Ultra320 or not with 32bit pci

[jverdier]

Hi

I am thinking about getting Ultra320, but does it make any sense when using it on a 32bit pci slot.

I am getting the Asus P4C800 Deluxe (Intel 875P chipset) and I am tired of the IDE harddisks crashing after a year or two and is considering getting the SCSI Ultra320 standard (Adaptec) and two fujitu SCSI disks.

But as I am using the 32bit pci slot I cannot use the full potential of the technology, any comments on this, or should I forget about SCSI and get som serial-ata disks instead.

The reason why I am thinking about getting SCSI is for editing video clips from digital video camereas (home use only).

Is it just plain overkill, or does it make any sense at all. I can afford spending the money on SCSI, but I dont want to use the money on technology if it does not make any sense at all.

I will be getting 1gb of ram and a P4 2.4 og 2.6 ghz processor.

Please advise
Jan

 

[sao123]

NOT HIGHLY TECHNICAL. MOVE TO MOTHERBOARD FORUM.


32bit PCI wont do justice to SCSI 320. The bandwidth just simply isnt there.

2 Choices...
If your willing to shell out lots cash for SCSI...let me present to you a cost thrifty alternative.

Get the ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe. Upgraded P4C800 with 4 Serial ATA's & more. Good combination to get with the just announced 72GB 10000RPM SATA drived by Western digital. (In retail channels by end of year). Or the existing 36GB 10000RPM RPM's already in stock. Use 2 of these in a RAID 0 to achieve max performance.

If SCSI is that important to you...Buy a Gigabyte KNXP Ultra. Includes (2x) Ultra 320 Onboard + 2 SATA ports.

 

[Peter]

Do not buy onboard SCSI. Your SCSI stuff will outlast two or three mainboard upgrades.

Instead of worrying about whether to get U320 or not, just do it - but don't go Adaptec. Use a Tekram 390U4W controller card - it's a dual channel card, U320 for your fast HDDs plus a fully independent UW/U channel for other peripherals. This one (in full retail pack w/ all cables and terminators) has been going for as low as $100 in sales specials - with performance and CPU load figures on par with Adaptec's massively more expensive gear, and a much better track record on driver quality. (Tekram uses the LSI 53C1030 SCSI chip, LSI's reference BIOS and drivers.)

But true, on 32-bit PCI, even a single channel U160 card is choked by the bus bandwidth. Your budget solution is LSI's own "U160" single channel card.