Motherboards with integrated SCSI adapter- Good or bad?
IHateSpam
Ken Wrote:
I just went through this decision process when I built an application specific
machine at work to minimum specs recently announced by the government agency I deal
with.
Bottom line is ( in my most humble opinion) if the exact features you want are on a
motherboard that you can get with SCSI on board then you should get the SCSI on
board. You can get the board with SCSI at a considerable savings over purchasing
board and SCSI separately. This is if you would choose that motherboard anyway even
if it didn't have SCSI or if you aren't particular about which board you want.
However, if you are using this machine for your business as I would suspect a heavy
graphics user to do you may want to consider motherboards that do not have SCSI on
board for the following reasons.
Cons are:
1. There aren't that many boards out there with SCSI on them that are among the top
manufacturers, so that limits your selection.
2. If board goes bad you have to trash board and SCSI.
3. If SCSI goes bad you have to trash board.
4.Same goes for upgrading motherboard and so on. This is not only pertinent for
motherboard, but new SCSI standards are on the way. Don't you love the equipment
business?
5. You don't really save a PCI slot because the on board SCSI boards that I could
find had one less PCI slot.
Pros:
1. cost
2. gotta be more but I can't think of them today.
comments:
I spent some time in the Supermicro news groups and there are an extremely high
percentage of unhappy campers there. In addition, I couldn't find Supermicro at very
much of a discount.
If I had purchased on-board SCSI I had decided to go with ASUS because of a large
group of happy campers in the ASUS news group and plentiful supply and frequent
discounting.
I wound up with ABIT LX-6 and Pentium 300 and IBM Ultrastar SCSI and adaptec 2940UW.
My reasoning was that my business and livelihood depend on the cash flow that the
computer helps generate. While I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, another
$100 or so buys me peace of mind that I can be up and running quicker and easier in
the event of motherboard or controller failure. Plus I really preferred the LX-6
because it was well reviewed and had been out long enough to have the bugs out and a
revision or two.
I didn't mean to do a such a dissertation here but I had recently given this
considerable thought.
Hope this helps with your decision
Regards
Ken Lochridge
goodie...@DELETECAPSsprintmail.com
mrsf...@TheGarage.com wrote:
> I am considering putting together a dual Pentium II system within the next few
> months. I am looking for recommendations for a good motherboard. This machine
> will be used for heavy duty graphics work. I have been looking at Tyan and
> Supermicro so far. However, I have noticed that some of the higher end
> motherboards come with built in SCSI adapters. I'm not sure if this is good or
> bad, and I would like opinions. Some of them also come with integrated sound and
> I do NOT like this at all.
>
> I am planning on adding SCSI peripherals to the system, such as a cd rom burner
> and a scanner, I just am not sure if it's better to buy a separate SCSI card or
> go for a motherboard with one built in.
>
> Any and all opinions appreciated.
>
> Candice
> mrsf...@postoffice.ptd.net
Robert Place
I feel i need to point this out, SuperMicro makes fast, Very Stable
motherboard..
the reason there's a large majority of un-satisfied customers, is because
the happy one's don't feel any need to go on newsgroups and YELL THAT
SUPERMICRO ROX.. looking at how many people complain in a newsgroup is no
indication of a boards quality.
Thanks for reading,
Robert
mrsf...@TheGarage.com wrote in message <3505bf0e...@news.ptd.net>...
>Ken,
>You make some very good points. Good SCSI cards are expensive, and if the
>motherboard goes bad, like you said there goes the controller. I really was
>leaning towards separate controller and motherboard. I dislike anything
>integrated that doesn't have to be. This is why I asked for opinions. I was
not
>aware of problems with Supermicro's, and I will definitely check out the
NG. I
>have, however, heard good things about Asus and Tyan.
>
>What happens when the 100mhz bus motherboards come out? Will ANYTHING be
>compatible with them?
>
>I appreciate your help. I'd rather spend a little more for more
flexibility. I
>can also invest in the controller card now, and add a SCSI cd rom burner to
my
>system, which I desperately need, and then just transfer it all to the new
>system when I put it together in a few months.
>
>Thanks again.
>
>Candice
>mrsf...@postoffice.ptd.net
Ihatespam
Ken Wrote:
Excellent Point that you make Marc. And a question that I can't answer accurately. I
arrived at my conclusions from surfing and newsgroups. The local vendors go "Huh?" or give
you inaccurate information about SCSI because the sales personell are poorly informed.
I imagine that the question you raise is quite possibly a solution in that case and is
something that has not occurred to me. Hopefully, if you aren't sure about this we will
get more info from someone else in the newsgroup that knows for sure.
Alternatively, my local users group(Carolina UpstatePC Users Group) meets this coming
Tuesday. While they don't talk very much about SCSI usually, there are some very competent
and knowledgable members that may be able to answer that. I may have to miss this meeting
because I'm not sure if I'll be back from a business trip.
Also, I hope to answer this soon because am probably going to build another machine soon.
I have been trying to wait till more specs and info came out on the 100 Mghz bus speed are
out before deciding.
The main differences and compatablity problems that I can see at this point are
essentially for the SDRAM (or DDRAM??) Micron and Corsair have products out and on the
market. Kind of pricey though. Only Abit It5A board out with 100 mghz support at this
time. BX chipset out soon. I personally am leaning toward socket 7 and It5a with Corsair
memoryand then K-6 3D. I kind of would like to wait until a revision or so of the board is
out before buying. My experience in other fields has been such that there are certain
areas in which I don' t want to be on the leading edge of technology.
Maybe someone will have comments on this.
Regards
Ken Lochridge, Greenville SC
zombie wrote:
> I was also thinking of upgrading and using a board with onboard SCSI.
> I was looking into the Tyan Thunder2. I use Tyan for any PCs I build
> for my home and the company I used to work for used them exclusively
> and I love 'em. And I also do agree that if it can be kept seperate
> it is usually better to so, for as much as this board costs its nice
> to get a little something extra. I do have one question though. I
> think it was Ken who mentioned having to toss the board is the onboard
> SCSI goes bad, is this really so or can you just not use that port and
> put in a new card?
>
> Marc
>
> <snip>
> >
> >Candice
> >mrsf...@postoffice.ptd.net
zombie
I was also thinking of upgrading and using a board with onboard SCSI.
I was looking into the Tyan Thunder2. I use Tyan for any PCs I build
for my home and the company I used to work for used them exclusively
and I love 'em. And I also do agree that if it can be kept seperate
it is usually better to so, for as much as this board costs its nice
to get a little something extra. I do have one question though. I
think it was Ken who mentioned having to toss the board is the onboard
SCSI goes bad, is this really so or can you just not use that port and
put in a new card?
Marc
On Tue, 10 Mar 1998 04:32:49 GMT, mrsf...@TheGarage.com wrote:
>Ken,
>You make some very good points. Good SCSI cards are expensive, and if the
>motherboard goes bad, like you said there goes the controller. I really was
>leaning towards separate controller and motherboard. I dislike anything
>integrated that doesn't have to be. This is why I asked for opinions. I was not
>aware of problems with Supermicro's, and I will definitely check out the NG. I
>have, however, heard good things about Asus and Tyan.
>
>What happens when the 100mhz bus motherboards come out? Will ANYTHING be
>compatible with them?
>
<snip>