puckey9000
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MicroATX with PATA RAID
I'm looking for a MicroATX format Socket 478 motherboard that has onboard PATA RAID. This is for a middle-end gaming/entertainment rig. I can't find it! SATA RAID is everywhere, and the closest I can come is a PCI RAID card. With limited PCI expansions, I'd rather keep it on the mobo. My questions are:
1. Does onboard PATA RAID exist for mATX?
2. If I have to go with a PCI card instead, are the cheapo RAID PCI cards worth using (WD-8212, Siba SIL0680, Sabrent SBT-RDIT, Creative I/O SiI06080A) or would it be worth it to get a high-dollar card (Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, HighPoint RocketRAID 133, Escalade 7506, FastTrak SX4060)?
3. Is it too much to ask for integrated Firewire as well? I can't find that either.
Many thanks for the help.
1. Does onboard PATA RAID exist for mATX?
2. If I have to go with a PCI card instead, are the cheapo RAID PCI cards worth using (WD-8212, Siba SIL0680, Sabrent SBT-RDIT, Creative I/O SiI06080A) or would it be worth it to get a high-dollar card (Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, HighPoint RocketRAID 133, Escalade 7506, FastTrak SX4060)?
3. Is it too much to ask for integrated Firewire as well? I can't find that either.
Many thanks for the help.
ASKER
Hrmmm, I may be doing that. I wanted to leave the option open later for SATA RAID use as well as keeping PATA RAID. I do indeed already have PATA drives and wanted to keep as much connectivity as possible.
Does a microATX board exist with onboard Firewire and PATA RAID? I'm having trouble with where to look - manufacturers' sites go by chipset, not format/options. I was hoping Asus had one, the closest I could come were:
P4S800-MX SE
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=477&l1=3&l2=12&l3=42
and
P4V8X-MX
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=682&l1=3&l2=12&l3=221
Any idea what the difference is? They use different chipsets and I can't see which is better.
Does a microATX board exist with onboard Firewire and PATA RAID? I'm having trouble with where to look - manufacturers' sites go by chipset, not format/options. I was hoping Asus had one, the closest I could come were:
P4S800-MX SE
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=477&l1=3&l2=12&l3=42
and
P4V8X-MX
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=682&l1=3&l2=12&l3=221
Any idea what the difference is? They use different chipsets and I can't see which is better.
Other than Via vs SiS chipsets, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference. I'm not a big fan of either of those chipsets (I stay with Intel chipsets for Intel CPU's), but either should work fine; and Asus's micro-ATX board that uses the Intel chipset (865) doesn't have onboard RAID, so that's not an option here.
I'm not aware of any Socket 478 microATX board with either PATA RAID or onboard Firewire => let alone both. I think your best bet here is to use a board with onboard SATA RAID and either buy the convertors I linked to above, or buy a PCI RAID card. An inexpensive card like the RocketRAID 133 would do just fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816115003 I would not, however, use the really low-cost cards you listed in your question. But for just a RAID-0 or RAID-1 configuration (which I assume is what you have in mind), you don't need a high dollar card like a 3Ware, etc.
Firewire is, as I'm sure you know, very inexpensive to add (the only downside is using the slot): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815102013
I'm not aware of any Socket 478 microATX board with either PATA RAID or onboard Firewire => let alone both. I think your best bet here is to use a board with onboard SATA RAID and either buy the convertors I linked to above, or buy a PCI RAID card. An inexpensive card like the RocketRAID 133 would do just fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816115003 I would not, however, use the really low-cost cards you listed in your question. But for just a RAID-0 or RAID-1 configuration (which I assume is what you have in mind), you don't need a high dollar card like a 3Ware, etc.
Firewire is, as I'm sure you know, very inexpensive to add (the only downside is using the slot): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815102013
ASKER
Excellent! Thank you for the elucidation; it's good to know I'm not entirely in the dark here. It shall be an Asus SATA RAID board then, with the RocketRAID card and probably Audigy 2 ZS soundcard for firewire, leaving one PCI space free. Is there any way to find a performance difference in above 2 listed Asus motherboards?
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ASKER
Thanks for the help.
You're welcome.
So ... if you don't want to use SATA drives (I presume because you already have some PATA drives available) ==> just buy a couple of these and you can use your PATA drives with the SATA RAID connections: http://www.directron.com/adp172202.html