Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

1
1
68
S ETTING IDE DRIVES UP
Because you can only have two IDE drives on a controller,
you'd think the configuration would be even easier than for
a SCSI drive, but there are more possibilities than you
might imagine. You've got Master, Slave and Master with
Slave present These different modes represent the different
ways of setting up one or two IDE drives on a machine,
but quite often you'll need to change several jumpers to
make it so.
Fortunately, IDE drive manufacturers have started to try
HOSE BENCHMARKS
Our benchmark test consisted of copying the MUI directory you get
when you unpack it from this month's coverdisk to and from the
drives from RAM:. As a last test we also used the current version of
Sysinfo (3.23) to check the speed of the drive. As we should all
know by now, Sysinfo's results can be very misleading depending
on your saeenmcmie, etc. so here is our system set-up in full:
We have an A4000/04 with 18Mb of RAM. We ran all tests on an
eight colour screen in DoublePAL mode. For the file copying we
used Directory Opus 4.12. SCSI drives were tested oft the Oktagon
card's external SCSI port.
AMSLING PLS-31084A PRICE E199
15' 1.08Gb IDE drive, 5.75" long, I" high. IO29Mb formatted.
Samsung are a relative newcomer to the computer hardware scene as a
brand, although they have been manufacturing parts behind the scenes
for some of the best-known names
in the computer industry for
many years. Their offering to
this line up is a solid
performer, although
it does make a bit
of a racket
when you
turn on the
machine. In
operation the drive
is sturdy and reliable.
Copy from drive to RAM:
Copy from RAM: to drive
Sysinto speed rating:
-35 seconds
-35 seconds
1,680,410 bytes per second
EAGATE 5T5108A PRICE E169
3.5' I.08Gb IDE dove, 5' long, .75' high. I032Mb formatted_
Ahh! What a tiddly little drive! This Seagate
is certainly small enough to cram inside
your Al200 as the latest style seems
to be, but it does have a standard
drive connection, so
anyone intending to do
so will have to get a
44-pin cable to 40-pin
cable-and-power-cable
adaptor. The drive feels fast
in operation, notwithstanding the
poor results given by SysInfo, and
Seagate's usual warranty.
Copy from drive to RAM:
Copy from RAM: to drive
SysInto speed rating:
- 32seconds
-35 seconds
1,195,185 bytes per second
MED MENNEN
to cut out the Master with Slave present option so you only
have to toddle with one set of jumpers. In fact, the only
drive that gave us a problem for setting up was the skinny
Seagate I had set the Seagate that came with our A4000
as a Slave drive so that I hopefully wouldn't have to
change anything on the other drives, but the Seagate we
reviewed had to have its jumpers changed. All very well,
but the chart showing how the jumpers had to be set was
very confusing.
AMIGA COMPUTING
MA
Copy from drive to RAM:
• 'Cop'y from RAM: to drive
Sysinfo speed rating:
-
3-34
seconds
3 1,614,850 bytes per second
s
e
We rang up a variety of
co, nies and the smallest
ould find was
all the 340,
30Mb drives
are certainly the
you'll ever see
BANTLIM FIREBALL 640AT PRICE E96
3.5' 640Mb IDE dove, 5.75" long, I" high. 611Mb formatted.
Quantum have always had a good name for themselves when it came to SCSI hard drives -
they come as standard with Apple machines - but their IDE hard drives were never known for
their turn of speed. However, the Fireball is a great drive. Not only does it feel speedy, in operation
it proves to be fast too. Windows open quicker and icons are displayed in a flash.
Unfortunately, unless you are lucky, you probably won't be
able to buy this drive by the time you read this piece
because it is no longer being made, but the -sr
price difference between this drive
and one twice as large will
probably be reduced
by the time you
read this.
Copy from drive to RAM:
Copy from RAM: to drive
Sysinto speed rating:
-35 seconds
-29 seconds
1,713,359 bytes per second spomisomill
ASTEINER 1.08GB EXTERNAL PRI(.1 E22.9
3.5" 1.08Gb external SCSI drive, case is 8' long, 5.5' high, 3.5 wide. 1073Mb formatted.
The Gasteiner drive is actually IBM's
Pegasus model and performs
very well in association with
the supplied Oktagon controller
card. The case has the familiar
push button SCSI ID switch and
two 50-way SCSI connectors. It
has no internal termination
switch or drive LED, but the
power switch is handily located at
the front of the case. The drive is
fast and quiet and is apparently a
best seller at Gasteiner. Again, the
hard drive appeared to work harder
than its Sysinfo results bear out.