Seagate cheetah x15....

[Guest]

yes, I am purchasing a seagate cheetah x15 which, i know that it is scsi(lovly speeds dont you think) but i have never bought an scsi drive before. my motherboard is an asus a7m266 and i know the drive runs off of 160, well my question is do i need a scsi controller and if i do what would be your suggestions for it

 

[mpjesse]

Hmm... does it have a SCSI controller built in? You said something about 160 which is a transfer rate of a certain kind of SCSI (Ultra 160). If you've got one- then your good. If you don't, adaptec makes the best SCSI controllers. Look at getting some cooling fer that HD... 15K RPM's is bound to put off some major heat man.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"

 

[FatBurger]

Actually, that drive is extremely well built, and is both quiet and cool considering the 15k speeds. However, I don't think it has a controller built in (I'll have to check), and I'd recommend some sort of cooling just to be safe. If you have a case fan or two, that should definitely be enough.

Apple? Macintosh? What are these strange words you speak?

 

[FatBurger]

Ok, here's a link to <A HREF="http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/01q2/010404/index.html" target="_new">Tom's Review</A> of the Seagate Cheetah x15. And don't even think about asking for other website's reviews

To sum it up, it's quiet and doesn't vibrate much, but it's expensive, not as high a performance gain as you might expect for a 15k drive (due to lower density). Now, it just depends on what you're using it for. It has huge access times...I mean, really good access times, but its transfer rates aren't as good. If you're using it in a server with small files, it'll do great. But, if you're going to be doing large audio or video files on it, you'd be better off with a good 10k drive.

At $410 for an 18gig drive, it's about the most expensive out there. Tom doesn't say whether or not is has a built-in controller, but it looks like it doesn't. In which case, get a good Adaptec Ultra-160 controller, as stated above.

Ok, two last things...firstly, it does get quite hot (I remembered wrong, apologies to mpjesse). So, a case fan or two is highly reccomended, although that'll probably still do the trick. The best place I've seen for cooling products is <A HREF="http://www.3dcool.com" target="_new">3Dcool.com</A>.
Secondly, I just thought it was interesting that Seagate sent a refurbished drive to Tom for the review. He doesn't say that, but it has a big "Factory repaired" sticker on it. Hmm...

Apple? Macintosh? What are these strange words you speak?

 

[Guest]

An X15 for a first SCSI drive? Dang.

This might help:

<A HREF="http://radified.com/SCSI/scsi_01.htm" target="_new">http://radified.com/SCSI/scsi_01.htm</A>

 

[killall]

i think hes talking about the motherboard having a builtin controller...

you do not strengthen the weak by weakening the strong

 

[Guest]

I would suggest to wait a bit. On June 25, Seagate is releasing their second generation 15X drive, Cheetah X15-36LP. Consequently, the prices at the current Cheetah X15 (without 36LP) will go down. Right now, it's pretty high: $355.

Leo

 

[Porkloin]

To answer the question: Yes, you will need a controller. The typical workstation controllers are the Adaptec 29160N and the Tekram DC390 U3W. I'd go for the Tekram just because it comes retail with everything you need for a few bucks less than the adaptec in a white box with nothing.
Go over to WWW.storagereview.com for a comparison between the two. http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200105/2001050329160vsDC-390U3W_1.html

Sweating like a rancid chunk of pork

 

[Guest]

The X15-36LP is already available from www.hypermicro.com for $359 for the 18GB model, the 36GB model costs $579. The original X15 costs $319.