64 Bit PCI

[Guest]

G'day,
I am setting up a SCSI storage server and the Ultra160 SCSI adapter I have supports a 64Bit PCI bus. Do any motherboards actually support this bus standard?

What is the advantage of a 64Bit bus?

Regards,
Robbo

 

[Geeba]

Need to get some server board or other... most home mobos will not support 64bit PCI. Compaq's Dells etc have 64 bit slots, but to find just a motherboard with 64bit slots might be more difficult - a lot of them will have onboard SCSI as well, which is going to bump up the cost.

The advantage of a 64 bit slot with reference to the Ultra 160 card is that a 32 bit/33Mhz PCI slot can only theoretically shift 133Mbytes/sec (the real value is lower - around 120), whereas a 64 bit slot can shift twice that. Now, if your SCSI bus is moving data at 160 Meg/sec, then using an 'old' 32bit slot @ 133Meg/sec is blatantly going to slow this down - hence 64bit PCI.

Watch out though, not only is there 32 or 64 bit, but also 33 or 66 MHz and 3.3 or 5 volt slots... :tongue:


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by geeba on 11/29/00 06:28 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

I haven't read this myself, yet, but you might want to glance at the following:

<A HREF="http://www.hiphardware.com/editorials/pci-x/" target="_new">http://www.hiphardware.com/editorials/pci-x/</A>

Mike

 

[RamaV]

I know Asus has put out at least 1 MB with 64bit PCI slots a coupla months ago. Im sure if you goto the MBs makers websites, the big ones like Abit, Asus, Tyan all make at least one board with 64 bit PCI. But what you may really want to look for is the new upcoming DDR SDRAM boards. I just took a look around and it was alot harder to see any existing models with 64 bit, but from all ive been looking at, all the ones coming out now or in the very near future are all 64 bit PCI. The advantage is clear, youll need that improved bandwidth to make full use of your SCSI card. I was considering going the way you are, with the Adaptec 39160 which is 64 bit PCI-but is also backwards compatible with 32 bit-you just get all the performance with less bandwidth. You can always go with a 32bit for now, and my suggestion is, wait for these new generation of MBs that are coming out, theyre all 64 bit PCI, and have other more important improvements. If you want some links, look for an article here: "Whos got news about DDR SDRAM MBs and chipsets", i started it so look for my name, should not be too far back, a week or two at most. Youll see alot of links in there to some great new MBs on the way.
PS: heres a link to what i could think of offhand, its prob a bit more than you need, but at least you know they exist now, with bigger and better coming soon.
Asus: <A HREF="http:// http://www.asus.com/products/Motherboard/pentiumpro/cur-dls/index.html " target="_new">http:// http://www.asus.com/products/Motherboard/pentiumpro/cur-dls/index.html </A>
IWill-both look like theyre a bit more than you need right now (i beleive both are for dual proc) but these are just to let you know, 64 bi PCI is around: <A HREF="http:// http://www.iwillusa.com/products/products.asp " target="_new">http:// http://www.iwillusa.com/products/products.asp </A>

 

[RamaV]

Mikem, just reading that article, THANKS FOR THE LINK~! its a great one. In some ways, let me pull my head out of my arse from my comments above <G> I hope the guy who started this thread reads it as well.

 

[Guest]

RamaV,

Yeah, I've got to get around to reading it one of these days. So I didn't notice anything strange in your comments!

"In some ways, let me pull my head out of my arse from my comments above <G> "

For some reason, the older I get, the more my ears keep stretching.

Mike

 

[Grizely1]

Just get a motherboard with onboard SCSI