SCSI PCI card, new motherboard, 64-bit OS

I am making a new motherboard purchase,
hopefully with a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4800+ EE
processor and I would like to run a 64-bit
version of Linux.

I already of a SCSI disk, a SCSI tape drive and
an Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller. The Adaptec
29160 is one of those 64-bit PCI cards (not
PCI-X, not PCI-E) though will plug into one
of those standard PCI slots with half of
the card "not plugged in" (hopefully most
of you will know what this means).

Evidentally, it is hard (or impossible)
to find a new motherboard with a 64bit-PCI
slot. What will be the ramifications if
I use my Adaptec 29160 plugged into
a standard PCI slot and run a 64bit
version of Linux?

Will I not get all of the read/write speed
out of the disk that I could?

Thank you for your help;

Ivan K. wrote:
> I am making a new motherboard purchase,
> hopefully with a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4800+ EE
> processor and I would like to run a 64-bit
> version of Linux.
>
> I already of a SCSI disk, a SCSI tape drive and
> an Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller. The Adaptec
> 29160 is one of those 64-bit PCI cards (not
> PCI-X, not PCI-E) though will plug into one
> of those standard PCI slots with half of
> the card "not plugged in" (hopefully most
> of you will know what this means).
>
> Evidentally, it is hard (or impossible)
> to find a new motherboard with a 64bit-PCI
> slot. What will be the ramifications if
> I use my Adaptec 29160 plugged into
> a standard PCI slot and run a 64bit
> version of Linux?
>
> Will I not get all of the read/write speed
> out of the disk that I could?

Standard 32-bit/33 MHz PCI has a maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/sec
compared to the 160 MB/sec of U160 SCSI. (IIRC the 29160 offers two
such SCSI busses.) So you will loose some available SCSI bus bandwidth
by using a 32-bit/33 MHz PCI slot.

However, given that you only mention one disk and one tape drive, the
loss of bus bandwidth should not be a problem in your case. Neither
device is capable of anywhere near the full bus speed. Figure 50-100
MB/sec for the disk, depending on the exact model and its age. (Unless
it is a very new 15K RPM SCSI disk, figure somewhere in the lower half
of that range.) Figure half that speed at the very most (perhaps much
less) for the tape drive (depending on its type). So realistically with
one SCSI drive and one tape drive, you won't likely come close to maxing
out either the PCI bus or a single U160 SCSI channel.

If you have multiple SCSI disks and/or multiple tape drives the loss of
bandwidth by using 32-bit/33 MHz PCI could potentially be a more serious
problem.

At Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:53:28 -0600 "Ivan K." <ivan_521521@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> I am making a new motherboard purchase,
> hopefully with a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4800+ EE
> processor and I would like to run a 64-bit
> version of Linux.
>
> I already of a SCSI disk, a SCSI tape drive and
> an Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller. The Adaptec
> 29160 is one of those 64-bit PCI cards (not
> PCI-X, not PCI-E) though will plug into one
> of those standard PCI slots with half of
> the card "not plugged in" (hopefully most
> of you will know what this means).
>
> Evidentally, it is hard (or impossible)
> to find a new motherboard with a 64bit-PCI
> slot. What will be the ramifications if
> I use my Adaptec 29160 plugged into
> a standard PCI slot and run a 64bit
> version of Linux?

It should work just fine.

>
> Will I not get all of the read/write speed
> out of the disk that I could?

Should not make any difference.

>
> Thank you for your help;
>

--
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Linux Installation and Administration
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web Hosting, with CGI and Database
heller@deepsoft.com -- Contract Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk

"John-Paul Stewart" <jpstewart@binaryfoundry.ca> wrote in message news:6g4bd4-a54.ln1@mail.binaryfoundry.ca
> Ivan K. wrote:
> > I am making a new motherboard purchase,
> > hopefully with a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4800+ EE
> > processor and I would like to run a 64-bit
> > version of Linux.
> >
> > I already of a SCSI disk, a SCSI tape drive and
> > an Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller. The Adaptec
> > 29160 is one of those 64-bit PCI cards (not
> > PCI-X, not PCI-E) though will plug into one
> > of those standard PCI slots with half of
> > the card "not plugged in" (hopefully most
> > of you will know what this means).
> >
> > Evidentally, it is hard (or impossible)
> > to find a new motherboard with a 64bit-PCI
> > slot. What will be the ramifications if
> > I use my Adaptec 29160 plugged into
> > a standard PCI slot and run a 64bit
> > version of Linux?
> >
> > Will I not get all of the read/write speed
> > out of the disk that I could?
>
> Standard 32-bit/33 MHz PCI has a maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/sec
> compared to the 160 MB/sec of U160 SCSI.

> (IIRC the 29160 offers two such SCSI busses.)

Better get your IIRCs checked.

> So you will loose some available SCSI bus bandwidth
> by using a 32-bit/33 MHz PCI slot.

Nope, not really. Useable bandwidth of SCSI is about 75% anyway.
The rest goes lost in the commands and protocol.

>
> However, given that you only mention one disk and one tape drive, the
> loss of bus bandwidth should not be a problem in your case. Neither
> device is capable of anywhere near the full bus speed.

> Figure 50-100 MB/sec for the disk, depending on the exact model and its age.
> (Unless it is a very new 15K RPM SCSI disk, figure somewhere in the lower half
> of that range.)

Figure lower than that if it is an U160 drive.
Figure 1/4th to 1/3th of the busbandwidth of the
SCSI interface that it was designed for/fitted with.

> Figure half that speed at the very most (perhaps much less) for the tape
> drive (depending on its type). So realistically with one SCSI drive and
> one tape drive, you won't likely come close to maxing out either the PCI
> bus or a single U160 SCSI channel.

> If you have multiple SCSI disks and/or multiple tape drives the loss of band-
> width by using 32-bit/33 MHz PCI could potentially be a more serious problem.

Nope.

Two uses of 64-bit that have nothing to do with eachother.

"Ivan K." <ivan_521521@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:yaBMh.20$25.159@news.uchicago.edu
> I am making a new motherboard purchase,
> hopefully with a AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4800+ EE
> processor and I would like to run a 64-bit
> version of Linux.
>
> I already of a SCSI disk, a SCSI tape drive and
> an Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller. The Adaptec
> 29160 is one of those 64-bit PCI cards (not
> PCI-X, not PCI-E) though will plug into one
> of those standard PCI slots with half of
> the card "not plugged in" (hopefully most
> of you will know what this means).
>
> Evidentally, it is hard (or impossible)
> to find a new motherboard with a 64bit-PCI
> slot. What will be the ramifications if
> I use my Adaptec 29160 plugged into
> a standard PCI slot and run a 64bit
> version of Linux?
>
> Will I not get all of the read/write speed
> out of the disk that I could?
>
> Thank you for your help;

Thanks to all of those who responded.