Advise on Promise RAID controllers needed

[SpikeDodger]

I need some advise from someone that has experience with the low-end Promise
RAID controllers. I want to install a 2 drive RAID 1 setup in my home PC.
After some research it seems that the Promise TX2000 best meets my needs;
except, I read somewhere that there is/was a compatibility issue with
the TX2000 + i845 chipset + nVidia graphic cards. I am also considering the
TX4000 or even the SX4000. These other cards are only moderately more
expensive and would seem to allow more expansion/flexibility in the future.

I have emailed Promise (3 times over the last 2 weeks) with the following
questions and gotten no response.
* Does a compatibility issue exist with using the i845 + nVidia + TX2000
(or TX4000 or SX4000)
* In a simple 2 drive RAID 1 setup, does the TX4000 provide any performance
boost over the TX2000
* In a simple 2 drive RAID 1 setup, does the SX4000 provide any performance
boost (is it's cache used to enhance performance or just to support RAID 5)

Can anyone answer any or all of these questions?
Promise's lack of pre-sale support has me concerned about what might happen
after I purchase a controller. What has been people's experience as far as
needing and getting technical support?

 

[Dave Hau]

I need some advise from someone that has experience with the low-end Promise
RAID controllers. I want to install a 2 drive RAID 1 setup in my home PC.
After some research it seems that the Promise TX2000 best meets my needs;
except, I read somewhere that there is/was a compatibility issue with
the TX2000 + i845 chipset + nVidia graphic cards. I am also considering the
TX4000 or even the SX4000. These other cards are only moderately more
expensive and would seem to allow more expansion/flexibility in the future.

I have emailed Promise (3 times over the last 2 weeks) with the following
questions and gotten no response.
* Does a compatibility issue exist with using the i845 + nVidia + TX2000
(or TX4000 or SX4000)
* In a simple 2 drive RAID 1 setup, does the TX4000 provide any performance
boost over the TX2000
* In a simple 2 drive RAID 1 setup, does the SX4000 provide any performance
boost (is it's cache used to enhance performance or just to support RAID 5)

Can anyone answer any or all of these questions?
Promise's lack of pre-sale support has me concerned about what might happen
after I purchase a controller. What has been people's experience as far as
needing and getting technical support?

I have used the Highpoint 404 with i845G chipset and nVidia graphic
cards with no problem. The Highpoint 404 also has 4 IDE channels vs.
only 2 channels available for the TX2000, and they sell for about the
same price (~$90).

RAID-0 performance on the Highpoint 404 is quite good. I get about
95MB/s from a 2-way RAID-0 array using WD1200JB drives. I haven't tried
RAID-1 on the Highpoint 404 so I cannot comment on the performance of
this mode.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[SpikeDodger]

Well, as luck would have it, shortly after I posted the original request for
advise, I got a response from Promise. According to the tech support guy,
there is indeed a compatibility issue with the TX2000 + i845 + nVidia graphic
card. I was told that the only work-around was to replace the graphic card.
Also, I was told that the SX4000 with it's cache would provide NO performance
boost over the TX4000 in a 2 drive RAID 1 setup.

It looks like I will be going with the TX4000 (or a different brand). I am
still interested in others experience with Promise's technical support; and,
experience with the Promise controller cards in general.

 

[Eric Gisin]

The only way PCI and AGP devices can conflict is if the both have fixed I/O
resources. They are both brain-damaged then.

| Well, as luck would have it, shortly after I posted the original request for
| advise, I got a response from Promise. According to the tech support guy,
| there is indeed a compatibility issue with the TX2000 + i845 + nVidia
graphic
| card. I was told that the only work-around was to replace the graphic card.
| Also, I was told that the SX4000 with it's cache would provide NO
performance
| boost over the TX4000 in a 2 drive RAID 1 setup.
|
| It looks like I will be going with the TX4000 (or a different brand). I am
| still interested in others experience with Promise's technical support; and,
| experience with the Promise controller cards in general.

 

[Eric Gisin]

The only way PCI and AGP devices can conflict is if the both have fixed I/O
resources. They are both brain-damaged then.

| Well, as luck would have it, shortly after I posted the original request for
| advise, I got a response from Promise. According to the tech support guy,
| there is indeed a compatibility issue with the TX2000 + i845 + nVidia
graphic
| card. I was told that the only work-around was to replace the graphic card.
| Also, I was told that the SX4000 with it's cache would provide NO
performance
| boost over the TX4000 in a 2 drive RAID 1 setup.
|
| It looks like I will be going with the TX4000 (or a different brand). I am
| still interested in others experience with Promise's technical support; and,
| experience with the Promise controller cards in general.

 

[Maxim S. Shatskih]

The only way PCI and AGP devices can conflict is if the both have fixed I/O

resources. They are both brain-damaged then.

No. There can be subtle DMA-related PCI spec violations in devices and the
bridge chip, for instance.

Turning Write Combining off in video driver properties can theoretically help
in these cases, though can slow down drawing.

Max

 

[Joshua P. Hill]

Well, as luck would have it, shortly after I posted the original request for
advise, I got a response from Promise. According to the tech support guy,
there is indeed a compatibility issue with the TX2000 + i845 + nVidia graphic
card. I was told that the only work-around was to replace the graphic card.
Also, I was told that the SX4000 with it's cache would provide NO performance
boost over the TX4000 in a 2 drive RAID 1 setup.

It looks like I will be going with the TX4000 (or a different brand). I am
still interested in others experience with Promise's technical support; and,
experience with the Promise controller cards in general.

In general, not so great. I had to return one once because it was
incompatible with my existing NT 4 installation (drive geometry
issues). And my current card has data corruption problems when
transferring large files with both channels in use, which Promise
either never addressed or never addressed in a straightforward way
(customer support was friendly enough, but nothing ever happened --
and I wasn't the only one who had those problems).

OTOH, I've heard complaints about Highpoint too.

Josh