also just passthrough drives to the OS. The IT firmware can only passthrough drives.

There is also a 4-port version with PCIe x4, the LSI 9211-4i. If you have at least an x8 port available, I would always get the -8i card or M1015.
 
Thanks guys, that rocket 640 looks perfect, from some other reading it seems to fit the bill, I will grab one.
 
Why cant I buy a PCI-E version of the ports already on my motherboard?
Click to expand...

The Intel controller is not an PCIe controller, but something that is integrated in the PCH. The is no point in Intel offering a standalone version. The ports offered by the PCH are enough for the vast majority of users (even if most higher grade motherboards include an additional controller, which is wasted in most cases). The number of users that run more than 2 very fast SSDs is so low that it is not worth to develop a dedicated solution. And even if all new HDDs support SATA3 they gain no benefit from using SATA3 ports. It has been several years now that it is well knows that the Marvell 9128 controllers suck performance-wise, yet a lot of new boards still include that controller. Because nobody cares.
 
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