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Internal SATA Power
A review of the FirmTek SeriTek/1V4 Four Port Internal Serial ATA PCI-X Host Adapter
By Arthur Whalem
FirmTek is now shipping the SeriTek/1V4 four port internal serial ATA PCI-X host adapter for Macintosh PowerMac computers with an available PCI slot. The SeriTek/1V4 is PCI-X 1.0a, 64-bit compliant when operating at 133/100/ 66MHz bus speeds. The card is also backward compatible with standard 32/64-bit PCI slots at 33MHz and 66MHz bus speeds. This allows the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter to support a simple PowerMac 7300 up to a powerful PowerMac G5 Dual. The SeriTek/1V4 package includes a PCI-X host adapter, two internal SATA cables and a manual on CD.
System Requirements
OS 9, OS X10.1.5 or later (works best with 10.2 or later).
Compatible with all PowerMac G3, G4 & G5 computers.
32/64 bit, 33/66MHz PCI
133/100/66MHz PCI-X
Compliant 32-bit PCI bus version 2.2
Compliant with PCI-X bus version 1.0a
Supports up to four SATA 3.5" drives.
Which PCI Slot Works Best?
The SeriTek/1V4 Host Adapter can be placed in any available PCI or PCI-X slot on a PowerMac. There are four external ports on the card that are used for connecting up to four internal SATA drives. If you are installing the SeriTek/1V4 Host Adapter in a PowerMac G5 with PCI-X, installing the card in slot #4 (the top slot) which supports 64-bit, 133 MHz will provide the best performance. The image below shows the card being installed in slot #4.
For those using the SeriTek/1V4 card in a PowerMac G5, I would suggest you read Apple Tech Q&A 1307 concerning the Power Mac G5 1.8GHz and dual 2.0GHz. It states," Slots 2 & 3 share a common bus. Slot 4 is on a separate bus. All cards on a common bus can only run as fast as the slowest card". The 64-bit SeriTek/1V4 Host Adapter was tested in slot 4 and in slot #3 with the SeriTek/1SE2 two port External host adapter in slot #2. In addition, a Miglia Alchemy TV card was tested in slot #2 with the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #3. What were the results? The best performance was achieved by placing the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #4. As a result, that is how the card was tested in this review (unless otherwise noted). Placing the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #2 with no other card in slot #3 produced results that were only a few seconds slower than having the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #4. Using the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #2 and the SeriTek/1SE2 in slot #3 produced 10-15% slower performance. Placing the SeriTek/1V4 in slot #2 and the Miglia Alchemy TV card in slot #3 produced over 30% slower results. If you want the highest performance from your host adapter cards you soon discover that the PowerMac G5 really only has two available PCI slots. Slot #4 for the highest performance (133MHz) and slot #2 with 100MHz support. Once you install a second card on the common bus (using slot #3) you slow down the performance of the host adapter card in slot #2. How much the performance degrades depends on the speed of the card you added. With slots #2 and #3 sharing a common bus you will be limited to using only one of these slots for high performance needs. I look forward to a PowerMac without shared common bus technology. Note: One scenario I have not yet tested would be using two 64-bit cards in common slots #2 and #3. Perhaps in that setup the performance hit might be less obvious.
Five Drives in a PowerMac G5?
