How about a good quality separate controller that could be used for ssd or sas. and would be backwards compatible with sata as well. I usually us onboard sata, but have recently heard that a lot of the xtreme guys dont use onboard anyways and get separate controllers for significant performance gains. I dont know if this only applies in a raid config or what not. But I think maybe ditch the sas and possibly include a separate card. Kind of how the Sonar sound card is. If some of the guys have their own controller they can use it instead or the one you can supply would be better than std onboard and people that arent too xtreme can use the add on card!