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What are some good SATA expansion cards (not LSI HBAs)?

VarHyid
By VarHyid
in Storage Devices
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Yes, I know LSI is so good, it's the best, it's perfect, but let's assume I'm... allergic to LSI and MUST get a different regular SATA expansion card. Can anyone recommend even a single brand? Doesn't have to be any specific model, just some names that could point me in the right direction. I just can't find any info because every single thread or Reddit post I see ends up with everyone saying they're all garbage and you should get an LSI card... but that is simply not an option for me.

 

It's my last attempt at asking this question somewhere before I roll the dice 😞

 

---EDIT---

Price is irrelevant, I'm not looking for something cheaper, just a good SATA card even if it may cost much more than an LSI HBA.

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5 minutes ago, VarHyid said:

I just can't find any info because every single thread or Reddit post I see ends up with everyone saying they're all garbage and you should get an LSI card... but that is simply not an option for me.

Why is an LSI HBA not an option? They are cheap and plentiful on the used market.


What is the use case of the machine?

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Expand for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components and other tech. I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need.

 

Common build advice: 1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

useful websites: https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

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I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 3 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). While I believe I have an decent amount of experience in spec’ing, building and troubleshooting computers, keep in mind I'm not an expert or a professional and I make mistakes.

 

Favourite Games of all time: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii

 

Main PC: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C

 

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Other: LTT Screwdriver, LTT Stubby Screwdriver, IFIXIT Pro Tech Toolkit, Playstation 1 SCPH-102, Playstation 2 SCPH-30003, Gameboy Micro Silver OXY-001, Nintendo Wii U WUP-001(03), Playstation 4 CUH-1116A, Nintendo Switch OLED HEG-001, Yamaha RX-A4A Black AV Receiver, Monitor Audio Radius (4*90s, 1*200s, 2*270s, 1*380s), TP-Link TL-SG105-M2, Netgear GS308, IPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB Space Black, Secretlab TITAN Evo (Black SoftWeave Plus Fabric), 2*CyberPower BR1200ELCD-UK BRICs Series, Samsung 40" ES6800 Series 6 SMART 3D FHD LED TV, UGREEN USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure, SABRENT 3.5" SATA drive docking station

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5 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

Why is an LSI HBA not an option?

If I answer, will you give me a recommendation for a good non-LSI standard SATA card? 😉

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14 minutes ago, VarHyid said:

I just can't find any info because every single thread or Reddit post I see ends up with everyone saying they're all garbage and you should get an LSI card... but that is simply not an option for me.

Because the cheap ones generally are garbage, and the okay ones cost more than a good used SAS HBA. Why isn't an LSI card an option?

 

If you insist, get one from StarTech or SYBA.

I sold my soul for ProSupport.

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1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

Because the cheap ones generally are garbage.

Sorry, to clarify, price is irrelevant, I'd pay a lot, I just want a good one so it doesn't have to be something cheaper than LSI, could be worth more than several LSI cards as long as it's just a standard SATA expansion card.

 

Thanks for the tip, will check them out 👍

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If you plan on using them with BSD, then there is a good chance that most of them dont even have drivers for BSD. Get LSI HBAs or save up for more.

mY sYsTeM iS Not pErfoRmInG aS gOOd As I sAW oN yOuTuBe. WhA t IS a GoOd FaN CuRVe??!!? wHat aRe tEh GoOd OvERclok SeTTinGS FoR My CaRd??  HoW CaN I foRcE my GpU to uSe 1o0%? BuT WiLL i HaVE Bo0tllEnEcKs? RyZEN dOeS NoT peRfORm BetTer wItH HiGhER sPEED RaM!!! dId i WiN teH SiLiCON LotTerrY? yOu ShoUlD dEsHrOuD uR GPU. my SYstEm iS UNDerPerforMiNg iN WarzONE. can mY Pc Run WiNdOwS 11 ?? woUld BaKInG MY GRaPHics card fIX it? MultimETeR TeSTiNG!! aMd'S GpU DrIvErS aRe as goOD aS NviDia's YOU SHoUlD oVERCloCk yOUR ramS To 5000C18

 

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1 minute ago, Levent said:

Get LSI HBAs or save up for more.

