HighPoint has announced two PCI-Express 2.0 cards that support SATA III
The Rocket 620 has two internal SATA III connectors while the variation 622 changes them for two connectors with the format eSATA.
These two cards function on a PCI Express connector that will limit their flow to 500 MB/s instead of the 600 MB/s possible with standard SATA III. Note they could also function in a machine PCI-Express 1x but there would be of little interest, since the data flow drops to 250 MB/s. In all the cases, it will be necessary to divide the bandwidth of the PCI-Express port between the two connectors. One will thus be able to reach 500 MB/s on a disc or the two discs connected on the card.
To finish, the good news. This card is announced to be compatible with Snow Leopard without needing a driver. It of course remains to be seen if it is bootable, and especially if the machine continues to support deep sleep mode. These two cards will be available in November with the respective price of $70 and $80.