There are several methods available to add more than two drives to a PowerMac G5. The WiebeTech G5JAM, G5Jam+, the Transintl SWIFTDATA 200 SATA and the G5 Drive Bracket are a few options. The inexpensive $95 G5 Drive Bracket was used for this review. The G5 Drive Bracket is a simple
solution for placing up to three drives directly in front of the G5 dual fans. It keeps the drives cool, is relatively easy to install and works well. You can see the AMUG review at www.amug.org. The drives in the G5 bracket are powered by a "Y" power cable splitter(s) attached to the rear of the DVD drive. The Western Digital drives in this review have 4-pin power plugs but the Maxtor and Seagate drives do not, so you may need an SATA "Y" power
adapter too. It plugs into the 4-pin power cable splitter to provide power for up to two SATA drives that are mounted in the G5 Drive Bracket. You could use two Y cables off the DVD bay, an SATA Power Adapter and an SATA "Y" power adapter to get three drives powered in the G5 Bracket. However, the third drive in this review was placed under the boot drive in the G5 drive cage instead. In this case, three drives were mounted on the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card and one Maxtor 300GB was used on the PowerMac G5 standard SATA bus. SATA cables can easily be routed through the PowerMac G5 case to connect drives in the G5 bracket or in the standard PowerMac G5 drive cage to the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card. You could use this setup to install three drives on the G5 bracket and two in the PowerMac G5 drive cage for a total of five internal drives. From the results of these tests, I would recommend connecting all but the main PowerMac G5 boot drive to the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card for the best results.Performance
In order to determine what kind of performance might be expected from the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter, four tests were performed using a PowerMac G5 2.0GHz Dual with 1.5GB of memory running Mac OS X 10.3.8. A Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB SATA drive is mounted as the internal boot drive. These tests compare the performance of Western Digital 250GB drives model WD2500JD, in different configurations when using the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card with a single drive or in multiple drive RAID configurations.
Test #1
The computer has a SeriTek/1V4 card in slot #4 and a SeriTek/1SE2 card in slot #2. A folder of video files with a size of 4.25GB was copied from the internal Maxtor 300GB SATA to a Western Digital 250GB SATA drive and back using several methods. In one of the tests below all the drives were mounted on the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card. The 300GB Maxtor and the Western Digital 250GB SATA drives have 131GB of data on each of them in order to demonstrate a data loaded test rather than just empty drives. Copy times would be about ten seconds faster using empty hard drives. Tests with the 1SEN2 notation compares the drive using the 1SEN2 external SATA bundle AMUG reviewed earlier.
| Copy 4.25GB | Speed Copy Test | |
| Copy from | Copy to | Minutes |
| Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | WD 250GB (2nd G5 internal) | 1:34 |
| WD 250GB (2nd G5 internal) | Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | 2:42 |
| Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | WD 250GB (1V4) | 1:29 |
| WD 250GB (1V4) | Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | 1:30 |
| Maxtor 300GB (1V4) | WD 250GB (1V4) | 1:30 |
| WD 250GB (1V4) | Maxtor 300GB (1V4) | 1:30 |
| Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | WD 250GB (1SEN2) | 1:30 |
| WD 250GB (1SEN2) | Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | 1:30 |
| RAID Tests | ||
| Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | Two Drive RAID on 1V4 | 1:23 |
| Two Drive RAID on 1V4 | Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | 1:20 |
| Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | Three Drive RAID on 1V4 (slot 4) | 1:19 |
| Three Drive RAID on 1V4 | Maxtor 300GB (G5 internal) | 1:18 |
While the tests above clearly show that the 1V4 is a consistent performer in this speed copy test, it is interesting to note that the 32-bit external 1SEN2 bundle is just as fast in this particular test. The slowest configuration was copying the data from the second Apple internal G5 SATA bus to the main internal G5 SATA drive. Using a second PowerMac G5 internal drive attached to the SeriTek/1V4 host card instead of the stock Apple SATA drive connection improved performance significantly.
Test #2
In the second test, Retrospect 6.0.204 was used to backup 131GB from the Maxtor 300GB internal Apple SATA bus to the Western Digital 250GB drive(s) in several configurations. This test used the same PowerMac G5 as in test #1 above. The performance speed was recorded for copy, verify, average and the time to complete the task in hours. A higher MB/minute is better.
