RAID board for my MB?

smilemsmilem
edited March 2011 in Hardware
Hi, I have the ASUS NCT-D motherboard. Unfortunately the one without 4 SATA RAID ports.
I have just 2 SATA PORTS !

I would like to ask for controller suggestions depending on hardware I would like to use:

I would like to connect:

1. To controller board:
2x WD Raptor 150GB 10.000 Rpm in Stripe mode to make 300Gb stripe for video rendering.
2x WD Caviar Black 2000GB, 7200rpm in mirror mode for data storage

2. To motherboard SATA ports:
1x WD Raptor 150GB 10.000 Rpm would be my main system drive for apps and windows to motherboard SATA connector
1x BLU-RAY SH-B123L/BSBP LightScribe Black SATA to motherboard SATA connector

3. To motherboard PATA ports:
1x Samsung DVD-RW for burning to DVD to motherboard PATA connector

My Motherboard has these ports:

1 x PCI Express x8 slot (x4 link, PCI Express 1.0a)
1 x PCI Express x16 slots (Graphic card, PCI Express 1.0a)
1 x PCI-X 66 MHz/64-bit slot (PCI-X 1.0a)
1 x PCI-X 66 MHz/64-bit slot (supports ZCR, PCI-X 1.0a)
1 x PCI 33 MHz/32-bit/5V (PCI 2.3)
1 x WiFi slot (ASUS proprietary)

I was thinking about Promise FastTrak TX4310 66Mhz PCI, as PCI Express x8 is very expensive :shock:
Thank you.

Comments

  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    smilem wrote:
    Unfortunately the one without 4 SATA RAID ports.
    ...

    I was thinking about Promise FastTrak TX4310 66Mhz PCI, as PCI Express x8 is very expensive :shock:
    Thank you.

    No you are fortunate to NOT have the on board RAID. I have seen way too many unrecoverable data problems from an onboard $3 RAID chip.

    I would use NOTHING less than this or similar:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118106
    You'll need a cable as well:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816116097

    The 4310 is a toy... When your mirror fails, and it will, You'll be lucky to save data.

    Like anything else you get what you pay for... Why put a $150 power supply in when there are $39 ones that "should" be just as good.

    This is just MHO, others will give advise as well.
  • smilemsmilem
    edited March 2011
    My system had 1 x PCI Express x8 slot (x4 link, PCI Express 1.0a) would it work with this card anyway?

    I know that PCI-E x4 is 800MB/s in one direction and and 1600MB/s in both. So it's still OK to go PCI-E instead of PCI-X ?

    I will use the PC to render file sequences to a single M-Jpeg file streams, since the file format is proprietary there is no GPU acceleration possible as far as I know. PCI-E even x4 card would allow me to use 2x SSD hard disks for total of 400MB/S read and write speeds it would not be wasted. This motherboard does not have SATA II ports so by using the 2 on the RAID card I could connect storage disks of 2TB or larger in RAID1.
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    I guess I didn't realize the age of that ASUS board... Makes choices hard as most of the cards are worth more than that board with cpu & ram is these days. (No Offense)

    Supposedly PCIe2.0 cards are PCIe1.x compatible, it should just run at half the speed and half the lanes (x4) which reduces speed again.

    I selected the LSI card for the future use aspect to it, you'd be able to pop it into a current MB and get full speed.

    If either MFG didn't follow spec then it might not work at all in that board.

    In that case I'd go with a PCIx card such as:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=16-131-001

    MFG Site:
    http://www.areca.com.tw/products/pcix.htm

    You'd have to retire this card with the board though... Unless you obtained another PCIx MB, and @133 it is supposed to have the same speed as x4 PCIe.

    Sorry for the confusion on my part, finding stuff for older gear is sketchy at the best of times. I'd hate to see you pay $350 for a PCIx controller just to possibly have the motherboard pack in just down the road, it is 7 years old after all.

    Good Luck with whatever you choose.
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