Any advice on 'going SCSI'? (1 Viewer)

[TheoGB]

Hi,

From all I've read SCSI is much faster for hard drive access and for every other item...if you can afford it.

So my first question is, is this the case?

I am looking to get a new PC but this time I am thinking of going SCSI which will cost a bit but I hope in the end I will have a machine that can do music and games and run at a blistering rate.

Am I fooling myself? Are processors and UDMA100 so good that it's not worth it any more?

All opinions are welcome.

Cheers,

Theo

 

[DonRoeber]

Yes, SCSI is faster, but its not the speed of the disks oftentimes that give you the speed. Its the bus. How're you setting up your computer? If you're using 1 fast hard drive (ATA100) and a CDROM or CDRW drive, an ATA bus is fine. If you're going to be doing RAID or anything like that, SCSI makes a difference. If you're going with SCSI, get a high quality SCSI adapter. Its really the key. Put your slower devices on a seperate chain if possible (most card support two scsi chains), and then put the hard disks on their own chain. I traditionally number CDROM drives as SCSI ID 6, Tape drives as 5, and the adapter is always as device 7.

Let me know if you hvae any other questions.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Also, an IDE RAID card and two of the faster IDE drives striped together to form one big drive will give you pretty darn blistering speed in itself and probably give you much more storage for the dollar.

SCSI is still better, but I think it's questionable whether you actually need it today with UDMA100 drives etc.

 

[Roy C.]

One thing you guys might have missed is the fact that if you buy a good SCSI controller the CPU cycles/processes are lessened therefore your PC is open to other things like surfing the 'net while you burn a CD or playing a game, etc.

I have a set of 10k RPM SCSI drives on my server and a SCSI burner and I've never ended up with a coaster, even when surfing or downloading.

On one of my ATA100 workstations, however, I do have the speed but the CPU is taking the heat, if burning, rather than the controller. So like they say, six of one or half a dozen of another. Bottom line, it all depends on your needs and what application your gonna use this for.

My thoughts.

Roy C.

 

[TheoGB]

Cheers guys.
I have an IBM 30GB Deskstar drive that is UDMA100 though currently running at UDMA66 which is why I wondered about this. I am really looking to find the best Mobo/GeForce II/Deskstar set up so all three do not moan at me.
From the sounds of things, while SCSI is cool, I may just save myself some money and see about sticking with IDE. If it's still slow I can put the old HD back in my old machine and buy the SCSI components.
Re: CDR buffer underruns - I am going to post something about this now.