SCSI Card Page

A SCSI card is a card that will control the interface between SCSI hard drives, CD-ROM drives, CD-ROM burners, removable drives, and external devices such as scanners.  Most are PCI and there is a wide range of types.  The three main types of connectors on these cards are 25-pin for SCSI-1, 50-pin for Narrow SCSI, and 68-pin for Wide SCSI (and Ultra-Wide SCSI and Ultra2-SCSI). 

What To Look For:

• Transfer rate is one of the most important things to consider.  These are usually determined by the type of SCSI card, which can be SCSI-1 (10 MB/sec Max), Narrow SCSI (20 MB/sec Max), or Wide SCSI (40 MB/sec Max), but there are some that are listed as 80 MB/sec Max (Adaptec's 2940U2W [Ultra2-SCSI]). 
• Number and type of connectors are obviously important.  If you get a 68-pin drive, you want to have a 68-pin connector on the SCSI Card.  If you've got an external Narrow device, then you need a 50-pin connector on the external portion of the card.  However, there are adapters to get around these problems, but they are not always 100% effective (not to mention that you lose out if the device is (for example) a 50-pin device and you try to connect it to a 25-pin port). 
• The Chipset on the SCSI card is also important, but I don't know a lot about the chipsets.  I DO know enough to say that the Symbios Logic chipsets are good (and can be found quite cheap) and Adaptec's chipsets are good. 
• Some motherboards have SCSI controllers on them.  If you're getting a whole new machine, this may be the way to go if you want SCSI.  The motherboards are more expensive, but it is less expensive than buying a SCSI card.  A good example is Asus' P2B-S.  The only problem is that if you get a new motherboard later on, you can't take your SCSI controller with you, but you could if it were a separate controller...

Recommendations:

1. 6/16/00 Update - As you may have noticed, there isn't a larege amount of activity in the SCSI card market, and all my old recommendations still stand.  The Ultra160 controllers from Adaptec are excellend, as are the 2940U2W and Tekram DC-390U2W.
   3/1/00 Update - Adaptec has now come out with their Ultra160 SCSI controllers.  Please note that the 160 MB/sec compared to the 80 MB/sec of Ultra2 doesn't mean that you will get such a speed difference with your hard drives.  All this means is that if you had 20 drives each trying to move 10 MB/sec, you would top out at 160 on Ultra160 and 80 on Ultra2.  A single drive most likely will not show any noticeable difference on an Ultra160 controller.  Having said that, I pick the new Ultra160's as my new number one because they are the latest and greatest, but you may be better off picking one of my number two controllers below for a great combination of speed and price. The two most suitable models for home or power user use are the 29160N and 19160. 
2. 1/17/00 Update- My number one pick is really a tie between the Tekram DC-390U2W and the Adaptec 2940U2W Ultra2Wide SCSI controllers.  The Tekram is quick and reliable.  It is also much cheaper than the Adaptec Ultra2Wide controller yet has the same features.  However, in my testing, it was a little bit slower than the Adaptec. 
   If you are going to buy a SCSI card, make sure you buy the retail version.  It's worth the extra expense because if you don't, you have to buy the cables separately.
3. If you can afford it, the expensive Adaptec 2940U2W is a great card with 80 MB/sec capabilties (Ultra2-SCSI) and thus support for the newer Ultra2-SCSI drives.  The only thing keeping it from being my top pick is that it often has problems with Windows 98, particularly when copying large files. 
4. Another great U2W controller to consider, and probably the fastest, is the Initio Speedway U2W.  The only problem is that it only supports Ultra2Wide or UltraWide (no narrow connectors or such for CD-ROM drives). 
5. Adaptec's 2940UW is similar to the FirePort 40, but it is significantly more expensive.  It is also more standard and perhaps somewhat more reliable.  It has a 68-pin Wide external connector over Diamond's 50-pin. 
6. For the best combination of price and performance, I would suggest Diamond's FirePort 40.  It's fast, it uses a Symbios Logic chipset, and it works fine at the higher bus speeds of 75 and 83 (but I'm not sure about 100).  It has a 68-pin and 50-pin internal connector and a 50-pin external connectory.  I've used two and never had any problems with either.  They're nice and easy to configure as well.  This product has been discontinued though, so it is now hard to find. 

As an aside, currently the best thing to do if you don't mind having your SCSI controller on the motherboard, is to get the Asus P2B-S Pentium II BX motherboard with a great on-board SCSI controller (equivalent to #3 above).  It's much less expensive.  Make sure you ask for the most recent revision of the motherboard though, as some of the earlier ones had problems.