Thermaltake Blacx Duet

[bad_monkey]

I just got my Thermaltake Blacx Duet eSATA 2 drive dock in the mail today so, out of curiosity's sake, I ran some tests on the drives in their old enclosures and then in the dock to see what kind of performance increase I am getting. This test was/is by no means scientific. It only serves to satisfy my curiosity and anyone else who may be interested.

USB

eSATA

USB

eSATA

The first drive is a 2.5" Fujitsu that was laying around my office awhile back. Switching to eSATA basically doubled the sequential read/write speeds but didn't do much for the small (4K) random read/writes.

The second is a 3.5" Seagate that I ripped out of a POS LaCie NAS. Switching to eSATA ~tripled the sequential speeds but again no noticeable change in 4K randoms.

Neither of these drives are particularly good, just what I have lying around. Looking at WD Caviar Blacks to replace both of these in the not so distant future. I ran the tests on my Sager 2096 | Compal JHL90 mobo | SIIG eSATA 2port ExpressCard.

CrystalDisk Info will only show the 2.5" Fujitsu drive but not the 3.5" Seagate while they are both plugged in. I'm gonna play with it but if anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks.

p.s. While I was shopping around there seemed to be some confusion on the net as to whether the Silicon Image sil3132 controller would support both disks simultaneously. I haven't had a problem yet so....

 

[RebateMonger]

Does this duo-disk dock use a standard eSATA cable? It uses a single cable or two cables? One port on a Silicon Image 3132 controller controls two disks simultaneously?

 

[bad_monkey]

Does this duo-disk dock use a standard eSATA cable? It uses a single cable or two cables? One port on a Silicon Image 3132 controller controls two disks simultaneously?

One cable, one port. I can read and write to both hard drives simultaneously but CrystalDisk Info will only show the one.

 

[bad_monkey]

UPDATE:
The Duet definitely works with the Sil 3132 chipset on Windows 7 machines. I was having trouble with CrystalDisk Info finding both HDD's but I put in the second Seagate that I have and now CrystalDisk shows both. The only problem is that, for whatever reason, it doesn't support Advanced Power Management so the disks never spin down. It is great for backups and occasional use but I think it may get too hot for sustained use.

EDIT: Messed around a bit more. I had my hard drives set to never spin down. Changed the setting and sure enough, they will spin down when inactive. It helps a lot keeping the drives cool if you are only using one. I guess when the two drives are right next to each other they create a lot of heat but when only one is spinning it stays relatively cool (38-40C).