RAID Controller Cards: Does Brand really matter?

[BillyBatson]

I own a Promise fasttrak tx2 ata100 raid controller. I know promise is one of the best, but WHY? i am in the market for an ata133 RAID card but the promise fasttrack tx2000 is going to set me back around $100 shipped. In what way is it superior to say a Silicon Image Sil0680, HighPoint Rocket133S, SIIG SC-PR4B12, and others by Tekram Technology, Koutech, etc ? when these cards are 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the promise card!~??!?
any information will greatly help me, thanks in advance.

 

[Armitage]

Yes, brand does matter. And, FWIW, Promise has made some really shi||y IDE RAID cards. Not to say that you model is one. I don't know.

The biggest difference is between software & hardware based RAID cards. Take a look at storagereview.com for some of the best storage system benchmarks around.

 

[BillyBatson]

thanks i apreciate that, i will check out that website now

keep the advice comin guys

 

[VFAA]

Go with HighPoint. I got a HighPoint RAID card as a partial trade and it's been the easies to install and to work with.
IMHO Promise is priced more over others just like Intel over AMD or Adaptec SCSI over Tekram SCSI.
It's all about getting good rep. If a company establishes good on the market, they can sell for more (that doesn't mean they're better).

 

[BillyBatson]

you have a highpoint? what are some of the other brands you people have?

I plain to run RAID 0 with 2 Maxtor 20mb D740X ata133 7200rpm HD's so keep that in mind if it matters at all.
My previous setup was with 2 40gb seagate UATA100 7200rpm HD's and that and that promise tx2

 

[BillyBatson]

ttt

 

[rockhard]

Promise - Ugh, ive just had bad performance experience with their Fastrak 100.
Dont care how good theyre newer stuff is i wont be using them again.
I used to have a 3Ware 6400 and am still kicking myself for selling it
If you want IDE raid i would not look anywhere else but 3Ware FWIW.
You may also want to consider that in real world useage Raid0 is a waste of time and wont give that much more performance over a single drive.
If you want good performance be better and more cost effective to go a single SCSI HD and pop a big slow IDE drive for data storage.
The only thing IDE raid is of any use for is Raid1 mirroring or Raid5 for parity. Going IDE Raid0 just aint worth it from my previous experiences.
Before you blow your cash may i recommend you go have a look through Storagereview.com's forum and maybe do a few searches on the subject.
Dont want you to blow a load of cash like i have in the past and then end up dissapointed.

Good luck,

rockhard =)

 

[Armitage]

Another vote for 3ware!
Unlike Rockhard, I had good results with performance improvements in both RAID 0 and RAID 1 with this card, but I run RAID1 because I'm more concerned with reliability.

 

[rockhard]

Unlike Rockhard, I had good results with performance improvements in both RAID 0 and RAID 1 with this card

Hehe, maybe i better explain myself a bit better, sorry :embarassed;
I never actually used the 3Ware card in raid0 as the 3Ware card had the ability to do raid1 with raid0 read performance with only write performance being comparable to a single drive - very impressed
Only problem i found was when loading my rig up with multiple IO's from various sources the rig just crawled due to the IDE interface being totally unsuitable for the task
Its great running a benchmark that shows your IDE HD doing said bench but who actually uses their rig this way initiating a Drive Read/Write, then sitting back doing nothing till its finished.
I know i keep going on about this in previous threads ive answered in the past, but if you use your computer the way most people do - multitasking IO's, then IDE raid is a complete waste of time unless you want raid1/5 for redundancy.
BillyBatson - Im getting the impression your thinking of getting one of the cheaper cards or maybe pushing the boat out for an expensive card if the performance is worth it for raid0, yeah?
If you are then i feel you would be far better served just going a single 8mb WD Special Edition IDE HD or if you can push the moneys a single 10K 8mb cache HD like the Maxtor Atlas III would give you better performance for your money.

 

[BillyBatson]

thanks guys!!!! You have given me a lot to think about..
Though i somewhat dissagree on the cost of goig SCSI, a single 36k IBM, Fujitsu, seagate, or any other model will set me back a pretty penny, still not including the scsi card which i would most likely turn to adaptec for...
Then i have talked to a few people i know who have the 8mb cache WD 120mb HD's... and thry say the performance is close, if not equal mode raid 0 ide setups. This would close me around $50 less than doing 2 20gb or 40gb Maxtor HD's.. but 2 probs here too, 1 i wanted to go with ata133, but more importantly 2. 120gb IS JUST TOO MUCH =\. I know i will probably get shunned for saying that but it just is, withmy previous setup of raid 0 using 2 40gb segates i found 80gb too much space for C!!i prefer my C to be 20gb to 40gb, as most likely i will never used more than 6GB's for installs, and he bulk of that would be the few games i play (UT, CS, ETC). I don't store my files, pics, programs, mp3z, etc onto my C as i am too paranoid and i like to format a LOT, and it is just so much easier to format and reinstall an OS without having to backup and worry about whether you backed everything up =\.
Though because of you guys are am definatly going to look into 3ware, AND now i am somwwhat considering a new route to go... what about a maxtor ata133 7200 20gb or even 40gb HD for C:, and a wd 120gb 8mb cache for say a massive D storage , since the way i would have gone before would have been the 2 RAID HD's and a 3rd HD around 80gb just to store all the stuff u don't trust on my C:/RAID HAHA

 

[BiggJeevis]

Adaptec SCSI is overrated and very expensive. These days, there is no reason to overpay for that sort of thing. For now, I like both Highpoint (which Im using currently, but its JBOD), and Promise, since both are cheap IDE RAID systems and the only real difference (should) be the installation.

On the more expensive side (SCSI), I would go with Mylex, and YES, SCSI is very expensive. A cheap mylex card (u160) is roughly $350 or so, and a few (I would go with at least three drives if you are spending all that money) 15k cheetah drives from seagate. I would go with either raid5 or raid30(better parity than raid5, although i know a lot of people mite argue with me on this one).

 

[BillyBatson]

For now, I like both Highpoint (which Im using currently, but its JBOD), and Promise, since both are cheap IDE RAID systems and the only real difference (should) be the installation.

my original point was that promise isn't cheap lol. It is roughly twice as much as 3ware and Highpoint. If it was the same cost i would have just went with promise and would have never created this thread. Though i am glad id id cuz i am 2nd guessing my decision to run raid once again..

 

[Soulkeeper]

i'm happy with my promise raid card
works good in windows and linux
it's a fast trak 100

 

[BillyBatson]

i just sold my promise fasttrack100 tx2 ysterday, i was quite happy with it aswell