HOTTER than a SCSI drive --- Adaptec 29160LP Ultra/160 SCSI controller for $92 @Dell [update: now Dell Home 20% off]

[XeonTux]

UPDATE 01/22/02: Got mine today! Notes:

- It does NOT come with a bracket for use in non low-profile cases. This means you must either remove it, make one, or get one elsewhere. That is of course assuming you don't have a low-profile case.

- It does NOT come with a SCSI cable. The Dell drive I ordered (Fujitsu) did come with a 2-position terminated 68-pin LVD SCSI cable. Live with a smaller cache, get a free $30 cable. Not bad for a 10K RPM drive that cost me $128.

- The internal connector IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL and BOOTABLE contrary to previous rumours, and OF COURSE it supports hard drives!

- The boot menu is accessable by pressing [ctrl]+[a] at POST. The message may be disabled by default, but you can re-enable it.

- The 80GB 7200RPM IDE drive noted below is a Seagate Barracuda. Ok this doesn't have anything to do with the SCSI card, but I'm happy as hell its not a Maxtor, and it too was a sweet deal at $115 after coupon!

My whole order was one of the hottest deals I've ever seen (#1 is still getting paid $25 for each Compaq monitor I bought last spring). I still can't believe I found this!



UPDATE 01/17/02: Dell Home now has the 20% off Dell-Branded accessories. Your Small Business coupons will not work, but you can now get the SCSI controller for $92 and drives for the prices I originally listed.

When I placed my order, I did it thru Small Business when the 20% off Dell stuf was still valid (ended 01/16/01) and was able to stack on Small Business $75 off $400 coupon. If I were to order now without additional coupons, I would probably just get the card and get my hard drives elsewhere. The only advantage to the Dell SCSI drive is that it comes with a cable. The disadvantage is it only has 2MB cache and a 1 year warranty. Go get an IBM or a Seagate!



Dell has the Adaptec 29160LP Ultra/160 SCSI adapter for $92. Its actually $115, minus 20% off Dell-branded accessories. Compare price with ANY adapter in the 29160 family on pricewatch if you think this is not hot.

This is the "low-profile" version, and does have less connectors than the 29160 - only 68-pin LVD internal and external, no 50-pin. That doesn't bother me TOO much consiidering the price. And I do have a kenwood IDE CD-ROM and a new Lite-On 24x CD-RW.

I do not know if this comes with a cable. Also, Adaptec the retail package is supposed to come with both brackets for both slim rackmount cases and regular desktops...since there is no description for this item on Dell's site, I guess it will be a suprise. But again, with this price I will either nig-rig something or buy one from Adaptec if it is missing.

This does not show up in any catagories on Dell's site. I found it by searching for 29160. (Nothing for 39160, sorry)

Adaptec 29160LP for - was $92 at Dell Small Business, now $115
Adaptec 29160LP for - NOW $92 at Dell Home, discount in cart


I also grabbed an Dell-branded 18GB 10K RPM Ultra/160 SCSI drive for $159.20 with the 20% off dell accessories. Unfortunately it only has a 2MB cache, but the price difference bewtween this and other drives is big.

There are a variety of 18GB listed when doing a search for SCSI (hint: sort by price). This one comes with a cable in case the adapter doesn't. SCSI cables are expensive! It is meant for the Precision 330 workstation, which some google searches revealed should have a 68-pin connector. (Don't get an 80-pin drive) I wish their specs were more thorough, but they're not...

Dell 18GB Ultra/160 10K RPM SCSI Drive - was $159 at Dell Small Business, now $199
Dell 18GB Ultra/160 10K RPM SCSI Drive - now $159 at Dell Home, discount in cart


I picked up a Dell 80GB 7200RPM 2MB cache for $143 for backup of my new SCSI drive and my IBM 75GXP (which I am afraid may die at any time from reading ppl's comments)

Only the 5400 RPM seems to show up in listing catagories on the site...but again, searching for 80GB will reveal the 7200's

Dell 80GB 7200RPM ATA/100 Drive - was $143 at Dell Small Business, now $179
Dell 80GB 7200RPM ATA/100 Drive - now $143 at Dell Home, discount in cart

 

[sleefer]

Seems like a good deal on the controller card. The drive is okay, but the last Dell I got in was a Fujitsu drive and you can get one with an 8mb buffer for $163+ shipping at this place here I have found that the larger buffer make a world of difference. Anyway, nice post!

