i'd like to hear some recommendations for PCI-e SATA cards.

Ideally with 4 ports (with port multiplication), but i guess i'd also consider 2 ports depending on price. (especially if 2 cards would cost less than a single one with 4 ports)

And are there any cards with internal SATA 3 ports, that could be used as a boot drive (in order to bring SATA 3 speeds to a 2008 mac pro)?

The only cards I have experience with are the Newer Tech cards. The RAID card has 2 eSata ports (no internal) and supports port multipliers but is not bootable. The non-RAID card doesn't support port multipliers and has 2 eSata ports (no internal). I've also tried the bundled eSata card that comes with the Sans Digital enclosures, which seems to be an OEM highpoint card (as does the Newer Tech RAID card). I didn't have great luck with them and they seem like the same configuration as the Newer tech RAID card.

Highpoint makes a good variety of SATA cards that are OSX compatible, but they are pricier than the Newer tech cards mentioned above.

I'm curious to see recommendations others have as well.

Also 2 Newertech RAID cards will most likely come in at less than a 4 port card, or at least any that I've seen to date, especially if you want port multiplier support.

This one looks viable price wise, and if it uses the same drivers/management as the OEM Highpoints do then you'll be happy on that front as well.

Highpoint Technologies RR2314 HighPoint RocketRaid... in stock at OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Highpoint%20Technologies/RR2314/)

thanks mguertin

found this round up of cards :

MPG - How to Buy / What to Buy - Buyer's Guide: eSATA Cards for Mac Pro (http://macperformanceguide.com/Recommended-MacPro-SATA.html)

right now i'm leaning towards the newertech cards. I'm going to run a media sonic 4 drive enclosure so i'm assuming i need port multiplication.

right now i'm leaning towards the newertech cards. I'm going to run a media sonic 4 drive enclosure so i'm assuming i need port multiplication.

You'll need to do the research. Depending on the model of the Mediasonic enclosure, it may do RAID internally and not require Port Multiplication. At the same time, you are tied to the enclosure's RAID options - some of these enclosures have surprising restrictions such as not allowing 4 independent disks. Also check whether the enclosure supports SATA 3 (6.0 Gb/s) or not both internally and externally.

The other thing to keep in mind is bandwidth. A Port Multiplier enclosure (or a RAID drive with a single cable) is limited to the bandwidth of a single eSATA connection (about 240 MB/s).
The bandwidth of the card is also limited to the PCI-e bandwidth (about 250 MB/s in a PCI-e 1.0 machine - 2009 and before - and 500 MB/s in a PCI-e 2.0 compliant machine - Nehalem and Westmere models)

A PCI-e x1 card doing port multiplication is not going to be able to keep up with the potential bandwith of multipple RAIDed drives. A PCI-e x4 card is preferable for multiple drives and highest performance.

If you are considering the Highpoint RocketRaid series, be sure you choose one that is specifically Mac compatible HighPoint Technologies, Inc -Mac Support (http://www.hptmac.com/categories.php?compatibility=10) and understand the connection and hardware acceleration options. They have a wide variety.

IIRC I don't think you are going to find a bootable PCI-e card

We carry Firmtek, Highpoint and Sonnet SATA cards.

All good advice CanadaRAM.

There are some bootable PCIe eSata cards, the Newertech non-raid one is bootable. I just booted from it last week fixing my Mac Pro and it worked fine.

Funny enough I also ran into a strange EFI issue at the very same time. If you have a drive dock plugged into it and you zap the PRAM it will halt your boot process dead (until you either unplug or put a drive in it). Something to do with the polling of it I suppose, as it only happens the very first time after you have zapped the PRAM on the machine.

The Newertech RAID cards are not the fastest around (single SATA channels) but more than fast enough for my application and the price was right. Are you going to be running only a single 4 drive enclosure? If you want a decent and affordable 4 bay enclosure check out the Sans Digital (without the bundled card). They are $109 at newegg.ca and this weekend they were on sale for $79 (sale is over). I have this enclosure and it works great for me.

Newegg.ca - Sans Digital 4 Bay eSATA Port Multiplier JBOD Tower Storage Enclosure (no eSATA Card bundle) TR4M+BNC (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816111177)

You'll need to do the research. Depending on the model of the Mediasonic enclosure, it may do RAID internally and not require Port Multiplication. At the same time, you are tied to the enclosure's RAID options - some of these enclosures have surprising restrictions such as not allowing 4 independent disks. Also check whether the enclosure supports SATA 3 (6.0 Gb/s) or not both internally and externally.

The other thing to keep in mind is bandwidth. A Port Multiplier enclosure (or a RAID drive with a single cable) is limited to the bandwidth of a single eSATA connection (about 240 MB/s).
The bandwidth of the card is also limited to the PCI-e bandwidth (about 250 MB/s in a PCI-e 1.0 machine - 2009 and before - and 500 MB/s in a PCI-e 2.0 compliant machine - Nehalem and Westmere models)

A PCI-e x1 card doing port multiplication is not going to be able to keep up with the potential bandwith of multipple RAIDed drives. A PCI-e x4 card is preferable for multiple drives and highest performance.

If you are considering the Highpoint RocketRaid series, be sure you choose one that is specifically Mac compatible HighPoint Technologies, Inc -Mac Support (http://www.hptmac.com/categories.php?compatibility=10) and understand the connection and hardware acceleration options. They have a wide variety.

IIRC I don't think you are going to find a bootable PCI-e card

We carry Firmtek, Highpoint and Sonnet SATA cards.

While this is true, personally I don't find myself doing multiple high bandwidth functions on multiple drives/arrays in the same port multiplication box at the same time.

I have 12 drives in 3 port multiplier boxes. To do what you suggest as being ideal/preferable would mean I would have to have 3x 4 port e-SATA cards and cables running all over the place. Not exactly an ideal situation in my books.

The Sonnet tempo cards are good as well. I have the Tempo SATA E2P (http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_e2p.html) and the Newertech card mguertin has been referring to as well.

I had the Sonnet card for a couple of years first and it has been completely trouble free.

We've been pleased with the Newer Tech on the low end and the High Point for upper end.
Value for money on the NT is very good.

Anyone have any experience with the Sonnet TEMPO SATA E4P? i was thinking of getting one, but would like to hear if it's stable with snow leopard and lion.

my current 2008 mac pro is running 10.6, but eventually i imagine i'll be going to 10.7.

Anyone have any experience with the Sonnet TEMPO SATA E4P? i was thinking of getting one, but would like to hear if it's stable with snow leopard and lion.

my current 2008 mac pro is running 10.6, but eventually i imagine i'll be going to 10.7.

It is the Big Brother of the Tempo E2P which I have... perfectly stable no problems of any kind with Snow Leopard can't tell you anything about Lion. Maybe give OWC and ask about how it behaves with Lion.

according to the sonnet website it's compatible with Lion. i guess i'll be grabbing one.

Sonnet - Tempo SATA E4P: 4-Port Serial ATA PCI Express Card (http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_e4p.html)