PCI-EX1 Storage controllers

willpoweraz

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May 4, 2006
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Ok this is my first integration of PCI-express controller card to power a RAID 10 setup with 4 SATA2 WD 16MB drives and I am having problems finding out what actually works with my board...

I got a:
ECS 945P-A Specs here : Click here
And I am having problems findinga suitable controller card for this setup
I found a Highpoint rocketraid 2310 and I want to use it but not sure if I can the specs on this one are found HERE
it says its compatible with 4x and 8x & 16X but does that mean it works with my board. It fits with the first port in there but does not take up the rest of the slot..........I don't know if I should risk trying it once to see if it works or would that damage the card so I couldn't take it back and get another one? Anyone wanna help? I have to have this thing up and running ASAP........and I'M STUCK ON THIS!
thanks-
willpoweraz
 

WolfDragon

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May 3, 2006
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OK, got your answer


Looking at your mobo, the slots are as follows

pcie x16
pcie x1
pcie x16
pci 2.2
pci 2.2
pci 2.2

the card you have is meant for a pci x4 slot, you actually answered your own question with the x8 and x16 compatible line

this is the same issue that countless other people have had with the PCI, PCI-X slot stuff, provided it will fit in there, the card will work

however, unlike with a PCI slot, for the PCI-E, ALL the pins on the card have to be in a slot, no danglers allowed. What this boil down to is that by only using part of the slot, the pciE slot becomes whatever number it needs to be, thus a 16x can be used as a 4x just by putting a short card in that slot

the reason that people can get away with a bigger pci 2.2 card in a pci slot is that the pins left dangling are meant to be used on a 64 bit pci bus, if you dont have that, then a 32 bit pci bus will do fine, the card will self configure for this operation (i have an LSI Raid controller that hangs off the right side of the slot)


so lesson in a nutshell

pci slot - if the card will fit in it... youre good
pciE slot - card (pin area) must be the same length if not shorter than the slot, therefore it is possible to run a pciE 1x,2x,4x, or 8x card in a 16x slot
 

willpoweraz

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May 4, 2006
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Wolf Dragon!! U Be the MAN!!!!

Thank you for sorting that out for me! This thing rocks and is lightning fast on the PCI-e bus. Here's how the final build came together

Pentium D 533MHZ 2X1MB
2 x 1GB PC5400 667MHZ PQI
ECS 945P-A Motherboard
EVGA PCI-Express 128MB Video Card
High Point Rocket RAID 2310
5 x WD 250GB SATA2 16MB Cache
(1 for OS and 4 for RAID 10)
Hot Swap Addonics Disk Array 4Bay
Plextor DVD-RW 16X
Windows 2000 Server

I would suggest this Rocket Raid 2310 to anyone and it's available at Fry's electronics for $169!!!! It has a web browser interface and is full featured and utilizes the PCI-Express interface. Nothing but Fast People!!! Give err a Try!!!

Thanks from the land of the Desert!!!
-Willpoweraz
 

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