PCI riser config help needed. PLEASE HELP!

[pepelaz]

have a very urgent problem.
I need to fit 3 cards into the 2U rack case.
The mobo is dual athlon with 64bit pci, 32bit pci and AGP

Cards:
Lan - 32bit 33MHz PCI (standard or low profile)
RAID - 32bit 66MHZ! PCI (standard)
video - 32bit 33 mhz PCI standard OR AGP low profile

What risers do I need to fit it into that case/mobo?
Will one 3in1 64bit riser work for all 3 pci cards?

As far as I understand, 32bit 66MHza pci should go into a 64bit slot, but does it need a 64 bit riser for that?

can 32 bit cards go into 64 bit risers/slots?

Please, tell me what will be the optimal configuretion and what risers I have to order.
I'm desperate - I need the system up by Monday.

Thanks in advance.

Pepelaz

 

[mechBgon]

You have a problem there. You could use one PCI riser and a low-pro AGP card, but if you plug a 32-bit device into a 64-bit PCI bus, the 64-bit PCI bus drops to 32-bit IIRC. Unless you get a 64-bit NIC, such as a Gigabit NIC, you'd need two PCI risers, one for the 64-bit PCI bus with the SCSI RAID card, and one for the 32-bit PCI bus with the NIC.

And on top of that, it does look like you need a special 64-bit riser for 64-bit support. Joy.

My suggestion: return the motherboard you have and get one that has onboard NICs and video, such as a Tyan Thunder K7. Keep in mind this puppy uses a special power supply with a non-ATX connector, and you'd probably want to rummage around Rackmountpro.com for one for 2U situations. Anyway, that would let you use a 64-bit PCI riser and plug your SCSI RAID controller into it all by itself. Rackmountpro.com has risers too, looks like.

Tyan does make the TigerMPX too, and it doesn't require a special non-ATX power-supply plug, but it lacks onboard video, so you would need to put a low-pro AGP card in there. Onboard 10/100 LAN takes care of the NIC problem, however.

Hope that helps with the brainstorming

 

[Woodie]

It seems to me that you've already lost the use of the 64-bit slot, since you only have a 32-bit card. A regular 32-bit PCI riser should work fine in the 64-bit slot, just that you'll lose the 64-bit part.

I think you should just get a straight 3PCI riser, or a 2PCI+1AGP. I know I've seen these in a number of places, including some w/ ribbon cables, so the mobo doesn't have to line up exactly w/ the case slots.

If you want, I could sell you a (used) compaq 64-bit SCSI raid controller, and then you could take full advantage of the longer slot, and buy a 64-bit riser to go with it.

g/l