Can anyone recommend a PCI card to add to a Windows ME system, that will provide at least one internal SATA port? My system uses PCI 2.2 I'm trying to add a PCI card with 48-bit LBA, to support a new Western Digital SATA-II hard disk larger than 137GB. I'd prefer a PCI card with a Silicon Image chipset. I've heard VIA chipsets can give problems with SATA (in regard to auto-negotiation between SATA-I and SATA-II), and that Silicon Image cards are therefore a better choice for adding SATA support. Can anyone comment on this? I don't intend to use RAID, so I'd prefer a solution with minimum additional complications from that angle. Ideally, I'd prefer a PCI card that comes without RAID support (though it seems to be ubiquitous if there are two or more SATA ports on the card). I'd be happy to settle for a card that has optional RAID (e.g. where the PCI card has the option to use a non-RAID BIOS). Are there any disadvantages to a SATA disk, compared to an IDE / PATA disk? This will be my first forray into SATA: I've previously only used IDE. Ed

I question why you'd being throwing that kind of money into an old system running WinME with only 128MB RAM? If you need extra storage space & still have an IDE/PATA plug available, why not just add another 80-120GB HDD?

First of all, reasonably priced PCI controller cards won't support SATA II speeds. IMO this is NOT a deal breaker. You will not notice the difference in real world application. That said, below are two links for PCI based SATA controller cards. SATA I & SATA II capability. Read the reviews and check to verify the card can also configure optical drives. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...