Best RAID card

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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
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What's the best IDE RAID card on the market (reliable and fast)?

I have a nf7-s but the SATA RAID sucks and I have a 60 gig hard drive just sitting here wasting away (bought it so i could specifically do SATA RAID)....

ATA 133 preferable

Thanks!
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
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HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!!!

they're $113.00

ok ok...

let's be more specific on my part...

what's the best raid card under.... $40 dollars?

yeah :)
 
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Windogg

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Just be aware there is a huge difference between the $40 and the high end IDE RAID adapters. The entry level adapters use your processor to handle all the calculations needed to ensure proper handling of your data. So expect a major hit in CPU utilizaton. Most cards are based on the Highpoint 37x series or the Promise chipsets so there is not major differences between the various entry level models.

The higher end adapter like the 3Ware Escalades, Adaptec 2400A, and the Promise SuperTraks all use dedicated processors. Not sure what 3Ware uses by the latter use the same Intel i960 found on many SCSI RAID adapters (Many SCSI RAID Adapters now use 200Mhz ARM Processors). In addition, they usually have onboard memory to cache information waiting to be written to the drives. Some are expandable upto 256MB last time I checked by dropping a 168pin ECC SDRAM module onto the adapter.

Lately I've liked the Highpoint RocketRAID 404. Sure it a little more at around $80 but its a nice investment if you plan on moving on the RAID5. Plus it has 4 independant channels for performance reasons. It's still software RAID using your CPU but its a cut above.

Windogg
 
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Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
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I was going to suggest Mylex, but you mean IDE RAID... The suckier type of RAID. Sorry, I'm just another Mylex snob.
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
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Originally posted by: Windogg
Just be aware there is a huge difference between the $40 and the high end IDE RAID adapters. The entry level adapters use your processor to handle all the calculations needed to ensure proper handling of your data. So expect a major hit in CPU utilizaton. Most cards are based on the Highpoint 37x series or the Promise chipsets so there is not major differences between the various entry level models.

The higher end adapter like the 3Ware Escalades, Adaptec 2400A, and the Promise SuperTraks all use dedicated processors. Not sure what 3Ware uses by the latter use the same Intel i960 found on many SCSI RAID adapters (Many SCSI RAID Adapters now use 200Mhz ARM Processors). In addition, they usually have onboard memory to cache information waiting to be written to the drives. Some are expandable upto 256MB last time I checked by dropping a 168pin ECC SDRAM module onto the adapter.

Lately I've liked the Highpoint RocketRAID 404. Sure it a little more at around $80 but its a nice investment if you plan on moving on the RAID5. Plus it has 4 independant channels for performance reasons. It's still software RAID using your CPU but its a cut above.

Windogg
Click to expand...

Wow!!! Thanks a lot... that helps a WHOLE bunch...

didn't realize that the entry level raid cards used up such a large portion of the cpu...
:)

i'll look into the highpoint rocketraid 404

...

btw, what's the advantages of raid 5 over raid 0 besides having a higher tolerance for write error?
 
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Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
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Before you get too impressed, it has a 486 RISC processor and a whopping 12MB EDO RAM. I use an Adaptec card instead. Yes, they are huge.

EDIT: Mine looks just like the one in the picture, dual channel.
 
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bozo1

Diamond Member
May 21, 2001
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btw, what's the advantages of raid 5 over raid 0 besides having a higher tolerance for write error?
Click to expand...
Raid-0 has no fault tolerence at all. It's just your data striped across the drives giving you a performance boost. If any of the drives fail, all of your data is toast.

Raid-5 is your data stripped across the drives with checksum information. You can lose any of the drives and your data is still intact. However, you lose the capacity of one drive.
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
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76
yeah those things won't even fit in my case cuz of my radiator...

but i'll consider the highpoint rocketraid 404

what about the 3ware one that John recommended?

good card as well?
 
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Windogg

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: Shimmishim
yeah those things won't even fit in my case cuz of my radiator...

but i'll consider the highpoint rocketraid 404

what about the 3ware one that John recommended?

good card as well?
Click to expand...

3Ware is excellent. It has its own processor and the perormance numbers prove it.

Windogg
 
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Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
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81
didn't realize that the entry level raid cards used up such a large portion of the cpu...
Click to expand...

They don't. Not in a 2 drive RAID 0 array. RAID 0 requires basically zero calculations and doesn't tax the CPU. If all you want is a 2 drive RAID 0 setup any cheap software card will do just fine. It would be a complete waste of money to spend over $100 on a card for something like that.
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
7,504
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Originally posted by: Pariah
didn't realize that the entry level raid cards used up such a large portion of the cpu...
Click to expand...

They don't. Not in a 2 drive RAID 0 array. RAID 0 requires basically zero calculations and doesn't tax the CPU. If all you want is a 2 drive RAID 0 setup any cheap software card will do just fine. It would be a complete waste of money to spend over $100 on a card for something like that.
Click to expand...

so you're saying that for a cheap raid 0 setup, it's not worth it to get a highpoint rocketraid 404?

i.c.... but what about raid 5... is it worth it then?
 
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Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
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If you plan to use only 2 drives, why throw away an extra $40 on 2 channels you won't need on a 4 channel card? Doesn't make sense to me.

As for RAID 5, I would recommend the exact opposite. I wouldn't buy anything but 3Ware for RAID 5 if you seriously want RAID 5. Of course the cheapest 3Ware RAID 5 card is $250. So you better make sure you really want it and you actually have a need for it before going that route.
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
7,504
0
76
Originally posted by: Pariah
If you plan to use only 2 drives, why throw away an extra $40 on 2 channels you won't need on a 4 channel card? Doesn't make sense to me.

As for RAID 5, I would recommend the exact opposite. I wouldn't buy anything but 3Ware for RAID 5 if you seriously want RAID 5. Of course the cheapest 3Ware RAID 5 card is $250. So you better make sure you really want it and you actually have a need for it before going that route.
Click to expand...

the 3ware card that John posted is around 120 i believe...
 
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Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
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Originally posted by: Shimmishim
Originally posted by: Pariah
If you plan to use only 2 drives, why throw away an extra $40 on 2 channels you won't need on a 4 channel card? Doesn't make sense to me.

As for RAID 5, I would recommend the exact opposite. I wouldn't buy anything but 3Ware for RAID 5 if you seriously want RAID 5. Of course the cheapest 3Ware RAID 5 card is $250. So you better make sure you really want it and you actually have a need for it before going that route.
Click to expand...

the 3ware card that John posted is around 120 i believe...
Click to expand...

That's a 2 channel card not capable of RAID 5.
 
cleverhandle

cleverhandle

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2001
3,566
3
81
Looks like the RAID 5 capabilities are a recent update according to the Highpoint page. Which means that the RAID 5 capabilities are probably less than stellar.

And, are you really sure you need any of this? RAID 0 really doesn't help most people any, and RAID 5 is going to suck without a hefty investment in a real RAID card.
 
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Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
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81
Originally posted by: Shimmishim
oh really? did i misunderstand what windogg said then? it seems like it is capable of raid 5
Click to expand...

I was going by the Newegg stats which didn't have RAID 5 listed. After taking a look at Highpoint's site it appears there has been a RAID 5 driver released. You want to avoid these at all costs. Software RAID 5 is terrible and is very CPU intensive.
 
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Shimmishim

Elite Member
Feb 19, 2001
7,504
0
76
thanks for the help everyone...

guess raid sin't worth investing in....

so now the question is... what do i do with a 60 gig hard drive? :)
 
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