SCSI or IDE CD R/W??

[Spartan]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but what would YOU do if you were in my shoes?

I'm looking to add a cdrw to my system in the very near future. I'm going to get one of those 16/12/40 models, but do not know if I should go SCSI (Yamaha) or IDE (Plextor).

I do have an IDE port available so the Plextor could fit right in, but I also have an old SCSI card laying around -- currently unused. It is an Adaptec 2940-S76. Yes, it's an old one! I looked up the specs and it supports SCSI-3, so I know the writer will work with it. The question is the data transfer rate. This SCSI card has a max rate of 10 Mbytes/sec which I would assume is good enough for a writer, but I'm not sure. Would this card hamper the performance of the writer?

I'd rather leave my last IDE port alone if I can, since I already have a SCSI card (albeit an old one).

So, what are your thoughts?

[mousepotato]

...well...10Mbs vs ATA33@ (up to) 33Mbs...maybe I'm wrong but mine is 33Mbs (old) on an IDE port...unless you have SCSI that's faster than your IDE & go with the IDE...you can allways sell it when you get
a faster SCSI card...just my 1/2 cent.. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[NDC]

I'd go with a SCSI since you already have the SCSI Adapter. The reason I would get a SCSI is that SCSI CDRW drives don't utilize the CPU as much as IDE interface do since the SCSI Adapter controller does the job. SCSI CDRW will allow you to multitask with a less chance of a bad CD burn since SCSI CDRW driver are less dependent on the CPU.... Don't get me wrong though, IDE interfce have improved much. I've used my IDE interface Plextor 8/4/32 on my Dual system for over a year now and had only a couple bad burns...

Definetly go for the Plextor over Yamaha regardless of interface....

[CMonster]

If those are your choices I would go with the Plextor because your SCSI card is indeed a little slow - I think too slow for a 16x drive but I could be confused.

I prefer SCSI when I can afford it. Did you know that you can get an ultra wide (40MB/s) SCSI card for about $79 if you go with an Advansys controler (SIIG UW cards use Advancesys chips)?

[Spartan]

Thank you for the replies.

AFAIK, Plextor does not manufacture a SCSI version of their 16/12/40 burner -- just an IDE version. That is why I threw the Yamaha in. Besides the price is better on the Yamaha SCSI and it features an 8MB buffer.

I figure sooner or later I will need to get a SCSI card or an additional IDE controller becuase of the 4 device limitation on my mobo.

At this point, I think I'm leaning towards a new SCSI card and the Yamaha drive.

Thanks.

[Dave_H]

I'm not positive, but I think that SCSI card would work.
I'm not sure how fast a 16x drive would burn a disk, but lets say that it can burn a 700MB disk in 4 minutes (240 seconds).
700/240=2.92 megs/sec
Wouldn't that mean that the SCSI card only needs to transfer a constant 3MB/sec?
Dave

[CMonster]

Dave_H - thanks for doing the math. My only concern was if there is anything other than the burner using the SCSI bus at the same time and whether or not the sustained throughput would be sufficient -I take it the 10mbytes/s is burst rate.

[dosmastr]

QUOTE:
I'd go with a SCSI since you already have the SCSI Adapter. The reason I would get a SCSI is that SCSI CDRW drives don't utilize the CPU as much as IDE interface do since the SCSI Adapter controller does the job. SCSI CDRW will allow you to multitask with a less chance of a bad CD burn since SCSI CDRW driver are less dependent on the CPU.... Don't get me wrong though, IDE interfce have improved much. I've used my IDE interface Plextor 8/4/32 on my Dual system for over a year now and had only a couple bad burns...
Definetly go for the Plextor over Yamaha regardless


yamaha's drive isn't as good is right! it runs at 8X for the first 1/3 of the CD and then switches over to 16X (according to maximumpc anyway)and the "waste-proof" doesn't work

as for burning coasters All current Plextor CD-RW's have Sanyo's "BURN-Proof" technology and i have heard many sites proclaiming it is near impossible to burn a coaster with any drive that has this technology.

as for speed, the 12X SCSI plextor is marginally slower than the IDE because of SCSI's increased overhead, will you notice this slight difference? probably not
and of course, NDC is right, SCSI lowers CPU usage by the drive

my 3 cents

(yes i feel like i said one cent too much but hey, i'm verbose)

[Brangwen]

Having just installed a Plextor IDE 16/10/40, I'd recommend the Plextor. I'm extremely impresssed with the drive, the software suite is great, and tech support has been very prompt and right on.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Spartan]

Well, my wallet forced my decision, and I wound up with a LiteOn 12/10/32 for $110 from NewEgg.com. I got the drive yesterday and burned by first CD without problem.

Thanks to all who responded.

EDIT: It's an IDE drive.

[This message has been edited by Spartan (edited 04-24-2001).]