I would check with Gigabyte to ensure that you can use a SATA card in the x16 slot. Some motherboards use that slot for graphics only. The 740g is good. I don't even know if the 785g will run unRAID let alone the PCIe x16 slot capability.

 

I just got a reply from Gigabyte and they said the PCIe x16 on the 785g is "Only for Videocard" 

PCIe x16 - you could put that 4-sata port card in there.

PCIe x4 - leave empty

PCIe x1 #1 - you could put a 2 SATA port card in there.

PCIe x1 #2 - you could put a 2 SATA port card in there.

PCIe x1 #3 - you could put a 2 SATA port card in there.

 

Lionelhutz:

Can you recommend a good 2 port PCIe SATA II card? I was thinking I could get three Rosewill RC-216 PCI Express eSATA II x 2 cards.

Lionelhutz:

Can you recommend a good 2 port PCIe SATA II card? I was thinking I could get three Rosewill RC-216 PCI Express eSATA II x 2 cards.

 

I do not know if that card is compatible. Do some research to find out the chipset on the card.

From there a recommendation can be made. If it uses the JMB363, then you are good. (and that chipset also supports port multipliers)

 

I'm using these cards with success.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815280008

 

However, I'm really curios about the RC-216.

Lionelhutz:

Can you recommend a good 2 port PCIe SATA II card? I was thinking I could get three Rosewill RC-216 PCI Express eSATA II x 2 cards.

 

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040702&p_id=2530&seq=1&format=2

 

$13.79 plus shipping. Works great in unRAID.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124017

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132003

I have updated my first post parts list. I'm going to RMA the Rosewill RC-218 x4 and order three RC-207 x2. The 785g has 3 PCIe x1 slots. This will allow me to use every space in the CM case/cages. The PCIe x16 slot on the 785g is for video cards only. I also updated my RAM for 785g too.

 

Gigabyte stated that those cards should be ok, but they have not tested them on the 785g MB. I'm going to gamble and make an educated guess that they will work.

 

I will order the rest of  my parts this weekend. I plan to document my build and hopefully add another motherboard to the compatibility list.

 

Oh, I'm going to be using a OCZ Diesel 8GB flash card for unRAID. I have one I use for a bootable USB install of Ubuntu and it works great.

 

Thanks everyone!

Looks good.

 

The PCIe x16 might work for the card and they don't know but it'd be a risk you have to take. Try one of the x1 cards you are buying and see if it works. If it works then likely a x4 would work.

 

I use this flash.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208060

 

Any cheap reconized name flash such as Transcend, Crucial, HP, OCZ will have a GUID and will work and anything much over 2gig will likely never be used even if unRAID changes radically in the future.

 

Peter

 

Oh, I'm going to be using a OCZ Diesel 8GB flash card for unRAID. I have one I use for a bootable USB install of Ubuntu and it works great.

 

I just purchased a 4GB Diesel and it was really slow, sub 9 MB/s read, much slower than the Kingston it replaced. Spend a bit more and get a faster USB drive or go with a different vendor. 5 bucks more can get you +25 MB/s reads.

I ended up going with Patriot Xporter XT Boost 4GB for the speed and durability (highly rated by Neweggers too)

I ended up going with Patriot Xporter XT Boost 4GB for the speed and durability (highly rated by Neweggers too)

 

I used the same. Boot up is quick.

 

Newegg has the 8GB version of the Patriot Xporter XT with a mail in rebate for same price as the 4.

Remember - this is not like an iPod where more gigs means more music.

 

unRAID requires a finite amount of space (I think 128M is enough).  And if you have more - so what.  I do like to keep a history of smart reports and log files, but even keeping that history - i am not half way through a 1G flashdrive.

 

BubbaRAID loads some data on the flash and takes more space, but 1G (much less 8 ) is still overkill.

 

Speed is also also pretty unimportant here.  It reads at boot and after that is idle for many, or used to access unMenu for others.  The amounts of data are so small that speed is pretty unimportant.

