8 SATA Ports on the EP35C-DS3R(rev. 2.1) Motherboard

[RedJacket]

I’m currently building a system using the Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R(rev. 2.1) motherboard. There are 8 SATA ports on the motherboard with 6 being controlled by the ICH9R controller and 2 being controlled by the Gigabyte SATA controller.

My question is “Can all 8 ports be used to connect 8 SATA devices with none being in a RAID configuration.

The reason I ask is the six SATA ports on the motherboard which are controlled by the ICH9R controller will be used as follows.

• 2 ports will be used to connect the rear external SATA bracket which comes with the motherboard and is installed in a open PCI slot.
• 1 port will be used by an eSATA port on the front panel of the Antec case where I am installing the motherboard.
• 1 port will be used by a internal SATA DVD-Writer Drive
• and 2 ports will be used by 2 internal SATA hard drives configured as single drives and not in a RAID configuration.

The Antec Sonata III 500 case I am using has 4 bays for 4 internal SATA hard drives. Therefore if I want to install 4 hard drives which is my intention, I will have to use the Gigabyte SATA ports to connect the 2 additional single hard drives and they will not be in a RAID configuration. Is that acceptable?

[svcglobal]

Yes, of course. You can use all those ports at the same time connected to each drive - I did in order to transfer data between backups. Just assure that both controllers are enabled in Bios.

[RedJacket]

Thanks for the swift reply. I thought you could but I just wanted to be sure. I will make the bios change as you suggest.

[svcglobal]

Any time and good luck with your connections.