SCSI Hardrive???

[Smitty1963]

Hello all!
I am in need of some suggestions on a "Great" SCSI Hardrive at a price of around $300.00. I currently have a Maxtor 20GB ATA 100 7200 RPM. (So Slow)

I have an Adaptec 2940 SCSI card that runs my Plextor 32X CD-Rom and my Plextor 4X 12X CD-R. Do you also suggest I purchase another SCSI card, Im sure they are much faster now days. If so what do you suggest?

Any and all help appreciated!

Thank you!

My system is:
PIII 1GHZ
Asus CUSL2-C Motherboard
Antec SX-840 Case W/Enermax EG451P-VE Power supply
256MB 1 dimm Crucial PC 133 CL2
Asus Gforce 32MB 4X DDR AGP Video Card
Sound blaster Live Sound Card

Thanks again!

 

[Sir Fredrick]

If your SCSI card doesn't support LVD then I suggest you upgrade it. The Adaptec 29160 can be found for about $175 used, though you could probably get away with less than that, that's just my personal favorite.

I'm a big fan of the Quantum Atlas line of drives, at the bare minimum, get an Atlas V (7200 RPM). But look around, see if you can find an Atlas 10K or 10K II in your price range. I have a 10K, it's nice

 

[FaultCode]

mmm, I have a brand new 18.3GB Atlas V I don't need. Drop me an email if you want to know more.

 

[Radboy]

Anything with a 10Krpm (or greater) spindle will rock. Personally, I think 7200rpm SCSI drives are not a good idea, as their perf advantage over IDE is minimized.

I use & like IBM Ultrastars, but this is merely personal pref. The 36LZX can be had for ~$219 for the 9GB & $299 for 18GB.

I like this controller.

If you go with a Quantum, here's a rebate.

 

[Pariah]

I assume you mean Atlas IV Fault. The Atlas IV is an old drive, and not a recommended purchase. If you're going SCSI, don't bother with anything slower than 10kRPM.

 

[FaultCode]

No, I mean I have a brand new Atlas V. If you check the specs of the Atlas V vs. the Atlas 10K (which I use in my system) you will find that the drives are close in performance. Surprising considering the Atlas V only spins at 7200rpm.

 

[Pariah]

The Atlas V is still a year old and not a recommended pruchase unless you can find a very good deal on it.

 

[FaultCode]

If you're looking for trough put, the Atlas V beats the Atlas 10K. The Atlas 10K access times are a bit faster at 5.3ms vs. 6.0ms for the Atlas v. Overall I think the Atlas V is a very good "starter" SCSI drive. At 7200rpm's you won't find a faster drive.

 

[esung]

Is your card a plain 2940 or a 2940UW supports ultra wide connection? because if your card doesn't have ultra wide connection, you'll definately need a new SCSI controller. but if yours is 2940UW, you can probably use it with the newer Ultra160 drives, although you'll only getting 40MB/s instead of of the 160MB/s provide by Ultra160. this way you can save some money until you get the new ultra160 controller. but if you are willing to shell out more money for SCSI HDs, it's probably better to get a new controller.

I like Quantum's Atlas 10K2, 18GB with 8MB buffer.. but it cost around $350 or so. I am going to get one to replace my old IBM 9.1G
UW-SCSI(it's dying).

 

[kombatmud]

if you really want a fast setup, you should wait a little while for Quantum's 15k drive, and the IBM Ultrastar 36Z15. They are specced considerably faster than Seagate's cheetah X15, which already beats every other drive on the market. Those drives might be a bit out of your budget though, any recent 15k or 10k rpm drive is a good choice. 7200 rpm is a little slow for SCSI, and the older 10k rpm drives are quite a bit slower than the current ones. Of the 10ks out there, the Quantum Atlas 10k II would probably be the best choice. If you have a standard AHA-2940 or an AHA-2940U card, you will definately need a new card. If you have an AHA-2940UW, and you are interested in getting a more budget oriented setup, then it will work, although for the pricing of the cable you need, you'd probably be better off getting an AHA-29160 kit from someone on the FS/FT forum. If you have an AHA-2940U2W card, then you don't need an upgrade, and unless you get multiple drives, will probably not even see a performance gain from upgrading.

 

[Smitty1963]

Thanks for the help all!!

 

[Smbu]

It would probably be better to go with a Tekram scsi controller over an adaptec one as they cost less and perform the same. I'm currently using a Tekram DC 390U3W card and this thing works great. I just put in a 9.1gb IBM Ultrastar 36LZX 10krpm U160 drive and this thing is great. After being on a 5400 rpm IDE hard drive I noticed a definite improvement in speed.