PCI eSATA Ports -OR- SATA to eSATA Ports

Hello All,

I bought a Rosewill HDD Docking Station a while back and just recently got around to getting it hooked up.
This one is the 2nd one I bought seeing I like the first one so much. The 1st one I got I use at work everyday
connected through eSATA to my Dell Laptop's D-Dock Docking Station. When I went to get it setup at home
on my desktop I realized I didn't have an eSATA port on it (I shoulda known that, I wasn't even thinking... ).

Anyway, I was checking on Newegg and saw 2 different options for what I need and I was wondering if there is
an advantage of one over another.
First) It is a simple 2 Port eSATA Bracket that would connect to an open slot on the back of the Desktop where
a normal PCI slotted device would go, but instead of a PCI Slot Chip it just has 2 normal SATA plugs coming
out of the back of the bracket then plug them into an open SATA port on the Motherboard.
Sorry, I tried to post a link to what I am talking about but apparently new users are not allowed....


Second) The second option is to go with a eSATA PCI Card that would just plug into a open PCI Chip Slot.


If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free.


Thanks in Advance,
Matt

Assuming your motherboard has free SATA ports on it, the first option would make a lot more sense to me. If it doesn't, then it's not really an option.

Hey E-Oreo, thanks for the quick reply...

Yea, sorry I thought I mentioned that. Yea I have a couple open SATA Ports on the motherboard.

Right, I guess that makes more sense huh, basically SATA to SATA with an adapter in between. I just wasn't sure if there was any speed advantage or what not going through a PCI Slot.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks Again,
Matt

As far as I know sata and esata are essentially the same port electrically, the adapter doesn't have any active electronics in it, it's just a physical form factor adapter.

Yea that makes sense... And for about $20-$30 bucks more for one that plugs into a PCI Port compared to just the "Switch/Adapter Bracket" which is avg around $2 to $10 bucks.

I'm gona go with the straight eSATA (external ports) to SATA (on Motherboard) Bracket.

Thanks again for your replies E-Oreo!


Thanks,
Matt

Just make sure the bracket connector adapter fits your e-sata cable.