Solutions
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hans_solo_dolo's post in Is my HBA failing? was marked as the answerLSI wasnt an issue but I swapped the CMOS battery at the same time (as suggested by ArtOfServer). Existing one was reading 2.89v and brand new was 3.3v
I then put Dell back and have been running strong for a couple days. Wild if that little button battery could have been the issue all along. (also a CMOS reset by default so maybe that too)