MSI K9A2 Question Serial Attached SCSI

[Unoid]

For those who have this motherboard.

Has anyone tried using Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Hd's in it yet?

Any performance figures to share?

Seems to be one of if not the first enthusiast mobo that has a built in SAS controller.

[EvilBellyLint]

For those who have this motherboard.

Has anyone tried using Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Hd's in it yet?

Any performance figures to share?

Seems to be one of if not the first enthusiast mobo that has a built in SAS controller.

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a 15Krpm SAS drive for my board
(which hasn't arrived yet ) so if I do, I'll be sure to give a full
report

EBL

[Unoid]

I've seen fujitsu 36gb 15k SAS HD's for 160$-200$

It'd rock the socks off a raptor.

I'm thinking of going the MSi + SAS route when the better clocking phenoms are out.

[AliG]

I think it actually is the first enthustiast mobo with a built in SAS controller, that's actually a very nice feature to have because a 15k rpm SAS drive will be faster than even raid 0 raptors and will be the same price, but controllers are pricey/and also only work with PCIx slots which only servers have

I have no idea what the performance numbers would be, but you can definitely count on having fast load times

[Frodin]

Is the SAS controller on the PCI-E or the PCI bus? I guess it would be kind of pointless if it was on the PCi bus? (bottleneck?) BTW, the MSI page on the mobo says

2 SATA II (5~6) ports by Promise® T3, support SAS ready devices, for storage devices only

[Unoid]

I am interested i nthis board.

I looked on Promise's website and no mention of a T3 chip.

But the only SAS controller they do have is PCI-E so 99% fo sure the MSI implementation is PCI-E or goes directly to the southbridge like the SATA ports.

Can't wait to see 15k SAS drives = new enthusiast mobo.

[Frodin]

If the controller is any good, I'd consider this mobo with a SAS drive or two for a relatively cheap audio sequencer machine, PCI-E SAS cards alone cost at least 50% more than the mobo for the least expensive ones!

[EvilBellyLint]

Is the SAS controller on the PCI-E or the PCI bus? I guess it would be kind of pointless if it was on the PCi bus? (bottleneck?) BTW, the MSI page on the mobo says

Fear not. They simply refer to "storage devices" to indicate the controller
is for HDDs only (as if we couldn't figure out not to attach a DVD burner...)


EBL

[EvilBellyLint]

I am interested i nthis board.

Can't wait to see 15k SAS drives = new enthusiast mobo.

This is what I've been trying to get people to notice about this MSI board
for the past couple weeks now

EBL

[EvilBellyLint]

I've seen fujitsu 36gb 15k SAS HD's for 160$-200$

It'd rock the socks off a raptor.

I'm thinking of going the MSi + SAS route when the better clocking phenoms are out.

How does a 15K.5 Seagate Cheetah 73GB for $190 sound?


EBL

[EvilBellyLint]

I looked on Promise's website and no mention of a T3 chip.

But the only SAS controller they do have is PCI-E so 99% fo sure the MSI implementation is PCI-E or goes directly to the southbridge like the SATA ports.

I believe the "Promise T3" is an OEM version of their FastTrak FTTX4650
RAID card. The retail version of this card has (4) SAS/SATA ports, but what
MSI did is have Promise Technology make them a version with (2) SAS/SATA
ports & (2) eSATA ports.

So you get a total of (6) SATA ports and (2) eSATA ports on the board --
the ports I just mentioned that are on the Promise T3 RAID controller,
and (4) SATA ports on a 2nd RAID controller (AMD SB600)


EBL


Edited to Add: so basically you're getting AMD's onboard RAID, along with
a 2nd controller that retails for $150... not too shabby for a $170 board

[EvilBellyLint]

Wow you sure are excited about this SAS technology EBL.

Nice quadruple posting there...

at least they were informative


EBL

[Unoid]

All informative.

Bring on the new phenom revisions and the SAS drives.

[su35bm]

I've already ordered a pair of Fujitsu MAX3073RC so I'll give it a try once they arive

[Unoid]

superb. su35. Going in this MSI board?

I'm thinking of going this route after x-mas with a single SAS drive as boot + main apps.

[Brother Esau]

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a 15Krpm SAS drive for my board
(which hasn't arrived yet ) so if I do, I'll be sure to give a full
report

EBL

WORD OF ADVICE>>>> For hard core enthusiasts such as our selves that switch allot of Motherboards and quite often ONLY BUY ARECA!

My Areca Card has worked on every Motherboard I have put it into END OF STORY!

[EvilBellyLint]

WORD OF ADVICE>>>> For hard core enthusiasts such as our selves that switch allot of Motherboards and quite often ONLY BUY ARECA!

My Areca Card has worked on every Motherboard I have put it into END OF STORY!

Sound advice brutha. First gonna see if the MSI's onboard SAS controller
does the trick. If I ever get my board that is


EBL

[Unoid]

anyone have an update?

[EvilBellyLint]

anyone have an update?

Wish I did. I've checked EVERWHERE, and seems no one is getting
their shipments from MSI until the 14th... so still waiting.

I did buy a Maxtor Atlas II 15k 36GB SAS drive, and am considering
getting either a 15K Fujitsu or Hitachi SAS as a second.

(Will need to remember to snag some SAS cables too... none included)

So, still in a holding pattern. But for those who managed to get early
samples of the board, maybe they can at least tell us how the SATA
RAID controller is performing.

EBL

[GenTarkin]

I bet that SAS will be nice =)
I dont have SAS but have a LSI 320-2E PCIE dual channel SCSI320 RAID controller card w/ 128MB cache and I have 2x 147GB Maxtor Atlas II's 15k RPM hooked up to them in RAID 0 and let me tell you....
this system SCREAMS! I get over 10k in the PCmark2005 HDD bench suite.
latencies of 5.7ms are AWESOME! lol

[EvilBellyLint]

I bet that SAS will be nice =)
I dont have SAS but have a LSI 320-2E PCIE dual channel SCSI320 RAID controller card w/ 128MB cache and I have 2x 147GB Maxtor Atlas II's 15k RPM hooked up to them in RAID 0 and let me tell you....
this system SCREAMS! I get over 10k in the PCmark2005 HDD bench suite.
latencies of 5.7ms are AWESOME! lol

oh man... with a decent add-on controller and DUAL Atlas's in RAID 0

I can only imagine how flippin' fast that runs.


EBL

[Unoid]

I want to see SAS benchmarks!
I haven't even found a single major website that has even reviewed the K9a2?

thats very strange.

[Brother Esau]

UPDATE:>>>>>>>.........Get a ARECA SAS Controller and don't waste you're time with that thing!

[jarthel]

WORD OF ADVICE>>>> For hard core enthusiasts such as our selves that switch allot of Motherboards and quite often ONLY BUY ARECA!

My Areca Card has worked on every Motherboard I have put it into END OF STORY!

does areca have SAS controller? I looked into their site and it's sata.

thank you.

[Unoid]

ESAU we heard you? why do you keep mentioning it?