what is your experience with MaxUpgrades PCI SATA 3 kits

[jeeplj8]

Thinking of adding their 8 drive PCI SATA 3 kit that gives you SATA 3 for the 4 internal drives plus 4 drives (assuming you use SSD only due to space constraints) in the second optical bay on my 2009 5.1 (EFI update.)

It looks like this would give me SATA 3 support for up to 8 drives. What I find surprising are the quoted speeds. It looks like however it is arranged for the 4 internal bays, they are always slower. But the drives running in the optical bay are faster...so does the kit still use the 4.1 architecture SATA 2 backplane? I thought the point was that it did not...but the speeds look really slow.

Second question, in comparison to the Apricorn duo with two SSD in RAID 0; it shows higher speeds than the MaxUpgrade kit with 4 SSD in RAID 0...how?

Looking for some input from those who have used the MaxUpgrade products.
[doublepost=1492793775][/doublepost]shoot - forgot the link:
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=365&ParentCat=426

 

[Yahooligan]

The reason the drive bays are showing slower is because they're always assuming 4xHDDs will be there compared to installing SSDs in the optical bay. It has nothing to do with the HDD bays and everything to do with how they assume someone has their cMP set up using the factory sleds.

Keep in mind that kit you linked does NOT include the actual PCIe controller, it is simply a kit to allow the use of a PCIe controller that has miniSAS ports.

If you want a controller with that kit then you're looking at this for $700+.

http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=398&ParentCat=420

 

[jeeplj8]

Thank you for the info. Are there less expensive options for the RAID PCIe card? I see cards out there that state they have a mini-SAS port, but have no idea what will work with the MaxUpgrade cabling, etc.

 

[Yahooligan]

Thank you for the info. Are there less expensive options for the RAID PCIe card? I see cards out there that state they have a mini-SAS port, but have no idea what will work with the MaxUpgrade cabling, etc.

miniSAS is miniSAS, so if the card has 2 miniSAS ports then the cabling will work. The issue is Mac support, you need to find a card that is bootable.

 

[jeeplj8]

I ordered a highpoint 2720sgl, their website states it works native with 10.8 and up.

 

[Squuiid]

I ordered a highpoint 2720sgl, their website states it works native with 10.8 and up.

Is it bootable though?

 

[Yahooligan]

I ordered a highpoint 2720sgl, their website states it works native with 10.8 and up.

Looks like a good card!

Is it bootable though?

Appears to be, I was concerned about that for the OP and everything I've found says that it is bootable. Guess we'll find out!

 

[jeeplj8]

High hopes for the highpoint card as I plan to run 8 drives (the 4 internal bays plus 4 SSD in the optical bay) off the card.

Now trying to figure when it will be delivered...

 

[jeeplj8]

Looks like a good card!



Appears to be, I was concerned about that for the OP and everything I've found says that it is bootable. Guess we'll find out!

And FAIL. Not bootable. Anyone have a suggestion for a bootable PCI mini-SAS card ?

 

[Yahooligan]

And FAIL. Not bootable. Anyone have a suggestion for a bootable PCI mini-SAS card ?

Well that sucks. Saw your other thread, curious to see what comes up.