February 23, 201511 yr Been running my system for almost 10 years now and my (old at the time) mb needs to be replaced. Not looking to spend a ton, but would love to have something with 8+ SATA connectors so I can ditch one of my controller cards. Currently running 12 drives (11+parity) and really won't be moving beyond that. Been looking at the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium which is listed on the compatible hardware page, and shows 8 sata ports. My (probably basic) questions is - since 4 (of the are showing as "SATA Raid", does this mean I can use all 8 w/o issue or only 4? Update: Been reading the manual and it talks about disabling RAID on those 4 SATA connectors via the BIOS setup. If I do so, do they then default to "regular" SATA connections? (Which means I can use all 8 for my unRaid box)
February 24, 201511 yr As you've already discovered, Yes, you can use all 8 of the ports. In addition, a 10-year old motherboard may not have supported drives > 2TB, whereas the new board definitely will -- so clearly you'll have FAR more potential capacity available without any need to move beyond the 12 drives you already have (and plan to stay at).
February 24, 201511 yr I'm wondering why you're replacing a 10 year old board with one that's nearly 4 years old?
February 24, 201511 yr Author Thanks for the responses - much appreciated! I'm wondering why you're replacing a 10 year old board with one that's nearly 4 years old? Hah! You got me! Cost reasons mostly - Funds are a little too tight to justify the extra $$ right now. (Although if someone has a recommendation for a sub $150 mb with 8 ports, I'm all ears. Everything I see in the thread is in the $250-$400 range)
February 24, 201511 yr I had assumed you already had this board ... but if you're going to be buying a motherboard, I'd definitely get a new Socket 1150 board that supports the Haswell CPUs. Here's one for $110 (after rebate) that hass 8 SATA ports: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131979
February 24, 201511 yr Author Sold! (And thanks for the recommendation Here's to another 10 happy years of storage!
February 24, 201511 yr If you prefer AMD, there's a few A88X board with 8 ports, all native to the chipset (unlike that Asus which has two off an extra controller). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138409 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157516 Of course you'd have to add on a CPU, but you'll have to do that with the Haswell anyway.
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