Performance

     At last, we finally get to test the 1820A!

Test System

     For benchmarking, I'll be using Hard Drive Tach. Here is how things turned out:

Single SATA V drive (non RAID)

Dual SATA V drives (RAID 0)

     For comparison, here are some graphs from our original review on these SATA V hard drives. Even though the test system isn't the same, this is what you should expect from an average 32-bit SATA controller.

Single Seagate Barracuda SATA V
(ABIT NF7-S)

Dual Seagate Barracuda SATA V
(ABIT NF7-S RAID)

     Now let's answer the SCSI question... This test was conducted on the same Iwill MPX2 motherboard, but with an Adaptec 64-bit SCSI interface card.

Twin Seagate Cheetah 15K.3 SCSI Hard Drives in RAID 0

Conclusion

     Single drive performance is pretty close, but the 1820A in RAID 0 clearly comes out the winner. Now start adding up all the features the 1820A has...very comparable to the features you get on today's SCSI interface cards. As for the SCSI question...drive for drive, SCSI RAID still kicks the crap out of any SATA RAID setup. Of course there are faster SATA hard drives out there, but they still don't compare to SCSI speed, reliability, and even manufacturer's warranty. Not yet anyway. However, if you go all out and run the RocketRAID 1820A with 8 drives, data speeds go through the roof! With all 8 channels, the transfer speed is up to 1200MB/s for RAID 0 configuration, and 530MB/s for RAID 5. Now if this is true data transfer rate, then this card is actually superior to SCSI. HighPoint sent over some benchmarks of their own showing this card at it's best. Take a look here. As for cost, would you believe that this card will soon be available for right around $164? The RocketRAID 1820A is an awesome card and I highly recommend it!