Looking for a planned P55 board w/ revised SATA III chip

[Interitus]

I haven't been following the disaster around SATA III too closely, but I was looking around trying to find out if any manufacturers had planned a P55 board around the revised Marvell controller that supposedly fixes the problems?

I won't be going P55 quite yet, so it's not like I'll be waiting long anyways, just curious as to whether it was something that was worth looking out for in the somewhat near future.

 

[rolodomo]

Here's one: ASUS P7P55D

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/15137/1/

 

[Interitus]

Thanks! Looks good. I'll definitely check that one out when the time comes

 

[lopri]

That is an interesting solution indeed. It seems like instead of adding a 3rd physical x16 slot with x4 bandwidth, ASUS gave that bandwidth to the new storage controller. I'd like to see test results using SSDs when benches are out.

 

[rolodomo]

Originally posted by: lopri
That is an interesting solution indeed. It seems like instead of adding a 3rd physical x16 slot with x4 bandwidth, ASUS gave that bandwidth to the new storage controller. I'd like to see test results using SSDs when benches are out.

PC Perspectives just put up an interesting article stating (speculating?) ASUS's "solution" revealed the actual problem with the Marvell 9123 Sata 6.0G chip. Specifically, the Marvell chip could only accept a single PCIe connection, limiting the speed of this Sata III chip to just 250MB/s (i.e., Sata II type speeds). That's amazing to me, seems like a real left hand/right hand issue between the board makers and Marvell. Do they even talk to each other? ASUS then had to put in a bridge chip, which sacrificed the four PCIe x1 connections (i.e., the x4 slot).

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=769

I'm holding off my first x58 build to see how Sata III makes it into refreshed X58 boards, if at all. The internet has gone dark on that issue though.

 

[Interitus]

I'm in the same boat. I figured I'd hold off on the purchase of X58 or P55 until I could see some real in-depth reviews or comparisons. Holding off for a working SATA III chip or solution such as the one Asus uses would be a definite plus as well.

I don't SLI and typically only use one add-on card (PCI X-Fi Fatality atm) so even the Asus solution wouldn't bother me. I'm not starved for PCI-E lanes.

 

[Interitus]

So I'm trying to look at the Asus boards at Newegg and I'm not seeing any of them advertising the SATA III hardware? What gives?

 

[piasabird]

So what good is all this? A hard drive can only read and write so fast. Is this all to try to get more PCI devices running? Dont have any use for PCI devices unless it is a network card or wireless card. Maybe they should make more cards that run off of the x16 slots. Maybe they should just get rid of all the PCI slots. Same thing goes for IDE.

 

[vailr]

Any rumors about a future iteration of the Intel P55 chipset: maybe P65 (?), with onboard SATA III & USB 3.0 ?

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: rolodomo
Specifically, the Marvell chip could only accept a single PCIe connection, limiting the speed of this Sata III chip to just 250MB/s (i.e., Sata II type speeds). That's amazing to me, seems like a real left hand/right hand issue between the board makers and Marvell. Do they even talk to each other?

Looks like a typical 'technology bridge' transitional solution to me, as evidenced by the fact it only offers two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports. By the time you can saturate PCI-E x1 via two drives without requiring absurdly priced super-premium SSDs, there will be another generation of mainboards and SATA 6.0 Gbps controllers ready to launch.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

For the first time in a while I have enough money in the bank to build a high end system but with all of this new tech around the corner such as usb 3.0, sata III, and the new gen of video cards next month, im trying hard to hold back. Its even harder when you can get an i7 920 for $200....

 

[Interitus]

But do any of these ASUS boards actually have the bridge on them? The Deluxe was supposed to, but I'm not seeing it featured on any of them. Asus really needs to cut down on the number of P55 boards, lol.

 

[Isura]

According to their website, only the Premium board has the bridge. The others require an add-on card (sold separately).

 

[Interitus]

I just saw that early this morning. Ugh. Guess I'll just wait for some boards to come out later with working SATA 6Gb/s. Kinda pointless for me to pay that much money for a board when I don't need anything else on it that the $150 boards don't have.