Vantec NexStar HD Dock

Now I fully realise that for real-world performance a SATA I cap isnt going to really affect me, because sustained drive speeds are currently below that.
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That about sums it up for me.

I just don't consider it a "glaring design failure".

However, if you want to sue them for false advertising, I'll be more than happy to sign the petition. :D
 
But I think the salient point is drives that can perform that well ARE just around the corner. Intel's new SSDs that were just announced have sustains over 150mb/s.

Suddenly that cap becomes a very limiting design flaw.
 
Deusfaux said:
But I think the salient point is drives that can perform that well ARE just around the corner. Intel's new SSDs that were just announced have sustains over 150mb/s.

Suddenly that cap becomes a very limiting design flaw.
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If you can afford SSDs in the next year or so, I don't think you should worry about spending another 30 bucks on a new enclosure (assuming you're sticking that SSD drive in one of these.

To me the idea of the Vantec and TT is to swap HD's in and out either for trouble shooting, data or backup.

None of those are tasks that I'd buy a SSD for. If I had a choice between one of these that could handles SATA II and one that could accept SATA and my old IDE drives, I'd go for the latter. I don't see SSDs between 500gb and 1TB and I'm certain they'll be outrageously expensive when they do......IOW, I've probably got several years before I'd put one in a BlacX like enclosure.

But that's just me...I like fast stuff, but I insist on a decent bang for the buck.
 
Screen shots from three differerent testing environments with different tools prove what exactly? I am yet to see your point here.
 
I am still not getting what exactly you want to show. The Vantec drive bay cannot fully utilize the SATA II bus because it does not use the SATA II bus but rather on operates on a SATA I bus? Or that no single drive you put in it is capable of fully using the SATA II bus?
 
Deusfaux said:
Yeah, I think it works on a SATA I bus, and isnt actually capable of data transferring at SATA II speeds, despite what the product box says.


The best way to know for sure, would be to put a drive that has sustained speeds over 150mb/s in the dock and see the results.
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Thanks for clearing that up, I still was not sure of what point you were trying to make.

What drive should I use to get that 150MB/s? Write? Read? Burst? Sustained?
 
exitstageleft said:
Get one of these. I've been using it and it's extremely handy. Plus it has it's own external power plug. It's good for sata and ide (3.5 & 2.5) drives.
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Excellent find!!!.

Kinda pricey for what it is (i.e. no case like the vantec or TT units), but I'm still kinda tempted....definitely bookmarking the link for future reference.

Thanks
 
I received my NexStar from Newegg, I tried it out, it was cool for about 10 minutes, and then I realized that it will only sit there 99% of the time taking up desk space. It's alright for the price, but in hindsight I'd wish they would create a more attractive (and more expensive would be ok) unit that sits on the desk.

For infrequent use the above linked cable is a better deal, and really the Vantec CB-ISATAU2 SATA or IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter is largely a better deal for most users no matter what. The NexStar was an impulse buy that I don't quite regret, but that I certainly could have done without.
 
Deusfaux said:
I think only some SSDs are capable of sustained reads over 150 mb/s. The only ones I know of for sure are the recently announced Intel ones with claims of 250 mb/s, or the recently released? OCZ Core Series V2 with claims of 170 mb/s.

But any recent SATA 2 mechanical drive, like the VelociRaptor, or WD6400AAKS, or a Seagate 7200.10 or .11 should be capable of bursts over 150 mb/s.

Run a simple HD tach or HD tune test, the bursts for a HDD like that should be well over 150 mb/s. Put the same drive in the dock, test again, all the sustained reads stay the same (cuz they're already below 150 mb/s), but the burst will suddenly be capped off below 150 mb/s.

If you have access to a really fast SSD (north of 150mb/s reads) that can fit in the dock, I'd suggest testing with that, and see if the sustained speeds get capped off too when in the dock. That'd be the best way to know for sure.
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So you don't have a solution and would like me to investigate the posibilities to help prove your thoughts?

The sata controller in the unit is this one; JM20316. JMicron. See if that gets you anywhere and let me know what you find.
 
Well, I don't have the means to test things in the most ideal way, but at least I thought I could solicit your thoughts on why the burst speeds get capped like that when in the dock. You run a respected hardware site, and might have good insight as to why that was happening.

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you go out and test my theories for me. I suppose there was the outside chance you had access to some crazy fast SSD the rest of us poor shmucks do not, that could lay this to rest.

But thanks for the info on the controller. I've alread found one other product that uses it, that is listed as only being SATA 1.5gbps capable:

http://www.macpower.com.tw/products/hdd2/daisycutter/dcsata_s2

not sure if that indicates anything of value.
 
Deusfaux said:
Well, I don't have the means to test things in the most ideal way, but at least I thought I could solicit your thoughts on why the burst speeds get capped like that when in the dock. You run a respected hardware site, and might have good insight as to why that was happening.
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I think comparing data from multiple sources and drawing conclusions is not a good thing to do.

I don't know of any drive you are going to put in there and pull 3Gbps speeds. That is what i am asking you.

Research the chip and see what you find. Your answer is there if you want it.
 
And let me say this, I understand your point, and yes you may be corrrect. And if you are it still makes no difference whatsoever in the real world. Once we get the spec on the logic being used and my main contact at Vantec gets back in town we can get an answer. I think the worst case here is that since the thing "supports SATA II drives," which it does, someone assumed SATA II speeds. Which of course we know will never be seen even if it actually does use a SATA II bus.

I have been doing this a long time, and there are simply better battles to be fought on the hardware front.
 
And yes, I have a SSD plugged into it right now and have not been able to get close to 150Gbps. Need to update the firmware on the SSD today though.
 
and then I realized that it will only sit there 99% of the time taking up desk space.
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Of course you're correct.

It's more for goof-balls like me that have HDs sitting all over the place with back-ups, corrupted installs, and other people's drives trying to retrive information.

In my little work area, it's actually an improvement over all the cable-cluster-fu@k! :D
 
Old Hippie said:
Of course you're correct.

It's more for goof-balls like me that have HDs sitting all over the place with back-ups, corrupted installs, and other people's drives trying to retrive information.

In my little work area, it's actually an improvement over all the cable-cluster-fu@k! :D
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QFT!
 
So is the TT BlacX also limited to at Sata 1 bus or is it just the Vantec???
 
Sipster said:
So is the TT BlacX also limited to at Sata 1 bus or is it just the Vantec???
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my box just says eSata....but I really don't get why everyone is worried about it. HD's can't saturate the SATA interface, and who cares about SSDs? If I had an SSD drive, I don't think it'd be a drive I swapped out....and by the time they sell for a reasonable price, you'll probably need a new enclosure..

I"m pretty sure if I dropped that much money on a drive, it'd be the drive for my OS, not for data.
 
i like the hard|ocp videos is there a link that has all the videos? or are there only a few still out
 
What's the difference between the $60 vantec dock vs the $30 vantec dock (on sale) other than the obvious price and firewire?
 
ok now I'm having problems with this dock, it's causing my computer to crash ALOT, both in usb and e-sata mode.
 
ICE_9 said:
Maybe just include a small adapter?
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Wouldn't be a small adaptor, IDE and SATA aren't pin compatible.

Also IDE is not hotswappable so a quick change bay it basically useless...just get a 36" IDE cable and a long 4-pin power extension cable and hang them out an empty bay...
 
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