VI7/SATA Basic Questions - Upgrading

Ok - I have a BE6 PIII 850mhz and it's past time for a new MB!

I need as with the BE6/BE7 the ability to connect more than 4 IDE drives.
Most new Abit boards use SATA connectors so I am confused about the number
of drives that can be used as most of the new boards do not show having
Highpoint controllers. I was going to order a BE7-Raid MB but after looking
into the specs and prices of the new boards such as VI7 it would appear the
newer ones are faster and about the same price but I would like to keep all
the functions of the present BE6 which has been an outstanding MB. The
BE7-Raid fits the bill but is not as fast as the "SATA" boards.

1. Will the VI7 support more than 4 separate IDE drives? (Lists having 4
ports 2/SATA and 2/Parallel - 2 drives per port as with the BE6 = 8 ??????)

2. Does the VI7 have power on/off via keyboard/mouse?

This is what I would like - any ideas for a good Abit MB
P4 3G+ 800mhz FSB
PC3200 400mhz DDR 512m
Support for 8 IDE separate drives
8x AGP
Power on/off via mouse/keyboard
10/100 LAN
Lots of USB ports! (game controllers!!!! LOL)


Thanks in Advance
Robert

 

My understanding is that SATA is one device per port, therefore 2 ports is
2 devices. So 2 Sata and 2 IDE will be 6 devices.

Stuart