SCSI...Should I or shouldn't I?

[Tullphan]

I'm new to SCSI stuff.
Since IDE hard drives are getting larger, faster & cheaper, would one want SCSI for CD copying only?
How much will having a SCSI card installed slow down boot-up or take from system resources?
Would it be feasible to invest in a SCSI card if one would only get one SCSI device (like a cd-rom)?
If it is feasible, which card? U, UW, U2W?
Thanks for your input.

 

[Migroo]

It completely depends upon your needs.

If IDE cd-writing works for you, then why get a SCSI setup, especially since you intend leaving your hard drives IDE?

 

[rmblam]

<< Since IDE hard drives are getting larger, faster & cheaper, would one want SCSI for CD copying only? >>



No



<< How much will having a SCSI card installed slow down boot-up or take from system resources? >>



Slow boot up. It takes about 30-60 seconds for the SCSI Adapter to initialize and detect. System resources are not an issue as far as I can tell.



<< Would it be feasible to invest in a SCSI card if one would only get one SCSI device (like a cd-rom)? >>



No. SCSI shines in multitasking environments and/or where you need many HD's.



<< If it is feasible, which card? U, UW, U2W? >>



I am fond of the Tekram DC-390U3W or the U3D


You might want to do a search here on this. It is a popular topic.

 

[Smbu]

<< << How much will having a SCSI card installed slow down boot-up or take from system resources? >>

Slow boot up. It takes about 30-60 seconds for the SCSI Adapter to initialize and detect. System resources are not an issue as far as I can tell. >>


It does slow boot up, but 30-60 seconds sounds way too long. My setup doesn't take that long to initialize. Of course I'm only using 4 scsi devices right now, so that might be it.
2 x 36GB U160 10K rpm hd's (Quantum Atlas 10K II & Seagate Cheetah 36LP)
Plex 12/10/32 cdrw
Pioneer 6x slot load DVD
all on an Adaptec 29160 U160 scsi card.
I don't remember it taking that long with the Tekram DC-390U3W card I used to have either.


If you are just going to use a cdrw drive with it, then it would probably be best to just stick with an IDE drive(with burnproof of course).
If you still want a scsi cdrw drive(and are not planning on using scsi hd's) then all you would need is a Ultra (U) scsi card with a 50 pin connector. (e.g. Adaptec 2940U card)

 

[borealiss]

if you have to ask whether or not you should get scsi, you probably shouldn't from a practical stand point. if your hard disks are always always slowing down your productivity, then perhaps, but i doubt you would need one. any burn proof eide cdrw i think would be alright for you, and it will save you some money. so if i were you, i would just save my money and perhaps invest more in ram or maybe a faster eide hard disk.

 

[CocaCola5]

Smbu, what was wrong with the Tekram card that you switch to Adaptec? I am thing of getting the DC-390U3W.

 

[benchmarq]

If you are concerned about boot-up time, and only looking to go to SCSI for CD burning, you could go with an Adaptec 2906. It is designed for non-bootable devices, such as ZIP drives, scanners, and CD-ROM drives. Because it's a non-bootable card, it doesn't load any SCSI BIOS at boot-up and it doesn't seem to slow down the boot-up time at all. Here's a link to read more about it: Adaptec 2906

 

[Smbu]

<< Smbu, what was wrong with the Tekram card that you switch to Adaptec? I am thing of getting the DC-390U3W. >>


There was nothing wrong with it, but I sold it along with the rest of my computer when I wanted money for a laptop. Later I put together another system and needed another U160 card and I was able to get the Adaptec 29160 for pretty cheap from somebody in the FS/T forums, so I just bought it instead of another Tekram.

 

[The Sauce]

Nowadays, the SCSI copying thing is no longer relevant. I had the Plextor SCSI combo and it rocked back in the day, but now that all drives have burnproof it doesn't matter anymore. You can do whatever you want while burning anyway and never have to worry about buffer underruns. SCSI added about 10-15 seconds to my boot-up time but it also steals an IRQ/DMA. So I recommend not to bother. I just bought a Firewire scanner so that I could completely rid my system of SCSI. When serial ATA is out within the next 6 months i predict no one will be going to SCSI anymore.