Hello all,

 

I have added another disk to my unraid server, but my motherboard only has 2 SATA ports.  So I am not able to add a parity disk unless I get a sata card.  My current motherboard is a Intel D865 PERL 1gb ram and pentium cpu.  I have another motherboard ASUS P58-MX that has 4 sata ports and a faster CPU, and 2gb ram but I need to get a power supply because my computers power supply is not compatable.

 

So my question is to get a sata contorler and keep my current setup, or buy a power supply and build a server with new motherboard?

 

Any advice is appreciated,

 

Oscar

I can tell you from my last purchase that my Sata card cost me $109 + $40 for cables. However that might be because of the model I purchased or the demand. I've seen Sata cards pretty cheap, but you might want to weigh the cost of the card vs the cost of a power supply, which is obviously you are.

 

I couldn't even begin to give you advice on what card to use for either of your machines simply because I had somebody point out to me what I needed.  

Thanks kizer,

 

that is my delema, getting a card is probably cheaper, but the new motherboard has 4 SATA ports already, so I would not need to get a card just yet.  I aslo don't know if the speed of the new motherboard would be noticable.

 

Thanks for the quick reply,

 

Oscar

Personally, I'd go with a new power supply. You can get a Corsair 430CX for dirt cheap these days. It goes for less than $20 at times. A P5 board is going to have better support and longevity than a Pentium 4 board. The Pentium 4s also tended to run very hot and draw a lot of power.

 

Speed isn't really an issue. Nearly anything can run unRAID without issues.

thanks Kenoka,

Looks like I have a gift idea to leak to my daughter to tell her mom 

 

Many Thanks,

 

Oscar

You want to use the newer one. The old motherboard only has PCI slots and you want PCIe slots for any SATA cards.

 

The power supply should work. Boht use ATX style power connectors. You just plug the 20 pin power connector into one end of the 24pin power connector. It will only go in the proper ay unless you force it.

 

Peter

Personally, I'd go with a new power supply. You can get a Corsair 430CX for dirt cheap these days. It goes for less than $20 at times. A P5 board is going to have better support and longevity than a Pentium 4 board. The Pentium 4s also tended to run very hot and draw a lot of power.

 

Speed isn't really an issue. Nearly anything can run unRAID without issues.

 

Including right now. See Good Deals Forum.  430CX for ~$20

Thanks you all,

I did not know that I could use the same power supply.  Will the 20 pin only go into the correct side of the 24 pin connector?  If yes, what side do I put it into?  The short end of the MB or the long end?  I will do the swap this morning.  The current power supply is a 350W.  It should be good to power 4 HD's.  I know I will need to upgrade ad I add more drives, but not having to spend is a gift in it self. 

 

Thanks again,

 

Oscar

It will only fit in one position because the individual pins are keyed.

Thanks you all,

I did not know that I could use the same power supply.  Will the 20 pin only go into the correct side of the 24 pin connector? 

 

A little Googling goes a long way ...

 

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/image/11254/

 

http://www.smps.us/20-to-24pin-atx.html

Thanks again guys,

 

I swapped out motherboard and its back up and running.  Much faster boot and drive reads are faster too.

 

Does the parity disk need to be precleared? 

 

Thanks again,

 

Oscar

I would recommend PreClearing all discs before putting them into use