Gateway FX6840-01e Motherboard Upgrade

[vie303]

I have a stock Gateway FX6840-01e, but have upgraded the RAM from 8 to 16, video card from Radeon ATI 5570 to MSI GTX660, boot drive from 1 TB to 128GB SSD then to 750 Seagate Momentum Hybrid, and installed USB 3.0 card. Now running out of slot for SATA 6 card.

Do anyone know if there's a motherboard out there that would fix the FX6800 case with these specs:
Support current FX6840 case
Has USB 3.0 internal and external
Has SATA III internal and eSATA III
Support all current components.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[clutchc]

That case should accept any microATX motherboard.

 

[tsnor]

re: MB, take lots of pictures of the wires, they will not be labeled on the gateway case side so once you pull them off the MB you'll have to trace them to see what they do.

If you do swap MB be aware that the gateway recovery media won't work, so you'll need to find another backup strategy. (no big deal). Windows may also need to be re-validated which takes 2 seconds and is also no big deal.

I got a terrible highpoint sata3 (6 gbit) card bundled with a nice san digital hw raid array. The card added 30 seconds to boot time. Suggest you skip " Now running out of slot for SATA 6 card.", or do enough research on the card so that you know the card is good.

re: eSATA. You can get a simple adapter that is MB SATA on one end and eSATA on the other. They are compatible. Mine uses one of back panel slots above a PCIe slot on the MB. This assumes you have a remaining sata port on your MB, and some way to get the eSata connection out of the case.

 

[vie303]

Thank you guys for your inputs. I have opted to go the easy route by installing a Transcend 4-port PCI Express USB/Serial ATA Combo Adapter : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056TYT66/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

This solution has been an easy fix to my dilemma of upgrading to USB 3.0 and SATA III, granted that I do not have internal USB 3.0

Thanks!