STARTECH PCIe

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

Im looking at 2-port SATA3 cards and this looks like the cheapest available in NZ.

Is this SATA card any good? or shit?

 

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/ADPSTT2086123/STARTECH-PEXESAT322I-2Port-PCIe-SATA-III-eSATA-Con

[PineyCreek]

I've used startech products.  They're passable.  I've used Syba manufactured cards as well with success.  It uses the same chipset that's on that card.  It'll do.

 

Just be aware that some of these cards use the PCI-E x4 slot but only run at PCI-E x2 or x1.  If you're just looking to add a drive, it's a good option.  If you're hoping for a massive speed boost...maybe not so much.  I run my main boot SATA III SSD off my addon card at the moment and have no complaints.

[Droidbot]

check ebay australia, oftentimes you can get similar cards from china at a lower cost

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PCIe-PCI-Express-to-SATA3-0-2-Port-SATA-III-6G-Controller-Expansion-Card-Adapter-/401206438349?hash=item5d69c469cd:g:2moAAOSwnNBXXktx

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[SquintyG33Rs]

do you need the eSata too? because i feel like this should only set you back 20CAD (idk how that would translate to AUD) with shipping and all. China electronic stuff is fine in my experience, not the fastest but doesn't break so it's a good solution for much cheaper.

[PineyCreek]

49 minutes ago, SquintyG33Rs said:

do you need the eSata too? because i feel like this should only set you back 20CAD (idk how that would translate to AUD) with shipping and all. China electronic stuff is fine in my experience, not the fastest but doesn't break so it's a good solution for much cheaper.

As a side note to that comment, most of the cards with two eSATA ports are of the 'one or the other' variant.  That is, if you use the SATA port on the card, the corresponding eSATA port does not work.

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

24 minutes ago, SquintyG33Rs said:

do you need the eSata too? because i feel like this should only set you back 20CAD (idk how that would translate to AUD) with shipping and all. China electronic stuff is fine in my experience, not the fastest but doesn't break so it's a good solution for much cheaper.

in NZ we dont use AUD. CAD works out very close to NZD but shipping costs 2X more, IF they ship, and anything overseas that costs more than $60 including shipping cost gets 15% GST tax and a rip-off admin fee which i think is about $40 and a couple of days sitting at the border + late fees because the NZ postal service no longer delivers every day!! rant over.

 

I dont need the e-sata, just two internals. e-SATA would be nice but I think USB3 speed has made e-SATA obsolete.

I should explain what im doing. I upgraded my fileserver when it ran out of space. I have two 7 year old 250GB WD RE drives now sitting on my shelf which i think is a waste and I think these drives last forever. The SMART report is like a brand new drive. They are too small to use for cold backup but I think I can use them for swap and maybe recording network packets, or anything else that is throw away I dont want on my other drives

1 hour ago, Droidbot said:

check ebay australia, oftentimes you can get similar cards from china at a lower cost

cheers. hmm generic shenzen product, it is much cheaper my only concern is it doesnt state the chipset and it doesnt list linux as supported. it is that cheap that it might be worth a gamble.

 

 

[Jarsky]

You can get one off eBay for a lot cheaper. 

Or if you dont mind spending that much, an HBA like this is much more worth it for the same price: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-AOC-SAS2LP-MV8-PCI-Express-2-0-x8-SATA-SAS-8-Port-Controller-SFF-/262836642695

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

Just now, PineyCreek said:

As a side note to that comment, most of the cards with two eSATA ports are of the 'one or the other' variant.  That is, if you use the SATA port on the card, the corresponding eSATA port does not work.

yea i saw there was a comment on jumpers. I use to have a SATA 1 PCI card which was similar

[Jarsky]

1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

in NZ we dont use AUD. CAD works out very close to NZD but shipping costs 2X more, IF they ship, and anything overseas that costs more than $60 including shipping cost gets 15% GST tax and a rip-off admin fee which i think is about $40 and a couple of days sitting at the border + late fees because the NZ postal service no longer delivers every day!! rant over.

 

You only get taxed if you spend NZ$400 incl shipping on electronics. 

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

1 minute ago, Jarsky said:

You can get one off eBay for a lot cheaper. 

Or if you dont mind spending that much, an HBA like this is much more worth it for the same price: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-AOC-SAS2LP-MV8-PCI-Express-2-0-x8-SATA-SAS-8-Port-Controller-SFF-/262836642695

cheers, it just has to be under $60 to avoid import duty. AND they have to ship to NZ, you prob cant see it but a lot of ebay sellers do not ship here

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

1 minute ago, Jarsky said:

You only get taxed if you spend NZ$400 incl shipping on electronics. 

na they changed it. The IRD put on a gimp suit and they crack their whip on internet sales

[Droidbot]

30 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

 

I dont need the e-sata, just two internals. e-SATA would be nice but I think USB3 speed has made e-SATA obsolete.

 

esata is useful as an external boot device

 

for example I could have a Windows install on an internal HDD and another on an eSATA device and have the ability to boot to the eSATA perfect. And since it appears as SATA to the OS, TRIM and Secure Erase are natively supported 

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

esata is useful as an external boot device

that sounds good but some of the cards i have looked at do state they cannot be used for boot. I use to have a very old chinesium SATA 1 card that could not boot an OS. It would initialise after the boot drive detection/manual selection and I remember it had its own BIOS-like menu to configure its crappy JBOD crappy crap. it added 10 seconds to my boot time. Iv got a USB3 2.5 and 3.5" dock that i use for backup and I find its pretty fast so e-SATA is not necessary but maybe if my dock fails it might be useful so i wont rule it out, but it is no deal breaker.

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

that sounds good but some of the cards i have looked at do state they cannot be used for boot. I use to have a very old chinesium SATA 1 card that could not boot an OS. It would initialise after the boot drive detection/manual selection and I remember it had its own BIOS-like menu to configure its crappy JBOD crappy crap. it added 10 seconds to my boot time. Iv got a USB3 2.5 and 3.5" dock that i use for backup and I find its pretty fast so e-SATA is not necessary but maybe if my dock fails it might be useful so i wont rule it out, but it is no deal breaker.

Ah, my laptop has an ESata port wired straight to the PCH so that's how that works

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

2 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

Ah, my laptop has an ESata port wired straight to the PCH so that's how that works

yea there seems to be two very distinct classes. crap ones and fully featured ones. Im trying to find a crap one that can just present my disks as disks and use two ports at full speed. That is the only special stuff I need, no RAID cache or booting ability required.

Some reviews are a bit concerning and it doesnt help that the listings dont state chipsets in use.

If you look at some they have heatsinks, but the cheap ones do not.

Why do the cheapest cards not have heatsinks? Can they operate at full speed?