 

[XeonTux]

Yeah, I'd rather have a IBM or Seagate 18GB that could be had for the same price range elsewhere... but then again, they don't count towards the minimum of $400 for the Dell $75 coupon, and they usally don't come with a cable.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could upgrade the cache on your hard drive? Probably a feature we will never see

 

[hoihtah]

thanx... i think i'm going to jump on the adapter.

 

[Emulex]

just remember these are 64bit adapter cards.. We use them in our poweredge 6350's and they kick much butt, but i'm not sure if they would work or perform well in a 32bit pci slot.


in case you didn't know the 64 bit pci slots have one more connector on the pci slot..

 

[docinthebox]

This is a *great* find. Thanks XeonTux!

One thing I noticed while reading the specs of the 29160LP is that it supports 64-bit PCI bus (but is backward compatible to 32-bit). This means it can be used on the 66/33 MHz 64/32-bit PCI slots on the new dual Athlon motherboards with the AMD 760MPX chipset (like the Asus A7M-266D). This is important because if you calculate the data rate of a 33MHz 32-bit PCI bus, it comes out to 33 * 32 / 8 = 132 MB/sec which means this bus will not be able to support the full Ultra3 data rate of 160MB/sec. With the wider 64-bit PCI bus on the 29160LP though, now you have double the data rate (264 MB/sec) which will be more than enough, allowing you some leeway for the other devices on the PCI bus as well.

Anyway, here's Adaptec's support webpage for the 29160LP which contains a lot of info about the card.

Also, the 29160LP has a form factor designed to fit in a low profile rackmount server. If you need to use it in a standard height system, you'll need to use the extra bracket which should be enclosed with the product according to the Adaptec website's info.

 

[IHYLN]

my price shows 115 no matter, what.

also, can anyone point out a place where one can get the coupons? I checked the usual sources and couldnt find any

 

[XeonTux]

The 20% off Dell-branded accessories ended yesterday 01/16/02 (my birthday, great present to myself!). The $75 coupon was on the back of *some* catalogs, and the 15% coupon was emailed to some customers. Good luck finding the coupons - I begged and pleaded for 2 days before I got the $75 off one. Had I found one earlier, I would have posted this deal earlier. But I was not going to risk the controller being out of stock by the time I found a coupon!

My order confirmation email split the $75 coupon up against the prices each item. Gotta love these prices. Just imagine if I had found the 15% off coupon as well

29160LP - 74.50
18GB 10k SCSI - 128.93
80GB 7200 IDE - 115.97

Now that the 20% thing has ended, you will need both the $75 and 15% to get pricing similar to mine. Even at $115 with no couons this is still hot.


I should mention that the rumors of the $75 coupon being active for 5 uses may be untrue...or at least it may not work 5 times with different people.

 

[SlinkyDink]

10k drives are now $199 :|

 

[XeonTux]

hehe, I was over at techbatgains and noticed this made their front page today.

I also noticed Dell Home is to have 20% off Dell-branded accessories now. I thought I'd mention it for those who are griping about the card being $115 and the drive being $199. They show at full price until you add them to your cart, then the discount is applied. Of course, the Small Business coupons we have all been lusting after probably won't work now.

 

[GoSharks]

sigh... i would get it, but as of right now, i have no use for the card. im happy with my 2940UW and my two sub 40mb/s sustained drives right now. do intend on upgrading the whole system by the time summer comes around though.

great price for the card.

 

[Wyck]

HEY! That's totally hot! thx!

 

[Servanya]

Thanks! I just got mine. $92 shipped overnight.

I've been trying to get one of these for a long time. Cheapest I could have gotten on eBay was about $150.

Excellent deal!!!

 

[xylem]

Is there any difference between the 29160LP listed and this one called 29160/M ($129.00 before discount)?

29160/M

 

[IgoByte]

Dell's doing it again. Very sweet deal.

 

[XeonTux]

Servanya: You just received it or you just ordered it? I would never have thought to upgrade the shipping with Dell, whats the point in paying extra when it takes a few weeks for them to ship items that are supposedly in stock

xylem: That does NOT say 29160/M, it just says "Controller Card, SCSI 160/M for Precision Workstation 220". It might not even be adaptec, or may be a 19160 or 2940.... With that poor description it is definately a gamble as to what you will get.


Arrrrgh! I just lost my job today Not that I wanted it anyway, but the little money I made I really needed. Now I kinda wish I never came accross this deal... well, maybe not but I sure could use the $ elsewhere

 

[geekender]

lp=low profile only has 1 scsi out on card

xeon, good luck.

