Bushmaster78FS Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Folks, I have a mobo that has an Intel RAID Controller and 4 internal SATA ports. It is a Sony VGC-RC210G Computer which I modded a little since 2006 purchase. Not sure what type of SATA these ports are, as in SATA I or II. My 2 optical drives are IDE. I would like to replace these drives (Sony's OEM Pioneer burner is broke, doesn't burn anymore) with SATA drives but all my internal SATA ports are taken, I have 4 HDDs. Also I have an external HDD that has an eSATA port.I went on Newegg and looked at some "SATA cards" as I have 1 PCIx1 port available. I was disappointed not being able to find a quality card. These cards I found on Newegg did not have many ports, or they didn't support "optical drives" per user reviews. There was one that had 4 internal and 2 external ports supported either or, you could not connect internal and external sources at the same time. That one didn't do optical either.What I am trying to do is to connect two new SATA optical drives (one Blu-ray) and my external Seagate HDD through one SATA card.What are my options? Should I get a RAID Controller and transfer the internal HDDs to the add-on RAID and connect Optical Drives to the built-in SATA ports? Would that work? Can you have 2 RAID controllers in one system? Please ask if I skipped any other information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripken204 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) do you have a pcie x1 slot? or pci slot?you can have two raid controllers in one system.if you are willing to pay for a decent raid card then go for it.what is your current motherboard?take a look at something as simple as this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16816132008 Edited August 1, 2009 by ripken204 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster78FS Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 do you have a pcie x1 slot? or pci slot?you can have two raid controllers in one system.if you are willing to pay for a decent raid card then go for it.what is your current motherboard?Oh sorry it is a PCIe X1 slot. Here is the mobo, it is a OEM Intel manufactured for Sony I guess, there is no support available for it. I can have two RAID controllers, that is good, any suggestions on a decent card and would it support a BD reader and a DVD burner both SATA? I am opting to go with Sony Optiarc's models... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripken204 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16816132008here is a cheap card that i would only use as extra ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Stick with the PATA/IDE drives, no need to change, you will also need some extra SATA power connectors. You will save a PCI-E slot, teh extra SATA power connects and teh cost of the PCI-E SATA card . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster78FS Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Stick with the PATA/IDE drives, no need to change, you will also need some extra SATA power connectors. You will save a PCI-E slot, teh extra SATA power connects and teh cost of the PCI-E SATA card .Surely I can do that but there are NO IDE Blu-ray drives in the market... Or are there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripken204 Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 i highly doubt that, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcarle Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 i highly doubt that, lol.If you'd check instead of shooting off your ignorance, you'd know.They are rare and few, but they do exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 My bad, didn't read the blu-ray part. But is the rest of the hardware up to reproduce? Besides that, I would check the compatibility with for example Silicon Image chips, I know that VIA might be dead with their mainboard chipsets but they are more compatible I have found out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcarle Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Silicon Image chips tend to do fine as well. I wouldn't necessarily consider one to be better then the other. They're both budget chips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntoMX Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 It's good to know that they work fine, I must say that I had problems before with optical drives on SI but that could be the motherboard BIOS also as most were embedded on the motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster78FS Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Sony BWU-100A is their first product, they tend to mess up with the first product and then straighten it out. I know I use their GPS devices, TVs, Walkmans, Home Theater audio, computer displays, laptops etc etc. I will pass on that.I need to get a RAID card that supports optical drives or I need to find an external Blu-Ray drive and replace my broken DVD burner with another IDE DVD burner. Sony Optiarc is as cheap as 25 bucks right now for IDE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcarle Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 There are others. LG makes one, for example. I just used that model as an example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster78FS Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Are you still using it? What model? How would you rate it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcarle Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I personally do not own a blu-ray drive. I appologize if the wording used was confusing. I meant that I was referencing the link to that model as an example. I did not mean to say that I was currently using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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