I would like at least 4 ports with 2 eSATA ports or a 6 port card. All my drives are SATA I. The SATA connections on my mother board have been 'dying' one at a time now 2 died so I am fearful I will be completely 'dead' in a few weeks. I have been looking at this one Rosewill RC-218 PCI Express x4 Thanks!
Is an OK card, but to be honest, once the S-ATA ports start failing, so does everything else. USB ports will go, and then the board will become unstable. You're best off replacing the motherboard before you're left short.
Thanks, I had a gigabyte S-Series GA-EP45-Ds3R/DS3 with a rather slow processor (2.5). The audio died a month or so after I bought it but it has been stable for a few yrs. I have little money so I really want to spend as little as possible and get something stable. I don't play games but I do use a great deal of disk space. I would pay for a few extra slots. This one was very short on slots. Is it smarter to buy a disk controller to keep the MOBO less complicated? This is the first MOBO I have had that is actually fail on me. Thanks again
Not really. Smaller boards aren't inherently less reliable than higher-end boards, nor is the reverse true. At least, not with decent companies it isn't. I wouldn't say the board has failed [as long as it's OK at stock settings], but rather not fit for overclocking, as most small boards indeed aren't. As for the audio fault on the P45, did you not think to take it back?
I have no need for over clocking. If I did I would have bought a faster CPU. Yes, I did ponder that but not for very long. It was a hassle getting the board up and running. I had to take it in to a shop to get it running. I can't see the tiny writing any more. It was worth $50 to get it up and running. I had an empty slot so I bought a good sound card for $22. I think I may have queried this board asking if a onboard sound card going so early might be a sign of a bad board. The general consensus was the board was a good one, you recommended it not to worry. That process was painless. Returning it and being without a computer for I don't know how long would have been painful. I had to buy the board in Canada and I am in the US. I still think I made the right decision. Do you have any suggestions for a replacement? I really need to be able to keep the CPU and RAM if I can.
I don't, as there won't be one on sale. Have a look around ebay etc for Gigabyte, MSI or Biostar. Anything from them should be good as long as it's not too basic. P45 chipset ideally. Ah balls I'm confusing two different threads, one of which has a board that won't overclock with a new card in it and the other is you, sorry about that. As for the board with the SATA issue, I stand by what I said, I think it needs replacing. The fact that both the audio and SATA has failed is testament to this.
Yes this is the MOBO with SATAs going bad. The old board has a P45 express chip set do I need to match that? This has a P45 chip set. P43 chip set
You might consider getting better cooling for the chipset; even companies like gigabyte don't include enough cooling here. The chips overheat and then features start to fail. If you are starting with a chip that was bad to begin with (no audio), then it needs all the help it can get. That chipset is going to have trouble just posting before too long. I generally don't do it with desktops just because they are generally not worth saving...but I have done this with many servers (a replacement server board can be over $1000).
I've not seen any gigabyte boards overheat. They get quite hot, but not to the extent it causes any problems. Not at stock settings anyway, at overclocked settings things obviously change.
I have my clock speed at the lowest setting. I do not really need much speed for anything. I do not play any games. I am still at a loss as to what I should be looking for. I need something that will use my slow 2.5 g dual code CPU and its equally slow memory.
Interesting the soundcard on that board apparently "died" .. the one sat in front of me apparently had an audio fault too.. on M$ it crackled when muted.. or all the time and was at 100% voulme at all times regardless of any windoze control settings.. debian 64 .. sweet as.. full 5.1 out of it.. full control.. everything.. added.. ati 9600 grafix card.. salvaged from a bin due to refusing to do 3d render.. also works flawlessly on the "official" ati linux drivers.. change your operating system .. that's what I suggest.
That sounds like a driver issue, being stuck at 100& volume isn't a hardware issue that I know of. Linux isn't suitable for everyone. Mez: any LGA775 board with a 30 or 40 type chipset will do, P31, X38, P43 etc.
LoL...it would not do 3D render on windows, but it will on linux? And you don't even consider that maybe the part that is not functioning is simply going unused by the linux drivers? Surely you don't think every 9600 refuses to do 3D rendering under windows? So obviously, something is either wrong with the card or the driver...and if it really is the card, then either linux is masking the problem, or it is completely unable to perform the function that causes the problem, even on a fully functional card. This is one of the greatest features of linux; the ability to run well on bad parts; but it is hardly a fix for the problem...only a bandage for the symptom.
