All I have is 1 PCI and 1 PCIe slot left and want to add a few things...

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Curb71

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My computer running windows 7 failed to load the OS the other day. I would just get the black screen with the flashing cursor. After trying everything I was unable to get it to boot and reinstalled Windows 7 on the same hard drive which I now don't trust too much.

I want to add a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD and have my 1TB HDD be just for storage. I want to add a/some USB 3.0 ports. My problem is the motherboard only has 2 SATA ports which are both in use from my HDD & Bluray burner. I have an open PCI slot and a PCIe slot. Am I able to use either of those to help add a SSD that I will have my OS running on?

I ran AIDA32 to find out info on my motherboard but it says unknown.

ztSystems (Costco) desktop from a few years ago. Windows 7. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz. 4GB RAM. 64x.

 
Solution
nukemaster
The PCI slot is rather bandwidth limited. It is NOT a good place to use the SSD. it will also hold back USB 3.0, but I would call that better than slowing down the system drive.

Ideally, you should use the built in SATA ports for the SSD if you can(makes like more easy). Let storage drives deal with the pci-e or pci controller.

Can you crack the case open to ensure that you ONLY have 2 sata ports.
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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The PCI slot is rather bandwidth limited. It is NOT a good place to use the SSD. it will also hold back USB 3.0, but I would call that better than slowing down the system drive.

Ideally, you should use the built in SATA ports for the SSD if you can(makes like more easy). Let storage drives deal with the pci-e or pci controller.

Can you crack the case open to ensure that you ONLY have 2 sata ports.
 
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Curb71

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Ok, then I could put the HDD & SSD on the 2 SATA ports. Is there a way to hook up the bluray burner to a PCI(e) port?
I had the case open today to see what kind of ports I had. only 2 SATA :(

 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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You can get a PCI to SATA or PCI-E to sata.

Blueray will run without issues in the PCI bandwidth limit(Hell it would even work over USB 2.0 upto about 6-8x. This is fine for watching videos.).

You have to ensure that the pci sata card will work with optical drives. Some are made for hard drives only.

EDIT.

I do want to warn you that some older boards do not get along with SSD's as well.
 
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Curb71

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I will make sure that the pci sata card is compatible with optical drives. Thanks for pointing that out.
As for the motherboard, is there another app or way of finding out ahead of time if it will get along with the SSD?


 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nothing I know of. I do remember seeing a rather old HP that would not detect a Kingston SSD(well it would detect it, but the system had to be power cycled). I did not get to try others on it.

Also some older boards have been known to act strange when seeing newer drives in general. My K8V SE board used to just not detect anything with anything that was not SATA 1.5(lucky enough most hard drives had an option to set them to sata 1.5gigabit/sec)

Always a chance with older hardware.
 
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Curb71

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Does this help you any to know how good or bad my chances are of this motherboard being too old?
found an app that told me ALOT about my PC. Can't figure out how to upload an .html file on these forums though.
Motherboard Properties:
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Product P5KPL-AM SE
Version X.0x
 
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Curb71

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I've been looking for a card that would plug into the PCI or PCIe slot and give me both additional SATA ports & USB 3.0 ports. Is this what I need? Would this be compatible with my motherboard?

Are the two SATA ports on my motherboard SATA II or III?

This is the bluray burner I have and apparently it does not have anything other than a SATA port. So if I add a SSD I guess I MUST add SATA port(s).
 
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Curb71

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So you're saying the SATA ports on the card probably wont be a full 6GB/sec but they would be better than what the existing SATA ports on motherboard are? somewhere in between I guess? Would it be best to plug the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD into the motherboards SATA II port or into the SATA III port on the PCIe card?
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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For consistency, I would use the motherboard ports.

The biggest improvement from SSD's is the access times. While speeds are nice, those data rates have been attainable on HDD RAID setups for years. Its the access times that let hard drives down more than anything at all since most work is not sequential.

If anything using the card for a storage drive(since it will not max out the bandwidth in most cases any way) leaving the BD-drive and SSD on the onboard ports.

Please ensure you buy the card from a store that can return/exchange if you run into issues(the reviews seem to be mixed on many of them).
 
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Curb71

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I cant think of a b&m store that would carry this. I can barely find it online. I guess I'll just make sure there is a fair return policy. One of them says this:

"Hardware Requirement:
Motherboard with one Suitable Version 2.0 PCI-e x4 Slot
(If the card is installed on a version 1.0 PCI-e slot, the performance will be downgraded to USB 2.0 speed)"

How do I know which type of PCIe slot I have?
Here's the card I'm referring to.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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That is a x4 card, so unless you have NO video card in your top PCI-E x16 slot, it will not fit your system.

I am sure you only have a 1.xx slot because of the boards age.

The limit for x1 pci-e is about 2gigabit vs 5gigabit for USB 3.0. Thi should still be better than the "480megabit" of usb 2.0.

The problem most likely comes from splitting bandwidth from the SATA controller(that can use 6gigbit/sec per port nad 5 per usb port).

We are sort of in a bit if trouble here. I mean you can get a PCI-E USB 3.0 card that lists PCI-E 1.0/2.0, but then you loose the SATA ports.

While I see many PCI SATA cards on the market, I am trying to avoid the older first generation ones because they may have issues seeing SATA II and SATA III drives. I guess as long as they can at least see the Bluray drive it may work.

The only other option I see is the rare SATA to IDE converters that would allow the bluray drive to work off of the boards IDE port(assuming it is not already in use).

We are starting to rely on many things working perfect to allow your system to do what you need it to do.

I almost question if this will all pay off. adding more SATA or USB3.0 seems easy enough, but both may be more difficult(not impossible).
 
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