 

Sorry for not including this in my first post - price doesn't matter so if you know any good SATA cards that cost... any amount, please let me know, I'd really appreciate it 🙂

 

I plan to use it on a Windows 10 machine, BTW.

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1 hour ago, VarHyid said:

If I answer, will you give me a recommendation for a good non-LSI standard SATA card? 😉

I mean, I'll help you look if it is actually a good reason 🙂. (I don't know of any good LSI alternatives at the moment)

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Expand for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components and other tech. I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need.

 

Common build advice: 1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

useful websites: https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

He/Him

 

I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 3 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). While I believe I have an decent amount of experience in spec’ing, building and troubleshooting computers, keep in mind I'm not an expert or a professional and I make mistakes.

 

Favourite Games of all time: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii

 

Main PC: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C

 

Secondary PC: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P

 

TrueNAS Server: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C

 

Laptop: 13.4" ASUS GZ301ZE ROG Flow Z13, WUXGA 120Hz, i9 12900H, 16GB DDR5, 1TB NVMe SSD, 4GB RTX 3050 Ti, TB4, Win11 Home, Used with: 2*ThinkPad Universal Thunderbolt 4 Dock, Logitech G603, Logitech G502 Hero, Logitech K120, Logitech G915 TKL, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, Logitech G PRO X Gaming-Headset (with Blue Icepop in Black), {specs to be updated: two monitors}

 

Other: LTT Screwdriver, LTT Stubby Screwdriver, IFIXIT Pro Tech Toolkit, Playstation 1 SCPH-102, Playstation 2 SCPH-30003, Gameboy Micro Silver OXY-001, Nintendo Wii U WUP-001(03), Playstation 4 CUH-1116A, Nintendo Switch OLED HEG-001, Yamaha RX-A4A Black AV Receiver, Monitor Audio Radius (4*90s, 1*200s, 2*270s, 1*380s), TP-Link TL-SG105-M2, Netgear GS308, IPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB Space Black, Secretlab TITAN Evo (Black SoftWeave Plus Fabric), 2*CyberPower BR1200ELCD-UK BRICs Series, Samsung 40" ES6800 Series 6 SMART 3D FHD LED TV, UGREEN USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure, SABRENT 3.5" SATA drive docking station

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1 hour ago, VarHyid said:

Yes, I know LSI is so good, it's the best, it's perfect, but let's assume I'm... allergic to LSI and MUST get a different regular SATA expansion card. Can anyone recommend even a single brand? Doesn't have to be any specific model, just some names that could point me in the right direction. I just can't find any info because every single thread or Reddit post I see ends up with everyone saying they're all garbage and you should get an LSI card... but that is simply not an option for me.

 

It's my last attempt at asking this question somewhere before I roll the dice 😞

 

---EDIT---

Price is irrelevant, I'm not looking for something cheaper, just a good SATA card even if it may cost much more than an LSI HBA.

Look at the controller chip on the boards and make sure that is compatible with your software of choice (there is a discussion on the unraid forum going into the details on this).

Silverstone make a PCIe card.  https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/expansion-cards/ECS06/

 

Zimaboard sell one that looks to be a generic on sold by Amazon under the brand IOGear I think (I have one).

Some of the cheap ones are cheap enough to roll the dice.

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7 hours ago, VarHyid said:

Yes, I know LSI is so good, it's the best, it's perfect, but let's assume I'm... allergic to LSI and MUST get a different regular SATA expansion card. Can anyone recommend even a single brand? Doesn't have to be any specific model, just some names that could point me in the right direction. I just can't find any info because every single thread or Reddit post I see ends up with everyone saying they're all garbage and you should get an LSI card... but that is simply not an option for me.

 

It's my last attempt at asking this question somewhere before I roll the dice 😞

 

---EDIT---

Price is irrelevant, I'm not looking for something cheaper, just a good SATA card even if it may cost much more than an LSI HBA.

https://www.microchip.com/en-us/products/storage/adaptec-smarthba-host-bus-adapters

 

Adaptec would be the closest competitor to lsi.

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