 

A small tip - if you have a larger USB, don't delete old versions.  Just rename them.  This will cause you to keep using new fresh parts of the USB and therefore extend its life.  Once you fill it up (if ever) then go back and delete old stuff.  USBs have a limited lifespan and using different parts of the drive is a good thing.

Buy what is reasonable within your budget for speed and siize.

The larger the drive, the less likely you will start having bad spots.

unRAID does not use much space, as mentioned, 128MB is enough.

 

Yet with all my logs, extra packages and customizations, at 1GB I'm getting tight.

Some logs are important to keep over time. SMART for instance.

 

Would I buy the 8G over the 4G if they were the same price. Sure would.

Especially considering the comments about how fast this drive is.

 

Later on if(when) unionfs or aufs is merged in with the kernel, this extra space and speed will count.

This system works. I will be posting pics soon. Thanks all 

please try one of your 2 port cards in the x16 slot to see if it works.. real curious as i really like this board with all the 1x ports.

please try one of your 2 port cards in the x16 slot to see if it works.. real curious as i really like this board with all the 1x ports.

The manufacture said the PCIe x16 only will work with video cards. I have not tested this. One of my PCIe x2 are plugged in, but has no hard drives connected to it. I guess I could test if it will work in the x16 slot. I just put the system together and rather let it run for a bit "as is" until I start moving around hardware. With my current setup, I can have 12 HDD's to max out my case/cage setup. Do you plan to have more?

please try one of your 2 port cards in the x16 slot to see if it works.. real curious as i really like this board with all the 1x ports.

The manufacture said the PCIe x16 only will work with video cards. I have not tested this. One of my PCIe x2 are plugged in, but has no hard drives connected to it. I guess I could test if it will work in the x16 slot. I just put the system together and rather let it run for a bit "as is" until I start moving around hardware. With my current setup, I can have 12 HDD's to max out my case/cage setup. Do you plan to have more?

 

My original build will be 12 hdds. I saw the post about manufacture saying that only video cards will work in those slots... most of those guys sit behind a screen with pre-determined responses and don't know jack shit about the actual components they're giving you support on. I'm looking for a board i could expand to 20 or more drives further down the road... and I would really hate to have to buy a new mobo if i could just buy the right one from the start. If you have some spare time... hook up a drive to that 2x card u got in there right now just to see if it'll let you select it for a slot.... appreciate it...i'm sure other people on this forum would also like to know.

Good to hear it's working.

 

Once you have the drives in and parity is built and checked it'd be easy to test the other PCIe ports. Yes, do a parity build and then do a parity check the first time. Once a new drive is installed do another parity check each time.

 

Just move one of those cards with drives connected from the PCIex1 to the x16 slot. When unRAID boots you may have to go to the devices page and re-select the hard drives so make sure you have a list of drives before starting this test. Then, start the array and do a parity check. If the drives do not show up or you start to get parity errors then you know the slot is very likely no good so stop it and put it back. If it works then we all know the slot is likely fine for a 4 port SATA card and this board will likely become a highly recommended board based on it's cost vs number of PCIe slots.

 

I think that Gigabyte has responded that the slot was graphics only with other motherboards but it still worked so the only way to know for sure is to test.

 

Peter

There are no storage controller cards with 16x, the max currently is 8x, so manufacturers are actually designing 16x slots for graphic cards "only". This doesn't mean that technically only graphics card would run in there...

@starcat, actually there are several people who have found that in fact their x16 slots are indeed "VGA only" and dont work with x4 or indeed x1 raid/sata boards. This is why people are asking other board owners to try their x16 slots to see if they work or are genuinely vga only slots.

 

Speaking to the manufacturer will give an idea but is no substitute for actually trying a board.

 

There should be no such thing as a "vga only" PCIe slot, they are suppposed to work with any PCIe card x1-x16 providing it will fit in the slot (actually cutting out the back of the slot allows x4 or larger cards to be used in x1 slots only at x1 speeds not x4 speeds obviously).