What SCSI controller for a Wide-Ultra SCSI 3 drive

[Batti]

I have a Compaq "wide ultra SCSI 3" 10,000RPM drive. What controller do I need to use this drive at it's potential?

Thanks!

 

[Sir Fredrick]

Al the SCSI terms are confusing, I can never remember what they all mean. If you get an LVD 160 card you're sure to be able to utilize that drive's full potential. I like the adaptec 29160, personally.

 

[Batti]

Considering this drive is a couple years old, that controller is overkill. The question is which one isn't??

 

[Erasmus-X]

The Tekram DC390U2W or Adaptec 2940U2W would both work fine. The Tekram is a lot cheaper (like $160 instead of $300) and performs almost identically. I agree that an LVD controller would be kind of overkill in your situation.

 

[Kjazlaw]

i second the tekram DC390U2W. you can find that for <$150.

 

[Noriaki]

Go for a Tekram 390U3W, it's got specs and performance simialar to the Adaptec 29160 but costs 2/3s of the price.

I saw a comparision a few days ago, they were very close in performance in FAT32, Tekram seemed to have the edge, NTFS Adaptec did. But they were close anyways...

It probably is overkill for that drive, but this way you have a solid well rounded SCSI controller that can take anything from a 5MB/s narrow to a an ultra160 SE or LVD . So then you can easily add new devices later.

If you don't like this idea, here's a couple choices for you, just pic the bandwidth you need:

Ultra160 LVD: DC-390U3W (160MB/s max)
Ultra2Wide LVD: DC-390U2W (80MB/s max)
UltraWide: DC-390F (40MB/s max)
Ultra-SCSI: DC-390U (20MB/s max)
SCSI-2: DC-390 (10MB/s max)

All these are Tekram cards, and they use Symbios Logic SCSI controller chips. Symbios makes chip comprable to Adaptec except for price. Tekram makes good quality boards, at a lower price. Adaptec is the largest supplier or SCSI cards, but I find Tekram more to my liking. I'm not as well versed in Adaptec Models as I am in Tekram, but if you look at their website everything should be laid out nicely.


If you don't mind paying extra, getting an adaptec might not be a bad idea, but for 2/3s the price the Tekrams are nice.

Good luck.

 

[Batti]

Thanks!!!!! What speed capacity do we think this drive has? 40Mb/sec? 80Mb/Sec????