Best non-SATA MB?

[Kujo]

WOW, been a while since I've been here last....
> Your last logon was at: 08/06/02 11:47 PM

Anyhow.....

Lookin for some good advise from all you mb gurus out there.

Here is the deal; I have a whole bunch of new non-SATA hard drives that I would like to install in a great motherboard (as in hi-end) that does not have SATA ports. I know I could get the latest and greatest board and then add a card or two to get me the ability to attach these PATA hard drives, but I would prefer not to use up a PCI slot or two for this ability.

Therefore, the question….
What is the best board out there, using the latest technology, that does not have SATA ports. I realize that I might not get the “latest technology” without getting SATA compatibility, but get me close. Feel free to even suggest boards that my no longer be available thru retail or internet sources. There is always someone out there on eBay that is selling a board that I may be interested in.

Either an Intel or AMD CPU is fine, but faster is better.
Budget wise I’d like to keep the board below $190.

On the optical drive side of the equation, I’ll be plugging in two drives more than likely.
The ability to have 4 PATA ports on the board would be great if possible, but if not, I could spare one PCI slot for a Promise board to add expansion.

The thing is guys (gals?) I will NOT be adding ANY SATA drives to this thing so let's not waste any time thinkin about these types of boards. I have PATA hd’s and I will be installing these drives onto this board. Probably 4 hd’s to be exact.

I’ve worked with both ABIT and ASUS products and like both, but will consider all options with the above constraints considered.

OK, let's hear what you have to say.

Thanks!

 

[marneus]

ALL boards come with SATA, its part of the chipset setup, best u can do is get 1 with onboard PATA raid as well as the std 2 that all boards have but u will prob find SATA is the new 'best thing since sliced bread' & only they come with more than 2 connectors

'nforce2 time' was the last time i saw a board with more than 2 PATA connectors...

Trust me I know what I'm doing... ooops, grab the cat...

 

[Rugger]

With onboard PATA RAID and 2 PATA slots you can get all of the stuff you want in a modern mobo, but it will require master/slave config for the drives. RAID 0 two HDDs and use as primary for OS and anything you want to operate fast. Master your primary optical drive and slave the other optical on the same cable. Master/slave the two remaining HDDs and use for storage. I'd sacrifice one PCI slot to a card in order to avoid master/slave on the non-RAID PATAs.

Although nForce2 was a great chipset, it is dated and I would not recommend a new build based on that tech.

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[Crashman]

You want to actually hear what I have to say? You're nuts!

You're being anal about not having SATA. All current boards support BOTH. So if you don't want to use SATA, you don't have to. All current boards support PATA drives as well.

nVidia, ATI, and ULI chipsets all support two PATA cables with two drives per cable. That's four drives, the same as old boards supported. Some boards have additional drive controllers soldered in to allow more drives, which is the same as putting in a PCI card to do the job.

So basically the answer is simple: Ignore SATA. Pretend it's not there. It's not hurting you.

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[Kujo]

Just a quick note to thank all of you that have responded to my question. Looks as if I'll be going with a board that includes SATA and get myself a few of those PATA -to- SATA converters. Or I might get a Promise car that I could plug into a PCI slot to get those PATA drives installed.

If I do go with a SATA board, what would be the maximum amount of drives I could hook up to a board using just the SATA ports (thru a converter)? I haven't looked at too many boards as of yet, but what would be a norm in terms of how many HDs could be hooked up and what would be the max?

Again, thanks for the info guys.

Now, one last question(s)....
Can someone suggest a good converter that you've used and had no problems with? Will there be any performance penalty in data access off these drives that are hooked up thru these converters?

Thanks again.

 

[Crashman]

Most SATA boards support FOUR SATA drives AND Four PATA drives. That's EIGHT drives total, four of each.

Some boards have a PCI drive controller soldered onto the board to support more drives. My current board support SIX SATA drives plus EIGHT ATA drives.

SATA supports one drive per connector, PATA supports two drives per connector.

Intel's latest chipsets only support two PATA drives, they're the exception. Everything else supports four PATA drives on the chipset, and motherboard makers can add whatever PCI controllers to the board itself that they want to.

It's been four PATA drives on the chipset controller ever since the early 90's. And that remains true for everything but Intel's PCI-Express chipsets.

How many PATA drives are you going to use?

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Oh, excuse me for not whiping you over the head with this question:

If I do go with a SATA board, what would be the maximum amount of drives I could hook up to a board using just the SATA ports (thru a converter)?

Why would you want to use "just the SATA ports" when you also have PATA ports on the board? Are you still oblivious to the fact that todays boards support BOTH interfaces, even after you've been told repetedly?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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