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By Mike Breeden Published: February 1998 | |
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| Summary of Results from Single Drive Tests | |
Although the Jackhammer won the majority of the tests in this series of tests (with single drives), many of the other cards were often close behind. Each card has its strong points that may make it a better choice for you, as I'll summarize below. I regret that I do not have another ATTO, Adaptec and JackHammer card for the next series of tests - Raid arrays. Currently I will only be able to run a matched two card/two drive test with the Initio Miles cards, all other tests will use a two drive/one card configuration. If Raid performance is your primary concern, reserve final judgement until the Raid tests are published.
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| Results Summary by Card: | |
Adaptec 2940UW: The Adaptec card performed well in the tests but was not a standout on any of them. It does have one of the best manuals for the novice, with clear explanations and illustrations for installation and SCSI basics such as termination. The manual is light on technical content for more experienced users however. Adaptec provides several Video Tuner options (card settings) in the PowerDomain control that would be of use to owners of video capture cards. Basically these settings affect how much PCI bus time the 2940 can use or how it will share bandwidth with other cards. Often these settings reduce SCSI performance as a tradeoff for better capture rates. The card was left at the default settings for these tests. I regret that I could not run the tests with the current 2.5 bios release, and Adaptec says that I should have been able to flash the bios back to v2.5, but my attempts failed. Until the issues with the PowerForce G3 card is resolved, PowerForce owners should choose another card such as the Initio or ATTO, and some say the Jackhammer is also fully compatible. Other than this case, the Adaptec is a safe choice and is probably the most popular Mac SCSI card in use today. Street Prices range from $195 to approx $300+ depending on whether you buy a OEM/barebones or Retail package. |
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ATTO expressPCI: The ATTO card was a consistently high performer, almost always near the top in most of the tests. If the Mac version has the ADS (Advanced Data Streaming) feature mentioned at their web site and in the PC version literature I've read, it may do very well in the Raid tests. The ATTO Tools utility has a wide array of configuration options for those desiring to tweak with the cards settings - but novices may do more harm than good. I left these settings at the defaults for these tests as recommended in the manual. As I've commented on previously, the ATTO Tools application is one of my favorites, easy to use and with a nice graphing benchmark as well. Although I do not have it for review, ATTO also markets their own Raid software specifically designed for this card. As a side note, the ATTO card is well respected in NT circles, delivering the highest rates of any SCSI card on that platform in a recent test (with a slightly higher CPU utilization). Overall the ATTO is a very strong performer but is the 2nd most expensive card tested. Street price is around $350 for the basic card (other kits are offered). |
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Initio 9100UW Miles: Initio's first entry into the Mac market surprised me. It won a lot of the ATTO benchmark tests and was 2nd best overall in the FWB tests. Not bad for an initial entry into a field where the other players have had much longer to optimize their cards. They tell me a bios revision is coming soon to improve performance with the Conley SoftRaid software, and that a special bundle price may be offered on the pair. I won't post the target price here as it has not been finalized, but if the price I was told is true it will be a very attractive package. Printed documentation on the Miles card is sparse, and there is no control software supplied. That may be an issue for owners of video capture cards, but the Conley drivers may compensate for this somewhat. If Conley and Initio are working together on optimizing the combination, I expect to see performance increase in later bios releases. The BIG bonus of this card for me was the ability to use a pair of them with the PowerForce G3 card. That capability alone makes this card a must-buy for me. Street price is about $240 (but watch for amazing pricing on a bundle w/Conley SoftRaid 2) |
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Streamlogix Jackhammer SE: As you already know from the test results, the Jackhammer was the overall best performer in the single drive tests, but not by a huge margin in most cases. The manual claims their special system extension can improve video capture performance by as much as 100%. The card is a solid, fast performer but commands the highest price of any card tested. The Jackhammer has a very nice control panel (my 2nd favorite) and the best manual of the bunch, although I thought their many pages describing setting the card termination modes made it sound much more complicated that it is. The control panel's termination page has a excellent graphic illustration, and setup is very clear and straightforward, unlike the explanation of it in the manual. Overall though the manual was the best of the bunch by far, with SCSI definitions and practical information for both the novice and experienced user. Street price is about $400. |
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Raid Array Tests to Follow...
I wish I had more time to prepare these reviews, but real life gets in the way regardless of how hard I try to push it aside. I hope this three part series will been of use to you (initial feedback has been very positive). For the many readers who have written regarding Raid arrays and performance - I've now posted parts two and three on dual and single SCSI card Raid tests. The tests were run with five of the most popular Raid software packages available for the Mac (Anubis Raid, Atto Raid, Conley SoftRaid 2.0, Remus Lite and Raid ToolKit). Don't forget to check the main site for daily news, the best in hardware upgrade sale notices and special offers and of course a great selection of reviews, tutorials and discussion forums. Thanks for stopping by. | |
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= Results Summary =
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Mike, 1998. No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission. Please ask before using quotes or images. Users of this site must read and are bound by the terms/conditions of use | |