Need a good eSATA card for ASUS Z97 Pro, i7 based PC

[Matt_Stevens]

Wow, I should have thought about this. My brand new ASUS Z97 Pro Wifi MB doesn't have any external SATA connections. It has plenty of USB3.0. Unfortunately all but one of my external drives are eSATA or 1394b.

I have the 1394b card covered (hopefully it'll install no trouble).

But I am not smiling at the eSATA card reviews on New Egg. Most only work with one single external drive at a time and good grief... the talk of port failures is scary.

Can anyone point me to a good card that can handle two external SATA drives? I am frequently using two externals at a time. All my eSATA cases are from Macally.

Amazon has the MaxPower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Controller Card and it has the highest review rating, but only 27 reviews in total. The StarTech PEXESAT32 seems to be the next logical choice.

But maybe I am missing something. Thanks.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I'd say you should look for something either Marvell or Asmedia based, so both of those cards should do all-right.

Both the Marvell 9128 and Asmedia 1061 on those cards has proven fairly reliable in my experience. Just make sure their firmware is up to date.

As an alternative, I think there are some Marvell 9230 based cards with eSATA out there, that might be worth looking into when you're using more then one external drive.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Thanks. I have ordered the StarTech PEXESAT32 for it's external SATA ports and also the Marvell based IO Crest 4 Port SATA III PCI-e 2.0 x1 Controller SI-PEX40064.

I am not sure if I can use both. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I am not sure if I can use both. I'll see how it goes.

Why not? Its not like the computer or windows cares how many SATA controllers are installed so long as there are adequate PCIe slots on the mainboard... 😀