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#1
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Hi,
I've run out of SATA ports on my motherboard but want a new hard disk, so I need a SATA controller card. I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. 1. http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo 2. http://tinyurl.com/595aab 3. http://tinyurl.com/5gnmuz I'm a little confused between the standards, the hard disk I've been thinking of getting is this 1 TB Samsung: http://tinyurl.com/5vj8b8 Am I correct that to maximize that hard disk's potential I should get the no 1. controller card above because it supports 3.0 Gb/s while the other 2 controller cards have transfer rates of 150 MBps? Or am I in a muddle? Thanks all. |
#2
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Poster Matt wrote:
Hi, I've run out of SATA ports on my motherboard but want a new hard disk, so I need a SATA controller card. I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. 1. http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo 2. http://tinyurl.com/595aab 3. http://tinyurl.com/5gnmuz I'm a little confused between the standards, the hard disk I've been thinking of getting is this 1 TB Samsung: http://tinyurl.com/5vj8b8 Am I correct that to maximize that hard disk's potential I should get the no 1. controller card above because it supports 3.0 Gb/s while the other 2 controller cards have transfer rates of 150 MBps? Or am I in a muddle? Thanks all. This one is PCI Express, and could be using a SIL3132. You need a PCI Express x1 or larger slot, to use this. Not all motherboards have PCI Express slots. "Value SATA II 2 Port Controller Card - PCI Express" http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...press_874.html ******* This one has a PCI bus connector, and four SATA ports. The main chip is likely a SIL3114. By means of firmware flashing, the card can run in RAID or IDE mode. "Value SATA 4 Port Controller Card - PCI" http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...--PCI_876.html ******* The third card looks to be SIL3112 based, and another PCI card. Same story as the SIL3114, only the SIL3112 has half the number of ports. Firmware flashing allows either RAID or IDE mode. PCI cards are best suited to older computers, which don't have PCI Express slots. Value SATA 2 Port Controller Card - PCI http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...--PCI_875.html ******* The desktop PCI bus operates at 33MHz and is 32 bits wide. The transfer rate you can expect on the bus, is 110-120MB/sec. The bus is shared and unidirectional, so disk to disk transfers handled by the same controller card, would be 60MB/sec read and 60MB/sec write or so. The SIL3112 and SIL3114 also have a 66MHz option, but on desktop computers, that is hardly ever an option. That would be more likely found on a server motherboard. The higher clock, doubles the bus performance. Not all PCI peripheral chips support 66MHz, but I think the Silicon Image ones being discussed here, do. Disks have "burst to cache" performance, and "sustained" transfer performance. The cache is used to hold short transactions. Via the SATA interface, you can probably burst to the cache, at a decent percentage of the SATA cable rate. Sustained transfer, is what happens when large files are transferred, and the cache is filled. Then, the media rate (head rate) is the limiting step. On my current hard drive, this is about 60MB/sec. The best SATA drives now, offer much higher figures. (Velociraptor is 119MB/sec at the beginning of the disk.) For sustained transfers, there are a couple scenarios to consider. If two disks are connected to the same card, and you do a disk to disk transfer, then the motherboard bus can be a limiting factor to the sustained transfer. If one disk was connected to the Southbridge, and the other was on the controller card, then perhaps there isn't a bus limitation as a result. (They might use separate busses, or the second bus may be less limiting.) The first card of the three is least likely to limit theoretical performance. Being on a private bidirectional bus (with a separate 250MB/sec TX and 250MB/sec RX bus), you can actually burst from disk to disk, without significant limitation. My main concern then, would be the bus interface, rather than SATA 150 versus SATA 300. You want your controller card solution, to at least handle the sustained transfer rate scenario, without embarrassment. (Burst performance isn't as big a deal.) If you own "sad old disks", then the SIL311x cards in IDE mode, might be all you need. If you paid good money for two Velociraptor class drives, then that is when you want a better bus interface on the card (so you can go disk to disk, and move 2 * 119MB/sec data on the computer bus). The PCI Express x1 interface makes that possible. Paul |
#3
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
"Poster Matt" wrote...
