Using PCIe for more than just graphics

[hartz]

Hi people,

I am hoping to use my motherboard's second PCIe slot for something like a raid controller, and I rather like the Tekram / Areca ARC-1220 controllers. I can't realy afford this beast just yet but I will try and make a plan over the next few months. However, I wouldn't want to spend the money just to find out that it can not work because of limitations in the motherboard and/or bus design.

Specifically: I have a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI motherboard with a GV-3D1 graphics card installed. This gives me nice fast graphics for the odd game, while leaving open the second PCI-e slot (and 6 months ago when I bought the computer this setup was cheaper than getting a 6800GT)

Now I'd like to know whether I can just simply plug a PCI-e raid controller into that empty slot. Or does the SLI-bridge / adapter on the motherboard disable the connections to the second PCI-e port to make the first port into an x16 port? I think what my question boils down to, is, does the motherboard truly have 16 PCI-e channels to each PCI-e x16 port? If not, could I replace my GV-3D1 with something like a GeForce 7800GT card (which is faster :-) ) and then re-enable the second PCI-e port?

Any experience / war stories welcome :-)

_Hartz

[Tex]

I run a LSI 320-2e u320 pci-e scsi raid controller in the second slot on my DFI lanparty. An ATI all-in-wonder pci-e in the first slot. Currently compatibility is a huge problem as many MB makers seem to be just discovering that non video pci-e cards exist and need to be detected.

Based on my experiance and others I think Gigabyte is one of the less compatible. But tons of boards seem to work on one bios revision only to be broken on the next bios update over and over. Its not a problem in any way or form confined to Gigabyte.

Tex

[hartz]

Hi TEX,

My, aren't you just full of good news today!?

Just kidding. OK... so how do I know what will and won't work on my motherboard?

[TheBaron]

better get to trolling on google!

[Tex]

Hi TEX,

My, aren't you just full of good news today!?

Just kidding. OK... so how do I know what will and won't work on my motherboard?

It's called trial and error unfortunatly

I have bought multiple pci-e MB's and controllers finding ones that work.

Tex

[Armo]

so you can use an 8X PCI-E card in an x16 slot?

[Tex]

yes sir

[Armo]

interesting, cause newegg sells some 8X raid cards that look pretty interesting

[hartz]

Does anybody know what happens to the PCI-channels on the GA-K8NXP-SLI motherboard when running it with a GV-3D1 Dual GF6600GT card ... does the other PCI-E slot remain functional?

I am worried that the SLI-mode-selector-card-paddle-whatchama-callit-thing somehow disables the one port or re-direct away some of the PCI-E channels to bump up the bandwidth to other port or something ... does anybody have experience of this, or know what this mode-selector-card thing actually does?

If this is the case, I'll upgrade to a better single graphics card (maybe I'm looking for an excuse? :-) ) Can anybody recommend any specific PCI-E HW-raid cards from experience? If so, what motherbaord(s) have you used or tested it on?

Thanx!

[Tex]

these have to be sata right ? not scsi?

[hartz]

TEX, I am only interested in S-ATA right now ... budget is an issue, but I am sure others will be interested in SCSI results too!

[Armo]

Areca ARC-1210 PCI-Express x8 SATA Controller Card RAID 0, 1, (0+1), 3, 5, 6 (RAID 6 engine supported) and JBOD - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131003

Areca ARC-1220 PCI-Express x8 SATA Controller Card RAID 0, 1, (0+1), 3, 5, 6 (RAID 6 engine supported) and JBOD - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131004

Areca ARC-1230 PCI Express SATA Controller Card RAID 0/1/0+1/3/5/6 JBOD - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131006

[mmonnin]

For most boards I think the other PCIe slot is 1x if you are using the other with say like a 16x video card.

[Tex]

mine defaults to 2x but you can change it with jumpers. 1x is around the bandwidth that pci-x is sooooooo.. it shouldnt be a problem with 90 percent of the disk controllers of any type. 95 percent of the pc class servers in the world run pci-x disk controllers

Tex

[lutorm]

This thread is kinda old but I wanted to report that I'm trying to use an ARC-1260 in a Gigabyte K8N Ultra-9 (I'm using a PCI video card). It's giving me all kinds of trouble, I get CMOS corruption and the system frequently refuses to boot. Areca has concluded that Gigabyte says it only supports graphics cards in the 16x slot. Beware.