SCSI/SATA drive question.

[Vega]

I am trying to decide which hard drive interface/disks to go with for a power gaming machine. I pretty much just use my machines to game so that is what performance area I am interested in. Speed is my main concern and not capacity.

I have had great success with Ultra 160 SCSI in previous machines. I would like some clarification on Ultra 320. All of the host adaptors for U320, LSI and Adapatec, seem to be based on a 64-bit 133mhz PCI-X slot. I do not want to have to deal with a server type motherboard that has these slots. If I choose U320 I will only be running one 15,000 RPM Fujitsu 37 Gig drive, so I won't be maxing out regular 33mhz PCI slots bandwidth. So my questions are; is there any U320 adaptors that utilize a regular 33mhz PCI slot? If not, can a 64-bit 133mhz PCI-X adaptor be backwards compatable and run in a 33mhz PCI slot? What would be degraded, if anything, besides top end throughput? Last option I can think of; can a U320 HD run on a U160 adaptor, which they still make for 33mhz PCI slots? If so, would the U320 run slower on a U160 adaptor even though one 15,000 RPM U320 drive theoretically should not max it out?

My other option, and cheaper option would be to just buy a 74GB Raptor. I do like the low noise level of this drive, especially versus SCSI. Do you guys think the Raptor would be noticeably slower for gaming then the 15K U320? I understand the U320 would be quite a bit faster for large sustained multi-user data access but for gaming, I don't know.

Cost difference:

74GB Raptor $170
No controller needed, SATA on MB.

37GB Fujitsu 15K U320 $220
Single channel SCSI adaptor $150

Thanks.

 

[sm8000]

For a single U320 drive, this $33 LSI U160 card will be all you need. But I don't think you'll get much advantage using SCSI over SATA for gaming.

 

[Leper]

from what i have seen, the raid0 raptors will not give you noticeable gaming experience as they are lightning fast already. there are a couple threads on this already
i think this is it
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=819098

 

[pinglupanglu]

you can plug pci-x controller card into 32-bit 33 MHz pci (ver 2.2) slot.

I'm running adaptec 29320-R on asus p4c800 deluxe. But if you don't plan to buy server board with pci-x slot some day, LSI U160 will be more than sufficient.

 

[Vega]

For a single U320 drive, this $33 LSI U160 card will be all you need. But I don't think you'll get much advantage using SCSI over SATA for gaming.

This was my biggest question. So most think the demands of gaming do not push the U320 drive hard enough and for this reason the Raptor will be just about as fast?

from what i have seen, the raid0 raptors will not give you noticeable gaming experience as they are lightning fast already. there are a couple threads on this already

I know about the short-comings of Raid 0 for gaming. This is why my original post was discussing two different interfaces for a single hard drive and the best for gaming without using Raid.

you can plug pci-x controller card into 32-bit 33 MHz pci (ver 2.2) slot. I'm running adaptec 29320-R on asus p4c800 deluxe. But if you don't plan to buy server board with pci-x slot some day, LSI U160 will be more than sufficient.

So your saying, going with a U160 adaptor would not hurt the performance of a single U320 drive because the single U320 drive won't top out the bandwidth of a U160 adaptor on a 32-bit pci slot correct?

Does anyone know of any reviews of single 15K SCSI drives versus the 74 Gb Raptor for gaming? I could not find any.

 

[sm8000]

A single U160 typically won't do more than 80MB/s max. You need multiple drives doing simultaneous transfers to saturate a 160 or 320MB/s bus.

I've had that card in a 32-bit/33MHZ PCI slot (133MB/s bus) and it's run my U160 drive just fine.

EDIT: To compare drives, head to www.storagereview.com and select those drives in their Performance Database.

 

[Vega]

Ahh, nice site, Thanks.