I've run out of SATA ports on my motherboard but want a new hard disk, so I need a SATA controller card. I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. I'm a little confused between the standards, the hard disk I've been thinking of getting is this 1 TB Samsung: Am I correct that to maximize that hard disk's potential I should get the no 1. controller card above because it supports 3.0 Gb/s while the other 2 controller cards have transfer rates of 150 MBps? First, I would not buy a 2-port card. I would look to the future and get a minimum of 2 (preferably 4) internal SATA ports and 2 external eSATA ports. Second, I would get a SATA II (300 MBps) card to support the latest standards. Finally, find out what slots your MoBo has open. If you have an open PCIe-1x slot, something like this would work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132014 For a PCIe-16x slot, something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132018 |
#4
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
On 18/07/2008 in message
Poster Matt wrote: I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. I don't know how good your supplier is but I bought a PCI-e SATA controller from A1 computers and it turned out to be a Russian copy which couldn't be flashed. The Silicon Image driver worked, but not the one that seemed to relate to the chipset :-( Try and make sure it's genuine chipset if you can. -- Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. (Ken Olson, president Digital Equipment, 1977) |
#5
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Jeff Gaines wrote:
On 18/07/2008 in message Poster Matt wrote: I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. I don't know how good your supplier is but I bought a PCI-e SATA controller from A1 computers and it turned out to be a Russian copy which couldn't be flashed. The Silicon Image driver worked, but not the one that seemed to relate to the chipset :-( Try and make sure it's genuine chipset if you can. Okay, thanks for the warning. |
#6
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Paul,
Many, many thanks for such a thoroughly comprehensive reply, it's greatly appreciated. I have a much better idea about the issues involved now. As I understand it, since I do still have 2 free PCI Express x1 slots free, I'd be best off with this card? SATA II 2 Port Controller Card - PCI Express http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo Thanks again. Paul wrote: Poster Matt wrote: Hi, I've run out of SATA ports on my motherboard but want a new hard disk, so I need a SATA controller card. I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. 1. http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo 2. http://tinyurl.com/595aab 3. http://tinyurl.com/5gnmuz I'm a little confused between the standards, the hard disk I've been thinking of getting is this 1 TB Samsung: http://tinyurl.com/5vj8b8 Am I correct that to maximize that hard disk's potential I should get the no 1. controller card above because it supports 3.0 Gb/s while the other 2 controller cards have transfer rates of 150 MBps? Or am I in a muddle? Thanks all. This one is PCI Express, and could be using a SIL3132. You need a PCI Express x1 or larger slot, to use this. Not all motherboards have PCI Express slots. "Value SATA II 2 Port Controller Card - PCI Express" http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...press_874.html ******* This one has a PCI bus connector, and four SATA ports. The main chip is likely a SIL3114. By means of firmware flashing, the card can run in RAID or IDE mode. "Value SATA 4 Port Controller Card - PCI" http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...--PCI_876.html ******* The third card looks to be SIL3112 based, and another PCI card. Same story as the SIL3114, only the SIL3112 has half the number of ports. Firmware flashing allows either RAID or IDE mode. PCI cards are best suited to older computers, which don't have PCI Express slots. Value SATA 2 Port Controller Card - PCI http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/V...--PCI_875.html ******* The desktop PCI bus operates at 33MHz and is 32 bits wide. The transfer rate you can expect on the bus, is 110-120MB/sec. The bus is shared and unidirectional, so disk to disk transfers handled by the same controller card, would be 60MB/sec read and 60MB/sec write or so. The SIL3112 and SIL3114 also have a 66MHz option, but on desktop computers, that is hardly ever an option. That would be more likely found on a server motherboard. The higher clock, doubles the bus performance. Not all PCI peripheral chips support 66MHz, but I think the Silicon Image ones being discussed here, do. Disks have "burst to cache" performance, and "sustained" transfer performance. The cache is used to hold short transactions. Via the SATA interface, you can probably burst to the cache, at a decent percentage of the SATA cable rate. Sustained transfer, is what happens when large files are transferred, and the cache is filled. Then, the media rate (head rate) is the limiting step. On my current hard drive, this is about 60MB/sec. The best SATA drives now, offer much higher figures. (Velociraptor is 119MB/sec at the beginning of the disk.) For sustained transfers, there are a couple scenarios to consider. If two disks are connected to the same card, and you do a disk to disk transfer, then the motherboard bus can be a limiting factor to the sustained transfer. If one disk was connected to the Southbridge, and the other was on the controller card, then perhaps there isn't a bus limitation as a result. (They might use separate busses, or the second bus may be less limiting.) The first card of the three is least likely to limit theoretical performance. Being on a private bidirectional bus (with a separate 250MB/sec TX and 250MB/sec RX bus), you can actually burst from disk to disk, without significant limitation. My main concern then, would be the bus interface, rather than SATA 150 versus SATA 300. You want your controller card solution, to at least handle the sustained transfer rate scenario, without embarrassment. (Burst performance isn't as big a deal.) If you own "sad old disks", then the SIL311x cards in IDE mode, might be all you need. If you paid good money for two Velociraptor class drives, then that is when you want a better bus interface on the card (so you can go disk to disk, and move 2 * 119MB/sec data on the computer bus). The PCI Express x1 interface makes that possible. Paul |
#7
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
JR Weiss wrote:
"Poster Matt" wrote... I've run out of SATA ports on my motherboard but want a new hard disk, so I need a SATA controller card. I've been looking at the controller cards available at one of my suppliers. I'm a little confused between the standards, the hard disk I've been thinking of getting is this 1 TB Samsung: Am I correct that to maximize that hard disk's potential I should get the no 1. controller card above because it supports 3.0 Gb/s while the other 2 controller cards have transfer rates of 150 MBps? First, I would not buy a 2-port card. I would look to the future and get a minimum of 2 (preferably 4) internal SATA ports and 2 external eSATA ports. Second, I would get a SATA II (300 MBps) card to support the latest standards. Finally, find out what slots your MoBo has open. If you have an open PCIe-1x slot, something like this would work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132014 For a PCIe-16x slot, something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132018 Thanks for the advise, I will get a PCIe 1x card. Cheers. |
#8
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Poster Matt wrote:
Paul, Many, many thanks for such a thoroughly comprehensive reply, it's greatly appreciated. I have a much better idea about the issues involved now. As I understand it, since I do still have 2 free PCI Express x1 slots free, I'd be best off with this card? SATA II 2 Port Controller Card - PCI Express http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo Thanks again. Yes. For a couple disks, it is what I'd choose. Paul |
#9
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Hardware question SATA controller card.
Paul wrote:
Poster Matt wrote: Paul, Many, many thanks for such a thoroughly comprehensive reply, it's greatly appreciated. I have a much better idea about the issues involved now. As I understand it, since I do still have 2 free PCI Express x1 slots free, I'd be best off with this card? SATA II 2 Port Controller Card - PCI Express http://tinyurl.com/69hqxo Thanks again. Yes. For a couple disks, it is what I'd choose. Thanks again. I'll order it this weekend. Cheers. |
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