3ware 9650SE-8LPML SGL PCI-Express x4 Low Profile Ready SATA II (3.0Gb/s) Hardware RAID Controller Card, Integrator 1-Pack

Pros: Improves SSD speed by about 20% over Intel ICH10R controllers. RAID 5 performance is very good. With updated drivers, it works quite well with Core i7 based systems running Win7 x64 now. I highly recommend it. it will be useful for years, and easily pay back what you pay for it.

Cons: for single drives, it will wipe the data completely when you attach them to this controller. Be sure you back up your data when attaching anything to this controller or move it from this controller to another controller. Also, does not support TRIM on SSDs under Win7 x64. one egg off for this.

Other Thoughts: got it free thanks to my job, but I had to go buy the cables. I balked at buying this because of the price, but I've learned my lesson now. If this one dies, I'm buying a replacement even if this is $500.

Pros: Nice form factor

Cons: Does not work in a Nehalem processor environment. Software provided (9.5.2) does not load. 3Ware has apparently been bought by LSI and support is no longer what it used to be. I am sure an updated driver would have helped but none was available for Windows (all other O/S's are at the 10.x level). I have an 8 drive (2tb each) file server.. configuring RAID 5 produced a 8tb array according to the 3Ware firmware. RAID 10 was no better.

Other Thoughts: This is pure speculation but I think the issue is with the IA64 architecture as I have seen this before with other hardware. IA64, formerly Itanium, is Xeon 5400 series and up. The errors elude to 64 bit vs. 32 bit "issues". I am disappointed as the 3ware cards were always rock solid, and the alternatives so far, are not.

Pros: Enterprise class reliability, managability and support. Just migrated from an old Win/XP machine with 3Ware 6 drive RAID 6 to a new machine with Vista/64 without any problems. True hardware RAID. Worth the investment.

Cons: Requires a good working knowedge of RAID concepts, PC internals and OS. Doesn't play well with "green" drives. I used WD Black series with complete success.

Other Thoughts: Outstanding product that exceeded my expectations. To watch drive activity, I built an LED display to plug into the header on the board and mounted it on the front of the case.

Pros: This card performs. Supporting seven 640GB drives in a RAID 5 config. No issues, 3DM very easy to use.

Cons: Seemed to have an issue when I inserted an already full single drive that was from an older system. Some data loss occurred, but the cause is uncertain.

Other Thoughts: The price jump for a few more ports is outrageous. Couldn't justify the extra buck for the 12-port although I could really use the ports for future growth.