Raid PCI controlers?

[Mykex]

My question is, are raid controler PCI cards any good or as good as onboard? I have a matched pair of HDD's and was wondering if this would be a worth while addition. Since UdmA/ATA 66 2channel Promis controlers are so cheap.

I thought it would make for a nice tweak, then I got to thinking of the PCI bus limitations and figured I should ask first.

[daveleau]

Unfortunatley I have no benchmarks so I can only speculate but...

I run a RAID 0 array through a modified Promise ATA66 (modified to a Fasttrak66) on an Abit BF6 and found it to be no slower than that of the Highpoint RAID100 controller found on the Abit BX133. Both are very quick and easy to set up.
Dave

[daverme]

I also have a Promise Fasttrak card and it DEFINITELY improves speed, at least where sustained throughput rates are essential, like video capture.

NOW ... if your matched drives are Maxtor ATA66 drives DO NOT use them with a Fasttrak/66 RAID card. Believe it or not, you will probably experience much SLOWER throughput with that combination.

E-mail me for details or see my posting of yesterday on another thread.

Dave