Question on the RB-1200

[Rajahal]

Perhaps this is a question only Tom can answer.

 

I'm considering advising a friend to buy the pre-built RB-1200 server from LimeTech instead of paying me to build him a smaller 3-5 disk server in a mini-ITX case, since the later option is turning out to be prohibitively expensive.

 

Before I do, I wanted to clarify one thing about the RB-1200.  The specs list includes:

 

A pair of Promise SATA300 TX4 PCI disk controllers

 

Now I have nothing against the Promise TX4s, in fact I'm using one in my home-built server.  They are cheap and reliable.  However, they are also slow, since they bottleneck all the disks through the PCI bus.  I'm curious as to the logic behind using two of these TX4 cards (with 4 ports each) as opposed to a single 8 port card that uses PCI-X or PCI-E.

 

At retail prices, two TX4 cards would run about $140 + shipping.  Compare that to a single 8 Port Supermicro PCI-X card, which runs about $100 + shipping.  This later card is not only cheaper, it is faster!

 

Am I missing something here?

[prostuff1]

Perhaps this is a question only Tom can answer.

 

I'm considering advising a friend to buy the pre-built RB-1200 server from LimeTech instead of paying me to build him a smaller 3-5 disk server in a mini-ITX case, since the later option is turning out to be prohibitively expensive.

 

Before I do, I wanted to clarify one thing about the RB-1200.  The specs list includes:

 

A pair of Promise SATA300 TX4 PCI disk controllers

 

Now I have nothing against the Promise TX4s, in fact I'm using one in my home-built server.  They are cheap and reliable.  However, they are also slow, since they bottleneck all the disks through the PCI bus.  I'm curious as to the logic behind using two of these TX4 cards (with 4 ports each) as opposed to a single 8 port card that uses PCI-X or PCI-E.

 

At retail prices, two TX4 cards would run about $140 + shipping.  Compare that to a single 8 Port Supermicro PCI-X card, which runs about $100 + shipping.  This later card is not only cheaper, it is faster!

 

Am I missing something here?

 

It is more than likely because the board only has PCI slots in it.  The PCI-X card may fit in the PCI slot but it will still only run at PCI speed.  To get the full use out of the PCI-X card you would need a motherboard that has a PCI-X slot in it (usually server boards).

[Rajahal]

Ah, that makes sense.  Even still, running the single PCI-X card at PCI speeds is still cheaper (and I imagine uses slightly less power) than running two PCI cards.

 

Edit: Hmm, actually, according to the Newegg specs, the mobo has:

 

PCI Express x16   1

PCI Express x1 1

PCI Slots 2

 

A PCI-X card will work in a PCI-E slot, just not at the slot's full potential speed, correct?

[BRiT]

A PCI-X card will work in a PCI-E slot, just not at the slot's full potential speed, correct?

 

NO!

 

PCI-X is NOT compatible with PCI-Express.

[Rajahal]

I see, thank you.