>> OTOH, I just remembered that my motherboard (being a high-end "delux" 
>> version) has a second SATA controller. So I think I can use the 
>> sockets for that. I forget where those are, but I think they're on a 
>> different part of the board...
> 
> That was going to be my next suggestion :-)  I have not seen a 
> motherboard with all the SATA sockets exactly in the same place.  I 
> think mine has a header near the back for an "external SATA" socket - 
> but unused currently.


SLI chipset, which gives you 4 SATA II ports that can be configured for 
RAID. Gigabyte then added an onboard Silicon Image SATA controller, 
giving you an additional 4 SATA II ports. (This is on top of not one but 
*two* Firewire ports - one of them a faster Firewire-B port - two 
gigabit Ethernet ports [remember when those used to be expensive? This 
was back then!!], and of course SLI support [SLI was still very new.])

More impressive still, not only does the board have 8 SATA sockets, but 
THEY GIVE YOU EIGHT SATA CABLES!

COLOUR CODED!!

As one reviewer wrote, "penny-pinching is not evident".

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/finally-available,review-1164-12.html

 From the image here (which is for the GA K8NXP-9), it appears that the 
extra SATA sockets are on the bottom edge of the board, clear of the GPU 
bay. So that ought to be usable.


piece. How technology moves on, eh? (Remember, back then socket-939 was 
supposed to be "the next Big Thing"...)

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