ASUS P4PE is a STUPID Motherboard & ASUS STINKS!

[papalion]

I just purchased the ASUS P4PE/L/R/SATA for the new system i am building for myself.

Eventhough i have used only Abit boards in all my other system builds for the last 5 years, i chose this board over the Abit IT7 MAX2 V.2 because the IT7 lack a coaxial digital audio output which i needed to connect the computer to my stereo so that my wife could listen to her internet radio (and thus allow me to spend the $$$ on a new system).

My intention was to set up RAID 0 with my two new WD 100GB Special Edition hard drives.

Once i read the manual i realized that the ASUS P4PE with "RAID support" is the most stupidly designed motherboard i have ever come across. This board supposidly supports RAID 0 but it only has 1 IDE RAID connector.

Now according to the manual, both drives have to be set as master to configure RAID 0. How can you have two master drives on one IDE channel?! The manual lists three possible connection options:

[*]a. Connect one Parallel ATA HDD to PRI_RAID1 conector and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two Serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel ATA or serial ATA cables.
[*]b. Connect one Serial ATA HDD to each Serial ATA connector, using separate serial ATA cables.
[*]c. Connect one Seial ATA HDD to the PRI_RAID1 connector, and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel/serial ATA cables.

None of these options include using two parallel ATA drives in RAID 0.

It's wonderful that this board supports serial ATA and it's extremely generous for ASUS to include serial ATA cables. However, the last time i checked, serial ATA hard drives are not yet available.

In other words, this DUMB motherboard with an onboard RAID controller does not support RAID using the only hard drives currently avalable, because the idiots who designed this board chose to include only one IDE RAID connector!!

 

[mechBgon]

Regretably, as you say there aren't any Serial ATA drives on the market yet, but once there are, you will be able to use those. Search newegg.com for "SATA" and you will also find adapters allowing you to use your parallel-ATA drives on the SATA jacks. Sorry to hear your new board is bumming you out. Welcome to the forums, anyway

 

[Shockwave]

Why is that dumb?
A) You can buy adapters. There not 100 bucks apiece.
B) Real estate is usually at a premium on Mobo's. Do you want a full 4 set of IDE controllers, or do you want upgradability in the future and cut some ATA for SATA?

Dont get me wrong, I understand your pain. I have a Asus board with the same problem, which is annoying for me but only in the fact that Asus doesnt include a Sata adapter. If they would throw in one of those, I'd be happy as a pig in....you know....

But alas, we cant get it all in the box can we?

 

[papalion]

I had no idea they actually made Parallel-Serial ATA adapters.
Now that I know this I am not bummed.

I do think that if they were going to include anything in the box it should have been the adapters. They could have kept their SATA cables being that there are no SATA drives yet and when they do become available, they will probably come with their own cables! Most users of this board probably need the adapters at this point rather than the cables.

Also, there are so many other MBs with RAID controllers and they all have two IDE RAID ports. The SATA are so small that i really don't think it's a matter of real estate as much as poor design. Besides, by the time most users of this board acquire a SATA HDD, they will have upgraded their MB twice.

But seriously, thanks a lot for your help!

 

[Shockwave]

I fully agree, they should include at least 1 adapter! They run around 30 bucks I think on newegg.

Anyways, I dont know if its top space real estate or getting the traces and chipsets to support 4 PATA and 1 or 2 SATA.

I really dont know WHY they dont, its all speculation on my part. But yes, I agree 100% on the include adapters point!!

 

[papalion]

I checked out newegg.com and the adapters are 30 bucks each, which means for two adapters i have to shell out 60 smackers! For that price i could get a separate RAID controller with two ports. Plus, i could have gotten the ASUS P4PE w/o RAID for $30 less than i paid for the P4PE/L/R/SATA.

I think i'm going to end up returning the motherboard and getting one with two IDE RAID ports. Every other MB with RAID seems two have two. It's just poor designing, plain and simple. SHAME ON YOU ASUS!

By the way, do you know if these adapters change/decrease the performance of the attached drives in any way?

 

[SpeedTester]

I think you only need one adapter for one of the Sata Channels, you can use the existing pararrel port for the 2nd drive.
If you shop around you can get the adapter for under 30 shipped.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Welcome to the forums papalion

Your issue has been addressed so I'll just add that in the future before spending a considerable amount of $$$ on hardware carefully research it and search for issues about it on various forums to get a feel for how the end-users are making out with it And don't be afraid to ask questions on the forums before your purchase as input from others is often indispensable.