Solid RAID adaptor, no PCIe

D

DangerIsGo

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 16, 2005
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I'm looking for a solid RAID 0/1 adaptor (the other RAIDs are not necessary), no PCIe (tooooo much money), and it has to support over 500GB. Im going to be 2xRAID0 750GB drives and am looking for a controller I could bring with me from comp to comp since I change mobos a lot. Any suggestions? Its definitely going to be a silicon image chipset and a promise brand but There are so many...how do i tell them apart?

This 1
This 2
This 3

What do you guys suggest? Thanks.
 
You have three links but two are for the same card. One of them doesn't have RAID functionality, so that would leave just one that meets your requirements unless you want software RAID.
 
What's better: software RAID or hardware RAID?

Im going to guess hardware RAID ...are there any cards under $150 that support hardware RAID and have 4 sata ports?
I searched newegg and there is only one card...This one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102080
and this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816103058


I'll also go with adaptec too. What do you guys think about Highpoint?

Theres also these 4 with the previous 2 cos.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816103058
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115027

I dont see a difference between the 2300 and 2310 so....
 
DangerIsGo said:
What's better: software RAID or hardware RAID?
Click to expand...
In general, hardware raid avoids load on the CPU. However, with two-disk raid 0 the CPU load is trivial - you need to do two shifts in order to figure out which disk to write to, and one more to figure out what offset to write to on that disk. For the general case you need an integer divide. Either way, it's very cheap - a core 2 takes 17 cycles to do the division, and a K8 40. That's utterly trivial IMO.
DangerIsGo said:
I'll also go with adaptec too. What do you guys think about Highpoint?
Click to expand...
If you're okay with software raid (I am) they're fine cards. Since none of the cards you've listed so far are real hardware raid, they're just fine.
DangerIsGo said:
I dont see a difference between the 2300 and 2310 so....
Click to expand...
x1 versus x4 pci express lanes. That's all.
 
Between Promise, Highpoint and Adaptec, which would you choose? I would say promise or adaptec since they're big name brands. Does PCI vs PCIe on these cards really make a difference?

Ive narrowed it down to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816103058
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102080

Is there really any difference?

I could go for the PCI cards, but 2 things: 1) I don't know if it'll work because I put a audio card on the 1st PCI slot and the board didn't recognize it. and 2) If I put a phys card or something in the 3rd PCIe x16 (x8) slot, Im not sure if the PCI card will fit.

I also could go for the x4 and put it in the 3rd x16 (x8) slot but then again, if i get a phys card, there will be no where to put it.

I lastly could go for the x1 cards but it prob definitely won't fit on the 2nd PCIe x1 slot because of my MCW60 and the 1st slot might be taken up by a HDTV tuner...unless i get a USB HDTV tuner. The problem with the x1 card is that its made by high point..is that a good company?

What do you think?
 
I have both PCI and PCIe Raid cards in my system and I do not think it will make any difference in the setup you are planning to use. I would go with what will be the most convenient for you and your future needs.
 
I have a Highpoint 2320 and absolutely love it. It doesn't drop my disks like my Rosewell RC-209 :mad:
 
DangerIsGo said:
I could go for the PCI cards, but 2 things: 1) I don't know if it'll work because I put a audio card on the 1st PCI slot and the board didn't recognize it. and 2) If I put a phys card or something in the 3rd PCIe x16 (x8) slot, Im not sure if the PCI card will fit.
Click to expand...
What board are you considering? I can't picture the layout.
DangerIsGo said:
The problem with the x1 card is that its made by high point..is that a good company?
Click to expand...
I've heard many good things from people who have used them. Their older stuff (372 chipset, for example) was pretty crappy, but they've cleaned up their act since.
 
Ok so a little change of plans: Basically, Im looking to get a RAID controller and a HDTV Tuner. Currently, I have 1 PCIex1 open, 2 PCIx16 open (but I might plan on SLI and maybe a physx card if they are worth it in the future) and a PCI slot. Here's the deal:

1) PCI may not be on my next board so if the controller is PCI, i may not be able to use it on my next build.

2) If I get a PCI RAID controller, PCI may not be on my next build. If I get a PCIe RAID card, there is only 1 that is PCIex1, the other 2 are PCIex4 which would take up the 3rd slot.

3) If I get a PCIe TV Tuner, then the RAID would be PCI, and we are back to #2, along with it being a bitch to screw the antenna in on the back of my case. If I get a PCI TV Tuner, then the RAID is PCIe and im back to the whole PCIe issue with future cards.

SLI is most definitely in my future, but I'm not sure about PhysX. So what do you guys think? I'm stumped.
 
Get the HDTV tuner and the raid controller on pci express. Then when you discover that you need more expansion room, get a motherboard with said room. Gigabyte has the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal board out, and I'm sure by the time you hit this problem there will be other boards out.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Get the HDTV tuner and the raid controller on pci express. Then when you discover that you need more expansion room, get a motherboard with said room. Gigabyte has the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal board out, and I'm sure by the time you hit this problem there will be other boards out.
Click to expand...

if i do that, then what slot do I put the TV tuner in? The 3rd PCIe one? What you mean with 'said' room?
 
You have this board, yes? I'm referring to that picture to describe the slots.

HDTV tuners are generally x1, as far as I've noticed (for example, this). Put the tuner in the x1 slot closest to the CPU, the video cards in the two black slots, and the raid controller in the blue slot.

"Said", in this context, means "previously mentioned". So when I say "more expansion room", and then suggest a motherboard with "said room", what I mean is a motherboard with 4 or more pci express x16 slots on it.
 
unhappy_mage said:
You have this board, yes? I'm referring to that picture to describe the slots.

HDTV tuners are generally x1, as far as I've noticed (for example, this). Put the tuner in the x1 slot closest to the CPU, the video cards in the two black slots, and the raid controller in the blue slot.

"Said", in this context, means "previously mentioned". So when I say "more expansion room", and then suggest a motherboard with "said room", what I mean is a motherboard with 4 or more pci express x16 slots on it.
Click to expand...

What about if I decide to add a PhysX card or a gfx card in the 3rd PCIex16 slot? Or what happens when I want to get a new board and there is no x4 slot? Or the x4 slot that is there is blocked by a card or soemthing?
 
DangerIsGo said:
What about if I decide to add a PhysX card or a gfx card in the 3rd PCIex16 slot? Or what happens when I want to get a new board and there is no x4 slot? Or the x4 slot that is there is blocked by a card or soemthing?
Click to expand...

Then you're out of luck. I'm sorry if I'm missing some vital point of information here, but it sounds to me like you want to put in two video cards that take two slots each, an HDTV tuner, a raid controller, and a physics card in one motherboard. That's seven slots by my count, and the most that's usually included is eight. That's kind of demanding of your motherboard in terms of getting the slots where you want them, so you need to pick carefully. However, for example, the MSI P6N Diamond appears to fit your hypothetical needs.
 
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