Abit UL8, SATA, and 64-bit Windows 7

[GJL]

Interesting card. How did you find it? It looks like the same card as this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124020
But cheaper. I couldn't find your card on the list when I search for PCI SATA controller cards. Perhaps Newegg's search is broken?

Edit: Masscool isn't even listed as a mfg of controller cards. How DID you find that card?

I went to newegg.com and clicked Computer Hardware | Computer Accessories | Add-On Cards. Then, I clicked Power Search, and checked the four boxes in the Type section that had PCI on the left and SATA on the right, and clicked Search.

That narrowed the field to 11 cards. Then I sorted by Lowest Price, and for each one checked for Silicon Image, and for those that had Silicon Image, started reading user reviews.

Greg

 

[GJL]

Old motherboards + old BIOS + NEW OS and addressing model = shit problems galore.

Does Windows 7 have a new addressing model? At the time I bought the Abit UL8 in 2006, 64-bit Windows had already been available for a while. I don't know when the UL8 was designed, but 64-bit Windows XP was released in early 2003.

Anyway, 64-bit Windows 7 and 64-bit Vista are both running fine on this UL8, aside from incompatibility with it's on-board SATA.

Greg

 

[tcsenter]

Does Windows 7 have a new addressing model? At the time I bought the Abit UL8 in 2006, 64-bit Windows had already been available for a while. I don't know when the UL8 was designed, but 64-bit Windows XP was released in early 2003.

Well technically, 64-bit has been around since 1993, but...

 

[VirtualLarry]

I went to newegg.com and clicked Computer Hardware | Computer Accessories | Add-On Cards. Then, I clicked Power Search, and checked the four boxes in the Type section that had PCI on the left and SATA on the right, and clicked Search.

That narrowed the field to 11 cards. Then I sorted by Lowest Price, and for each one checked for Silicon Image, and for those that had Silicon Image, started reading user reviews.

Greg

Hmm. It seems that Newegg has disk controllers listed in two seperate categories!
I clicked on Hard Drives | Controller cards, and then search for PCI and SATA.

Doing that doesn't list your card. Someone at Newegg needs to fix that.

 

[GJL]

I've decided to go with a MassCool XWT-RC040:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815280003&Tpk=XWT-RC040

Just an update:

I installed the MassCool XWT-RC040 a few days ago, and it's working fine. I'm using it in XP, Windows 7 32-bit, and Windows 7 64-bit. I haven't tried booting to it yet; so far it's just a data drive.

The performance seems fine, though I don't know how to benchmark hard drive performance. Is there a free tool for that?


Installation was much easier than it was for many reviewers at newegg.com. For example:
-- I didn't have to file it down to make it fit.
-- It came pre-flashed with the latest BIOS, which allows drives larger than 500MB (mine is 750GB).
-- The included driver CD was not blank.
-- One of the XP drivers on the included driver CD did in fact work with XP. One of the folders on the CD had a date of December 2009, so I seem to have gotten a very recent box.

Installation was easiest of all in Windows 7 (both bitnesses), which found the driver itself on the web.

Issues discussed by those reviewers that I did run into are:
-- Its preflashed with the RAID BIOS, so I suppose I'll eventually need to flash it with the non-RAID BIOS. But for now it's working fine with a single drive, with the RAID BIOS. I've never pressed F4 on bootup to enter the card's RAID setup. Since most people who are going to use it in RAID mode are more technical than the average non-RAID user of the card, I think it would make more sense if they preflashed it with the non-RAID BIOS.
-- The included SATA cables are indeed a very tight fit and should be inserted with caution if at all. I'm using one of the SATA cables that came with my motherboard.
-- The included instructions were not worth their paper and ink. The best "instructions" are to read through the newegg.com reviews.


My only regret is spending too much time trying to get the ULi drivers working for the on-board SATA before getting this card.


Greg