I got a reply today from LSI and it really didn't tell me a whole heck of a lot other than the only time I need to install the card during a install/reinstall of windows is if I want to boot from the card. Since I have two perfectly good SATA ports on the MOBO that I can boot from, I don't need the LSI card for that. I had done a little web surfing and found a review that said the user just plugged it in, plugged the cables into some HDDs, and it worked right out of the box. So, I lugged the QE2's anchor back to the washing machine, pulled out the appropriate cover, installed the card and one breakout cable, then plugged one SATA end to the HDD I had temporarily connected to a port on the MOBO and a second one to the 3.5" swap bay.
I lugged the anchor back to its home on the nightstand at the end of my desk, plugged in the cables I've been using so far, then fired up the machine. The computer recognized the card, went hunting around for a driver, found and installed one, then went on to boot. It took a minute or two to finish installing itself but once it did, I found the HDD connected to it. I plugged an HDD in the swap bay and, after around 15-20 seconds, the computer found it. Pulling the HDD from thhe bay didn't crash the anchor...er...computer and when I plugged it back in, the computer sniffed around for a another 15-20 seconds and found it again. Whoo hoo!
I was really worried that, besides if I could get the card to work, period, I wouldn't be able to hot swap with it. Since I'm a firm believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I'm not going to worry about installing a driver for now (if ever).
The only thing I don't like about the card is it has its own BIOS which as to also boot up when I fire up the machine so it takes about 10-20 seconds longer to get to the desktop (I didn't bother to time it). Since I will be running it 24/7 and reboot only once or twice a week, when something gets scrambled, or when installing software, it's not that big a problem. At least, once Win 7 starts booting up, the SSD speeds thing s up.
Here's a couple of shots of it residing in my case (I left some tools showing for Steve):
I had seen references in reviews of similar cards the heat sink tended to get "toasty" so I decided to stick in the bottom slot to make sure it could get plenty of air to it and get that air away from it (with just one HDD hooked up to it, it does get hot). Air should come from the front fans blowing through the HDD stack and a bit from the side fan. The PSU fan should be able to exhaust the air heated air. Once I'm certain the card works alright and it doesn't need the ventilation holes in the slot cover, I'm going to cover them with aluminum duct tape (the real stuff) and color the cover black (same with the GPU card). That will cut down on the amount of dust that can get into the case.
Obviously (as in, no DUH!), I need to do a bit of work with the cables. The octopus (two break-out cables with eight ends total) need to be partially sleeved from the mini-SAS connectors to where the cables duck behind into the micro-abyss to the right of the HDD stack (when looking from the front of the case), then take a black felt pen to the remaining lengths so they will match the other cables. Then the fun of routing the things willl commence (shudder).
NewEgg just sent me an email today with discount codes and, for a change, it included one for a part I'm ready to buy. I just ordered an internal card reader that has a powered USB 3.0 hub so I can have some USB 3.0 ports on the front of the case (the MOBO has only two on the rear I/O panel but also does have a header).
I got my speakers hooked up and running the other day. For some strange reason, the center speaker and subwoofer are tied together (I had the same problem on my XP machine), causing the center speaker to be too loud. When I tried to reduce the volume of the speaker in the Realtech driver, the sub would also be reduced. If tried to bring back the sub's volume on the control module, the center speaker would also be increased. I had the same problem on my XP machine (it also used Realtech so I don't know if the problem is the driver or the speakers) so I used the same solution; disconnect the center speaker.
I ran a stress test the other day and the CPU was getting up to 71°C; the max for the i7-3030K is supposed to be rated for up to 72.6°C so that makes me a bit nervous, especially since the case sides are still off. The old CPU fan could spin up to 1800 rpm but the new one only goes up to 1200 rpm and it gets up to close to that when the CPU gets up past 68-69°C. I may have to either replace the old 120mm fan or find another 140mm that will spin faster. I'm going to wait to see if I actually load the CPU enough to cause the temps to go that high. Anyone know of monitor software that shows CPU temp in the system tray or taskbar?
) for even 5 seconds. You'll be buying a new pump. Know where the intake line is and keep the water above it.
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