I also use 3 LSI Falcon 2008 4 port SATA cards (not SAS) as well as the various ASM cards, which maximizes any x8 slot being fully x8 and can offer all the bandwidth to cope with any SSD at full speed, unlike the x4 or should we say really x2 ASM cards.
Problem with these server cards is they need their own 40mm fans ghetto rigging as they get hot otherwise and are meant for server racks that constantly have airflow not desktops, which then takes the slot below it out of commission due to the fan. I can’t always be bothered with deploying them just out of convenience, as the smaller asm cards don’t need fans.