Two SATA3 HDDs on Marvel 9128

[Paul P]

I'm pretty much decided on buying the ASUS P9X79 WS motherboard for my upcoming build. This board has 2 Intel SATA3 ports and 2 SATA3 ports off the Marvel 9128 controller.

I've been searching this site for the past hour or two and I've mostly come across the fact that the Marvel controller isn't that great and is definitely slower than the Intel controller for SSDs. I do plan to have a boot SSD so I'll put that on one of the Intel ports so that's not a problem.

My question is can the Marvel controller keep up with two SATA3 HDDs (WD 1TB Caviar Blacks, No RAID)? I've seen some info hinting at this but I'd just like to make sure. This would leave the 2nd Intel SATA3 for a possible additional SSD down the road.

Thanks.

 

[Dereck47]

My question is can the Marvel controller keep up with two SATA3 HDDs (WD 1TB Caviar Blacks, No RAID)? I've seen some info hinting at this but I'd just like to make sure. This would leave the 2nd Intel SATA3 for a possible additional SSD down the road.

Yes, the Marvell 9128 was originally designed to RAID HDDs and 1st generation SSDs. Its data bandwidth can't keep up with current generation SSDs.

HDDs can be SATA 3 "compatible", not SATA 3 "capable". A single HDD cannot spin fast enough to saturate a SATA 2 port, let alone a SATA 3 port, so you will suffer no performance loss connecting your HDDs to the Marvell ports.

 

[Paul P]

Thanks Dereck47, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

 

[Paul P]

Best answer selected by Paul P.