Requiring another SATA connection

[Technique]

I'm no PC buff, so this will be obvious to some, but not me.

I have the [Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 880G] motherboard as i bought from ebuyer in 2010.

I see the connectors for SATA 1-3, 5-6 (i.e. not 4). I'm in need of another one.

I have a graphics card installed into one of the slots - which is the 4th slot 'up' on the motherboard - a blue slot.

Under this i have 2 blue slots & 1 white slot which is different to the blue slots - i'm not sure what they're called.

Is there some sort of adapter i can buy which has more SATA connectors on it? If so what am i looking for (& which slot would i be looking to fit it in?).

I've read that this motherboard can be "unlocked to release it's potential". How would i do that & is it risky business?

[neufuse Veteran]

that board only has 5 SATA connectors

light blue are regular PCI slots smaller blue is a 4x PCI express slot

dark blue is a 16x PCI express slot, white is a 4x PCI express slot apparently if you do SLI/Crossfire

you could buy a SATA 6Gbit PCI Express card and put into any of htose PCI express slots

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815287017

that's just the first cheaper one i saw on the list

[PNWDweller]

Not sure if this might work?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ADVANCE-PCI-card-PCI-ST101-Controller/dp/B002UD3ARK

Sounds like if you need to add more SATA Ports, then something like this would do the trick.

[Technique]

Shot of the motherboard: http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/motherboards/M4A88TD-V/ASUS_M4A88TD-V_EVO_USB3_Motherboard_Internal_IO_End_A01.jpg

My graphics card must be covering a slot as i can only see 1 above & 1 below the white slot.

Just to clarify - they look light blue to me, so the one above & below the white slot is a "regular PCI slot" correct? & not a PCI express slot?

Although they do look smaller than the rest, so maybe they are PCI express slots?

[neufuse Veteran]

Shot of the motherboard: http://benchmarkrevi..._IO_End_A01.jpg

My graphics card must be covering a slot as i can only see 1 above & 1 below the white slot.

Just to clarify - they look light blue to me, so the one above & below the white slot is a "regular PCI slot" correct? & not a PCI express slot?

Although they do look smaller than the rest, so maybe they are PCI express slots?

here's your slots in order from top to bottom

1x PCI-Express - DARK BLUE

16X PCI-Express - DARK BLUE

PCI - LIGHT BLUE

PCI - LIGHT BLUE

(16x if single card nothing in top 16x slot, 4x PCI-Express if card in the top 16x slot) - WHITE

PCI - LIGHT BLUE

if you have any pci express slots open, you can put a 1x card it even if the slot is londer then the card's plug in part pci express is all backwards compatable 16x can do 1x or 8x or 4x... etc

just don't try to put a pci express card into an older PCI slot

[giantpotato]

For a cheap, quick and dirty solution you could just run a eSata to sata cable from the back of your motherboard into your case. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SATA-Serial-ATA-eSATA-External-Shielded-Cable-20-/280488033144?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item414e63bb78

[Technique]

neufuse - sorry for being ignorant here, but you listed 6 & i only see 5.

So it looks like i need a PCI card & not a PCI express card.

[+PeterUK MVC]

neufuse - sorry for being ignorant here, but you listed 6 & i only see 5.

The one above one is a PCI-e 1x slot.

[Technique]

Ahh, thanks.

What would that typically be used for then?

[+PeterUK MVC]

What would that typically be used for then?

Anything that will fit a NIC, SATA card, wireless, more USB....

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Ahh, thanks.

What would that typically be used for then?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=+100007531&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=-1&description=x1+pcie&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=