New motherboard or SATA controller card?

[Coldblackice]

I think my SATA controller is dying on me. I've been getting lots event entries for iaStor -- event id #9, "The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period." Disabling LPM hasn't helped.

I'm on an eVGA e758 (x58) and really dreading upgrading before x99. On top of that, I'm a financial mess and can hardly even afford shelter. So I'm wondering if getting a SATA controller card would be an equivalent fix?

Any pros/cons with the controller route? I'm guessing it would either be the cheaper route. And even if it ended up costing the same as an x58 mobo replacement, it would give the side benefit of portability to other hardware. But I'm not sure if there would be any performance or reliability implications with such.

Any recommendations?

 

[cyclone3d]

Are you sure that the problem isn't the drive itself?

It could also be something else like RAM or even just a corrupted driver.

Before actually spending any money fixing it, I would try a fresh install of Windows if the drive tests ok and reinstalling the SATA driver doesn't help.

 

[drescherjm]

Are you sure that the problem isn't the drive itself?

Agreed. The drive is the most likely source of this problem.

I would start by running CrystalDiskInfo to see if the drive thinks it is operating abnormally.

 

[Coldblackice]

Are you sure that the problem isn't the drive itself?

It could also be something else like RAM or even just a corrupted driver.

Before actually spending any money fixing it, I would try a fresh install of Windows if the drive tests ok and reinstalling the SATA driver doesn't help.

Agreed. The drive is the most likely source of this problem.

I would start by running CrystalDiskInfo to see if the drive thinks it is operating abnormally.

CrystalDiskInfo says all drives (7 total) are good and healthy. SMART values look good, too, with no bad sector'ing.

Is it possible for a driver to "go bad"? And spontaneously so? I'm going to try hooking each drive up to my motherboard's JMicron controller, and then try reinstalling the driver.

While I'm trying these, just as a curiosity -- would there be any downsides in resorting to a PCIe SATA controller card? Would I be losing out on any features/abilities by not running through my southbridge's ICH10R?

 

[dandragonrage]

CrystalDiskInfo says all drives (7 total) are good and healthy. SMART values look good, too, with no bad sector'ing.

Is it possible for a driver to "go bad"? And spontaneously so? I'm going to try hooking each drive up to my motherboard's JMicron controller, and then try reinstalling the driver.

While I'm trying these, just as a curiosity -- would there be any downsides in resorting to a PCIe SATA controller card? Would I be losing out on any features/abilities by not running through my southbridge's ICH10R?

CrystalDiskInfo and SMART are nowhere NEAR enough information to determine the drive is good. I agree with the others that the drive is probably the issue.

Drivers can be flaky, but they shouldn't suddenly stop working if nothing else has changed.

The Intel controller is pretty much the fastest controller you'll find, but you could still get a good controller for PCI-e, especially if you go for a nice LSI card or something like that. Don't go for some garbage like another JMicron controller, though, nor an ASMedia. You want a "bare minimum" of a Marvell controller.

 

[Coldblackice]

CrystalDiskInfo and SMART are nowhere NEAR enough information to determine the drive is good. I agree with the others that the drive is probably the issue.

Drivers can be flaky, but they shouldn't suddenly stop working if nothing else has changed.

The Intel controller is pretty much the fastest controller you'll find, but you could still get a good controller for PCI-e, especially if you go for a nice LSI card or something like that. Don't go for some garbage like another JMicron controller, though, nor an ASMedia. You want a "bare minimum" of a Marvell controller.

Thanks. What exactly is inferior between the JMicron vs. Intel? I've generally known and accepted this, but haven't ever delved into knowing specifics. Just curious.

 

[dandragonrage]

Thanks. What exactly is inferior between the JMicron vs. Intel? I've generally known and accepted this, but haven't ever delved into knowing specifics. Just curious.

Much slower (especially with an SSD), not as flexible in usage, worse drivers, and many cheaper controllers like the AsMedia ASM1061 don't even support non-HDDs (such as ODDs), which is absolutely ridiculous. A big F.U. to AsMedia for that.

Besides, after garbage JMicron SSD controllers in the past, would you really trust that company to make sure their products are good before releasing them? I don't, and I mean that 100% seriously. For them to have ever released products like the JMF601 says to me that they have zero interest in producing a good product.