SCSI Card: Which one is the best?

BMW330ci

Senior member
Apr 4, 2001
454
0
0
Hello,
I'm going to jump with the SCSI Hard Drives soon since they're releasing 15K RPM! Anyonee recommend the best/reliable SCSI Card? Brand?
Please advise. I'm new to SCSI =) I'll be running on Windows 2000 Professional.
Thanks in advance for any info!
 

bozo1

Diamond Member
May 21, 2001
6,364
0
0
This gives the breakdown between the different flavors. Basically, if you are going to just do the Ultra160 drives, go for the 19160. If you plan to possibly do an Ultra160 device externally, go for the 29160N for a 32-bit PCI card, 29160 for a 64-bit PCI card (but will work in a standard 32-bit PCI slot). If you buy the OEM flavor of these cards, they may not come with a cable which will set you back about $40. to buy separately.
 

snow

Banned
Oct 9, 1999
2,065
0
0
Tekram, just as good if not better than Adaptec and significantly cheaper. Try the DC-390U3W or the DC-390U3D at hypermicro.com Both are retail kit and contain all the cables, and termination you will need (and that crap costs grip, and most Adaptec stuff I've seen is OEM bare card)
 

Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
20
81
"Adaptec? That's what Anandtech has been suggesting for ages."

Yea, he also recommends an Adaptec RAID card for his dream system. Adaptec produces the worst SCSI RAID cards on the market. Their highend RAID cards aren't even produced them, the bought out DPT and use their cards. Anand may know CPU's, MB's and video cards, but his storage knowledge is severely lacking. From a performance standpoint, there is very little difference between Tekram and Adaptec cards, but the Tekram cards are quite a bit cheaper. If you want to pay for the Adaptec name, go ahead, but for most of us Tekram is the smarter choice.
 

Radboy

Golden Member
Oct 11, 1999
1,812
0
0
linkage

<copy-n-paste> &quot;As the benchmarks prove, the Tekram board performs great. It is neck and neck with the Adaptec in all our benchmarks, and actually edges out Adaptec in a few areas. The Tekram DC-390U3W is a remarkable value. For a significantly lower price, you can get Adaptec quality features and performance. The Tekram can also support 30 devices, which is something Adaptec can only claim with their pricey 39160 dual channel card. However, the Tekram runs only half the devices at 160MB/s, since the 2nd channel only supports Ultra Wide.

Regardless, this feature can easily make the Tekram a no-brainer to those who need the 2nd channel. Otherwise, the two cards match each other's features, but you pay quite a premium for the Adaptec name. Congrats to Tekram for producing such a high quality component, that can easily compete with its Adaptec counterpart on every level.&quot; </copy-n-paste>
 

BMW330ci

Senior member
Apr 4, 2001
454
0
0


<< This gives the breakdown between the different flavors. Basically, if you are going to just do the Ultra160 drives, go for the 19160. If you plan to possibly do an Ultra160 device externally, go for the 29160N for a 32-bit PCI card, 29160 for a 64-bit PCI card (but will work in a standard 32-bit PCI slot). If you buy the OEM flavor of these cards, they may not come with a cable which will set you back about $40. to buy separately. >>



Thanks. I think I'll go for the Ultra160 internal 64-bit? I want one that will fit 2 Hard Drives and maybe a SCSI CDRW Burner?
 

dkozloski

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,005
0
76
If you like endless tinkering with incompatibilities and a total lack of tech support you'll love Tekram. If you want a card that is very difficult to make not work buy Adaptec.
 

Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
20
81
From Storage Review's comparison:

&quot;Given the 29160's tendency to retail for about $100 more than the DC-390U3W ($300 vs $200, on average), we're somewhat disappointed with the Adaptec's performance. We expected the 29160 to perform significantly better than the DC-390U3W to justify its higher cost - what we found, however, was somewhat worse performance.

With that in mind, we have a hard time recommending the 29160 over the DC-390U3W. The only reason to pay more for the 29160 would be to have a card with the Adaptec name on it. To how many readers does this apply?&quot;


&quot;If you like endless tinkering with incompatibilities and a total lack of tech support you'll love Tekram&quot;

Which incompatabilities would these be? I've owned 2 tekram cards and not had problems with either. Also, Adaptec is notorious for having horrendous tech support, so I wouldn't put that as an advantage for either.
 

dkozloski

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,005
0
76
I have a DC-395U/UW Tekram card that no one has been able to make work in numerous tries. I can't even give it away because it always comes back; just like an old tomcat. Tekram has failed to respond even one time to numerous E-Mail requests for help. Basically the trouble with the card is that you can't make it do the same thing twice in a row with any operating system with at least a half dozen different motherboards. There is no way to RMA it because Tekram chooses to remain incommunicado. It is an insidious device that will tease you along for a while and then drop you in the doo doo. Masocism is not my thing.
For higher end applications, for my money Mylex is hard to beat. Now that they are a subsidiary of IBM the tech support is excellent.
 

Radboy

Golden Member
Oct 11, 1999
1,812
0
0
The DC395 is not an LVD card. Which Adaptec card do you have? Is it an LVD cards?

I believe the guy asking here is looking for an LVD card.
 

TripperJoe

Senior member
Mar 15, 2001
350
0
0
Price difference is neglible if you know where to look. Ebay has retail (with lvd cable) adaptec 29160's listed to be bought @ $225. I couldn't find the equivalent Tekram, but the cheapest i found them online was around $200. In my opinion, the better tech support and compatability, (plus the sleep-at-nightability) of buying the name brand here is worth it.
 

Apex

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
6,511
1
71
www.gotapex.com
If you're going to go with 2 or more 15k drives, you might as well get a SCSI RAID card. I'm putting two 18.2gb 15k drives in my system this monday when my RAID card comes:

http://www.attotech.com/ultra3.html

I actually got the single channel (ExpressPCI UL3S, for $277) since I only have 2 drives.

You can read a review of it here, along with a comparison with the $350+ Adaptec 2100S RAID card, and the $1300 Mylex ExtremeRAID 2000.

http://www.amdmb.com/article-display.php?ArticleID=54