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    I'm currently running WHS on a bunch of relatively old parts.  Sempron 3000+, Socket 754 board, old AGP graphics card, several old hard drives, living in a Koolance water cooled case in my basement.  For RC1 I'm planning to add another new large hard drive, but my motherboard only has 2 SATA connectors onboard and I'm at my limit.  So I was planning to buy a PCI SATA card to expand the capacity.  But then I realized that it might be possible to buy a new motherboard with 4 SATA connectors for not much more than a PCI add-on card, and I wouldn't have to worry about compatibility or install issues, and I could repurpose my existing board for another use.

     

    I'm seeking recommendations.  I need 3 PCI slots.  Anything other than Socket 754 or Socket 939 would necessitate buying another bracket for the CPU water block, so those two are preferred.

    Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:27 PM

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    What are in your three PCI slots?  You may be able to get a mobo with those items built-in.

    I couldn't find an S754 with more than 2 SATA ports.  Most all available S939 motherboards are PCIe for video; but these two have embedded nVidia 6 series graphics (which is fine for a server):

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186086 - No PCI slots; onboard video (AGP), 7.1 channel audio, USB, firewire.  Roughly $61 including shipping

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186115 - This one has 2 PCI slots; onboard video (AGP& DVI), 5.1 channel audio, USB, but no firewire.  Roughly $45 including shipping (after rebate)

    Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:06 AM
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    I am downloading the RC2 now and have not used it yet, But I am going to use a DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 it is a great board.  I ran windows server 2003 EE on it with a AMD 3800 X2 for like 6 months with out a problem.  If you goto N**EGG they have a open box for 52.00 pretty cheep for a great board...  Hope this helps

    GamerzPc.com
    Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:11 AM
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    Here is the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136152R

    Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:16 AM
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     Don3580 wrote:

    I'm seeking recommendations.  I need 3 PCI slots.  Anything other than Socket 754 or Socket 939 would necessitate buying another bracket for the CPU water block, so those two are preferred.

     

    The only Micro-ATX board I know of is the Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS. There are plenty of ATX boards that would qualify but most of them are using older chipsets.

     

    Why do you need 3 PCI slots?

    Thursday, June 14, 2007 1:15 AM
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    You can buy a SATA PCI card for a low as £12 in the UK eg: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=48670

     

     

    Its based on the popular silicon image chipset so will be supported and is much cheaper than replacing the motherboard.  Because of AM2 and cheap DDR2 754 and 939 motherbaords are thinner on the ground and expensive for what they are.
    Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:36 AM
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    The 3 PCI slots are for two video capture cards and a modem.  The capture cards are because I'm running SageTV on my WHS box (works great, btw) and the modem because I'm serving CallerID information over my network.  I can go full ATX, the case is big.
    Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:48 AM
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    Never mind.  I decided it's easier and cheaper to simply add a couple of big IDE hard drives rather than go SATA.  Funny, but it's easy to forget that this project is really more "Make a useful server from parts you have in your 'old parts' box" than it is "Buy lots of expensive new stuff to make a server".
    Saturday, June 16, 2007 11:21 AM