What nforce-2 mobos have ide onboard RAID?

[tboo]

Im in the market for an n-force2 mobo that has onboard IDE RAID-any suggestions?

 

[Doh!]

Chanintech & Soltek, AFAIK.

 

[SpideyCU]

AFAIK, those are through the Serial ATA ports, are they not? Just like the Asus Deluxe.

 

[tboo]

I was looking at the Asus board till i discovered that it had serial ata raid only. Ive been out of the loop for a while so i thought id ask here.

 

[Doh!]

Originally posted by: SpideyCU
AFAIK, those are through the Serial ATA ports, are they not? Just like the Asus Deluxe.

They're are Parallel ATA 133 RAIDs.

 

[Mac]

They're are Parallel ATA 133 RAIDs.

I don't think so...which model numbers? Unless they have just released something new, all of these boards have serial ATA RAID.

There is another thread (Link) which touches on this and other topics regarding the dearth of choices for an nForce2 board.

Please clarify if there is something the rest of us are missing.

 

[Doh!]

Originally posted by: Mac

They're are Parallel ATA 133 RAIDs.

I don't think so...which model numbers? Unless they have just released something new, all of these boards have serial ATA RAID.

There is another thread (Link) which touches on this and other topics regarding the dearth of choices for an nForce2 board.

Please clarify if there is something the rest of us are missing.

For Solteck nforce2 motherboard:

Read'em here.

Excerpt copied from the above link:

# Supports 2 x Ultra ATA 133/100/66
# Integrated Promise Serial ATA RAID controller
# Supports 1 x Parallel ATA 133 RAID

For Chaintech nforce2 motherboard:

According to Amdmb:

As you can see, there are three IDE connectors available and two serial ATA connectors powered by the Promise chipset. Two of the IDE ports are for your standard ATA133 IDE bus and the third can be used for RAID configurations or as just another IDE connection.

Although Chaintech's website does not specifically mention a parallel ATA 133 raid, the description given by Amdmb (as linked above) indicates Chaintech has a parallel raid (maybe not?).

At least Soltek definitely has a parallel raid. Is this clear enough?

 

[Mac]

Is this clear enough?

No, it isn't. I read the following from the Soltek online manual:

"Supporting an additional RAID IDE connector for one more RAID IDE hard disk with up to 133MB/s transfer rate"

Do we take this literally...."one more RAID IDE hard disk", meaning one physical drive? I think that is the case. I'm not sure how you have a RAID array with ONE drive .

Also, when reading through the available user reviews on the Chaintech, it is disappointing what is actually supported in that configuration. Here is a sample of the user comments:

"you will be able to hook up two hard drives to this motherboard through the single raid port and set the array up striping for performance,but you will be limited to two hard drives while other motherboards would come with 2 ports allowing you to stripe 4 hard drives together for an evern greater performance increase this is the only "flaw" i can see with this motherboard. not a big deal for unless you can afford 4 hard hard drives "

"2 drives CANNOT be connected to the IDE RAID socket to create a RAID array. 1 master can be connected, other drives must be added using the serial ATA connections."

What I am reading is that none of the existing nForce2 boards support more than 4 parallel IDE devices (unless you buy an additional IDE RAID controller board). Even if a third IDE connector is provided, it only supports a single drive which must be configured in tandem with a serial ATA drive. This is a definite limitation.

My reason for focusing on this is that I have an Abit KR7A-RAID board which is limping and needs replacement. I would like to upgrade to an nForce2 board, but, with over $400 invested in the current RAID array, two 120GB and two 100GB drives, nothing works unless I want to spend the extra $ to buy a separate RAID controller. It leaves me wondering why?

 

[LostHiWay]

You might want to hold off with the nForce2 and RAID. I've been hearing around that people that do put in RAID cards get HORRIBLE performance with it. Also if you buy the serialATA convetors for your IDE drives you get even worse RAID performance.

I'll be waiting for the KT400A chipset

 

[Doh!]

Hmm...seems like I've fallen for the marketing trick.

 

[mechBgon]

The RAID "problem" is a Windows problem, judging by chizow's experiments and final success by having Windows convert his RAID to a Dynamic disk. The board has PCI bandwidth coming out its ears, over 120Mb/sec on mine.

As for your RAID quest: if you wanted RAID0 then you'd need to have at least one SATA drive, or else use a converter to hook up 1 or more conventional ATA drives to the SATA controller.

 

[SpideyCU]

Originally posted by: LostHiWay
You might want to hold off with the nForce2 and RAID. I've been hearing around that people that do put in RAID cards get HORRIBLE performance with it. Also if you buy the serialATA convetors for your IDE drives you get even worse RAID performance.

I'll be waiting for the KT400A chipset

I've been hearing that aliens are responsible for it all. And solar flares.

There's no problem. At least, it's not the NF2's "problem", if you're referring to what I think you're referring to, which mech covered. If you take a wander over to storagereview.com's forums, do a little search and I think you'll find the answer.

 

[KidChaos]

Although Chaintech's website does not specifically mention a parallel ATA 133 raid, the description given by Amdmb (as linked above) indicates Chaintech has a parallel raid (maybe not?).

To do PATA RAID on the chaintech Zenith, you must attach one PATA drive on the PATA RAID controller and another on the SATA RAID controller via PATA-SATA converter.