Question about Raid Card

[SKy042]

so I'm looking into building a file server.
I'd like to run 6 320GB HDD's in a Raid 5.
I can only find one card that'll do 6 SATA 150 drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118011

First it's pricey but if that's what I need to buy then so be it.
Second the motherboard in that system doesn't have the long PCI slots only standard PCI slots.
What are my options?

 

[Bullitt]

Good card. You will get what you pay for, but you are limiting the speed by using 32bit PCI slots. I'd grab a PCI-express card if available.

However, you picked one of the better RAID cards out there, at least in my book.

PCI express cards are so not friggin cheap....

 

[SKy042]

Good card. You will get what you pay for, but you are limiting the speed by using 32bit PCI slots. I'd grab a PCI-express card if available.

However, you picked one of the better RAID cards out there, at least in my book.

PCI express cards are so not friggin cheap....

I can afford the PCI-E card but I can't find an answer as to if a card rated for PCI-E 4x or 8x will work in a x16 slot.

 

[unhappy_mage]

The LSI card is based on the last generation of technology. This is a software-based card, but it performs better than the LSI, as my favorite review shows. It's even an 8 port card for $220 instead of a 6 for $300. There is a slight CPU hit, about 4% per 100 MB/s write according to page 19 of that review. This is a good card, no questions asked.

Another good option, with sata-II support, is the Highpoint 2220a at about $240. This is also available in pci express as the 2320 if you need more bus speed.

 

[SKy042]

The LSI card is based on the last generation of technology. This is a software-based card, but it performs better than the LSI, as my favorite review shows. It's even an 8 port card for $220 instead of a 6 for $300. There is a slight CPU hit, about 4% per 100 MB/s write according to page 19 of that review. This is a good card, no questions asked.

Another good option, with sata-II support, is the Highpoint 2220a at about $240. This is also available in pci express as the 2320 if you need more bus speed.

Good info. I'm not worried about the CPU hit as the machine is a stand alone box connected on my GIG-E as a network drive. It has it's own Opteron 148 so even if it used 100% of that CPU it doesn't matter as that would be it's only task.
What I'm really curious about though is can a Raid card thats designated for x4 or x8 PCI-E be used in a x16 slot?

 

[Bullitt]

I can afford the PCI-E card but I can't find an answer as to if a card rated for PCI-E 4x or 8x will work in a x16 slot.

Yes they work in pci-e x16 slots, or they _should_ work.

There's nothing to stop anyone from using their x1 cards in their x16 slots if they want to sacrifice that slot....

By pricey, I'm talking over _double_ what you are planning to pay for that PCI-X card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131004 $605

 

[SKy042]

Yes they work in pci-e x16 slots, or they _should_ work.

There's nothing to stop anyone from using their x1 cards in their x16 slots if they want to sacrifice that slot....

By pricey, I'm talking over _double_ what you are planning to pay for that PCI-X card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131004 $605

Actually in terms of PCI-E cards I was thinking more along the lines of this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816115026
the high Point card.

 

[UICompE02]

What I'm really curious about though is can a Raid card thats designated for x4 or x8 PCI-E be used in a x16 slot?

Which motherboard/chipset will this be running in? There are some older Intel chipsets that have x16 slots that will only run at x1 or x16 (it's still technically compliant with the PCI-E spec). You'd be able to use a x4 or x8 card in those types of slots, but would be limited to x1 bandwidth. More recent chipsets don't have a limitation like this.