Hi Guys,

So after doing some more research I've decided to go with the Supermicro system. It seems the motherboard supports 3 dual slot cards and a x8 slot.

There are two versions I am looking at - the motherboards are essentially the same except one has an on board LSI Raid controller. I was curious what your guys opinion is on the raid controller that comes with the board (link below) versus an Areca 1882ix (link below). I'm leaning towards the Areca but the onboard option seems appealing due to freeing up a PCI slot and being less expensive.

Board with Raid Controller
http://www.supermicro.com.tw/product...c600/x9da7.cfm (http://www.lsi.com/products/storagec...SISAS2308.aspx)

Areca Card
http://www.areca.com.tw/products/1882.htm

Thanks again for the help.