 

[docinthebox]

<< Is there any difference between the 29160LP listed and this one called 29160/M ($129.00 before discount)? >>



I'm not totally sure, but I think that one is a 29160N. When compared with the 29160LP, the 29160N has two internal connectors, one 68-pin and one 50-pin whereas the 29160LP only has one 68-pin internal connector, but the downside is that the 29160N only supports 32-bit PCI whereas the 29160LP supports 64-bit PCI.

Adaptec classifies the 29160LP as "SCSI for Servers" and the 29160N as "SCSI for High-Performance PCs" so I think the 29160LP is higher-end.

 

[XeonTux]

but nowhere does it say 29160/M -- It just says 160/M

Being a ultra/160 adapter for $129 I'm sure you won't get totally screwed, but you can't be sure what it is until you get it. Actually, you could get screwed, because if its a 19160 it is only for M$ Windows.

 

[docinthebox]

The item description mentioned that the item is for the Precision 220 workstation. My guess is based on the fact that I've seen refurbished Dell Precision 220 workstations being sold together with a 29160N.

I agree it's just a guess. I may be wrong.

By the way, 160/M refers to a SCSI standard that's just a variant/subset of Ultra3. 160/M is not the model number of the controller.

 

[BuckleDownBen]

Hi-

I am a SCSI newbie interested in this Adaptec 29160LP.

Can someone answer the following for me:

1) Will this work with in a dual AMD system and can I put it in the 64 bit pci slot?
2) What kind of cables will I need to buy to hook up a hard drive and a CD-RW, or will the drives and/or adaptec come with the cables?

Thanks

 

[xylem]

XeonTux

<< That does NOT say 29160/M, it just says "Controller Card, SCSI 160/M... >>



True, and thanks for the post. Sorry to hear about your job.

docinthebox, good call, precision is a workstation so that most likely nixes the 64 bit support like you said. Thanks for the info... Think I'll go with the LP since I want 64 bit, and that's a killer deal. It did seem that /M was a standard. The 29160N has technology that "ensures top performance of all connected devices," so that may be of interest to persons with some older and some newer devices *if* that's what the 160/M is on the Dell site.

BuckleDownBen, the LP works in a 64 bit/66 mhz slot. If you operate the card at those settings you will get the added bandwidth.

 

[XeonTux]

I just did some more searching and found someone selling refurbed 220's, and it states 29160N card. I had come accross this Dell part a few days ago before I bought the 29160LP, and could not confirm anywhere what kind of card it was. If it is a 29160N this is a hot deal as well. Especially if you want the extra connectors and will not make use of the 64-bit bus. If someone buys it or calls Dell, let us know. Just don't buy it and come bitching to me or docinthebox if it is not a 29160N

BuckleDownBen: Because of Dell's poor description, it is unknown whether it comes with cables (or even the appropriate bracket to fill the expansion slot cover if you do not have a low-profile case). One of the reasons I got the dirve that I did was that it states cables are included. Out of the four 18GB Dell drives listed only this one said it comes with the cable. You need a 68-pin LVD SCSI cable, and they are not cheap by themselves. It should work well in a dual athlon, especially if you have the MPX w/ 64-bit PCI. For a SCSI CDRW, they are usually 50-pin I believe. This LP card does not have a 50-pin connector. The afore-mentioned 29160N (IF thats what it is) should have that connector. Or it may be possible to use a 68-pin to 50-pin adapter...I am a SCSI newbie myself, I have not had the chance to own any and have worked on very few. I do remember hearing horror stories of people using 80-pin hard drives with a 80 to 68 adapter, but don't remember why.

 

[docinthebox]

BuckleDownBen, couple of points to note:

- as XeonTux mentioned, SCSI CDRW's use 50-pin connectors, but even if you can find a 68 to 50 pin adaptor, you still don't want to mix CDRW's with hard drives on the same channel, because CDRW's are single-ended devices (runs the bus at 20MHz), whereas hard drives are LVD devices (runs the bus at 40 or 80MHz). Those are two different signaling types and if you mix the two, the bus will operate at the slower type, which is single-ended. You won't get 160MB/sec out of your hard drive (not that this will matter since the sustained transfer rate of HD's is around maybe 40 or so MB/sec?)

- I think the Adaptec 29160LP is 64-bit, but only 33MHz. If you want 64-bit/66MHz, you have to get those expensive Adaptec SCSI RAID controllers.

- I've read reports of cards not fitting into the 64-bit slots of the dual Athlon boards, at least the Asus A7M-266D. You might want to do some research yourself before hand just to make sure that the 29160LP will fit in the 64-bit slot.

I'm not a SCSI expert either (just a disclaimer... )

 

[kendogg]

GOT IN! thanks for the damn HOT SMOKIN DEAL!!