ICH8R or add-in RAID5 card

Hi all,

I am debating what to use for a RAID5 setup. I have just bought 4 500GB Samsung SATA hard drives for a RAID5 array. I already have one RAID5 array using the LSI Megaraid i4 with 3 PATA 250GB hard drives but the performance is abysmal.

I know the onboard raid is "fakeraid" and uses the processor to do the XOR calculations. So if I did go with an add-in card, I would want one that does the XOR calculations. But I can't seem to find a relatively inexpensive($200) card that will work with my computer. I am using an Abit AB9 Pro motherboard and the card either has to be PCIe x1 or PCI as that is all my motherboard has.

The other issue is that I need the data available under both Windows and Linux. I know the ICH8R raid 5 should work with the latest versions of Linux, so that will be good but other cards seem to be hit and miss. I will be using this for storage of high definition videos and general purpose storage as I have been bitten by failed hard drives too many times.

Does anyone have suggestions or opinions on what I should look at/use?

Thanks in advance.

It seems like you want the performance and reliability of true hardware RAID, not the afterthought RAID solutions that mobo manufacturers often put on to add another sticker feature on the front of the box.