| Backup 131GB Internal | ||||
| Copy to | Average MB/minute | Copy MB/minute | Verify MB/minute | Time in Hours |
| WD 250GB (G5 2nd internal) | 1382 | 1589 | 1224 | 3:15 |
| WD 250GB (1V4) | 1437 | 1575 | 1321 | 3:08 |
| Both Drives on 1V4 | 1468 | 1569 | 1379 | 2:57 |
| WD 250GB (1SEN2) | 1437 | 1595 | 1307 | 3:07 |
| RAID Tests | ||||
| Two Drive RAID on 1V4 | 1645 | 1709 | 1585 | 2:44 |
| Three Drive RAID on 1V4 | 1783 | 1717 | 1854 | 2:33 |
This is the most illuminating test, it shows how each configuration performs over hours instead of just a few minutes. The first group of four tests demonstrate that when backing up 131GB of data using Retrospect with verify on, to a Western Digital 250GB using the stock 2nd SATA bay of the PowerMac G5 you can expect an average of 1382MB/minute in performance. Placing the WD 250GB on the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card increases performance to an average of 1437MB/minute. Putting both the Maxtor 300GB and the WD 250GB on the SeriTek/1V4 host card increases performance a little more to an average of 1468MB/minute. However, the best performance was achieved in the RAID tests when backing up the Maxtor 300GB to three WD 250GB drives. In this test, an average of 1783MB/minute was accomplished. From these results, the Maxtor 300GB SATA has shown it is an amazingly fast drive which can copy up to 1717MB/minute in a single drive configuration when being feed by a three drive WD RAID. All RAIDs in these tests were created using Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.3.8.
In order to determine how much more power the SeriTek/1V4 three drive RAID might have over a single Maxtor 300GB SATA drive, I used the benchmark function in Drive Genius to record the following results:
Green = WD SATA 3 Drive RAID, Blue = Single Maxtor 300GB SATA
The image above graphs the sustained write performance of the WD 250GB three drive SATA RAID using the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter in green compared to the single Maxtor 300GB SATA drive performance in blue on the internal G5 SATA bus. As you can see, the SeriTek/1V4 RAID was able to peak at 106 MB/s while a single Maxtor 300GB peaks near 50 MB/s.
Green = WD SATA 3 Drive RAID, Blue = Single Maxtor 300GB SATA
The image above graphs the sustained read performance this time. The green WD RAID peaked at 87 MB/s while the single Maxtor 300GB peaks at 35 MB/s. An SATA RAID created using the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card can give you significant drive performance increases. The Maxtor 300GB 16MB cache drive is a great performer and beats the Western Digital 250GB in single drive head to head tests, but no single drive can compete successfully against a three drive RAID using the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter.
Test #3
In the third test the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card was used to boot the PowerMac. When single Maxtor 300GB, Western Digital 250GB or RAID drives were attached to the SeriTek/1V4 card and selected as the boot drive, there was no additional delay as compared to using the internal G5 SATA bus to boot. In fact, the results were identical, not faster or slower when compared to booting with the internal Apple SATA connector. This is quite a nice feature for a host adapter card.
Test #4
In this test Drive Genius was used to record the sustained read and write performance of the Western Digital 250GB when connected to the Apple internal second drive bus versus being connected to the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter. The blue bars below display the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter read performance. The green bars graph the Apple internal second SATA bus performance. The same identical WD 250GB was used in both tests. This image shows that the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter was able to improve read performance significantly. This graph demonstrates why the Western Digital 250GB performed so much better when reading from it while connected to the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter in test #1 above.
Green = WD 250GB on Apple SATA bus #2, Blue = same drive on SeriTek/1V4 host adapter.
In the sustainted write test below you can see that the (green) Apple internal SATA bus #2 and the (blue) SeriTek/1V4 host adapter performed much closer. However, the Apple write performance on the second internal SATA bus was marginally better than the SeriTek/1V4. I am not accustomed to third party host adapter cards actually performing so well when compared to fairly new PowerMac technology. Usually the host card allows you to add drives that the original hardware could not support. You don't expect the third party solution to perform as well or better than the original Apple bus. Hats off to FirmTek for this nice accomplishment. It looks like Apple may have some work to do on the PowerMac G5 second SATA bus read capability.
Green = WD 250GB on Apple SATA bus #2, Blue = same drive on SeriTek/1V4 host adapter.
Intel 31244 PCI-X to Serial ATA Controller
The SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card utilizes the Intel 31244 PCI-X to Serial ATA Controller chip. It provides a dedicated DMA channel for each SATA port, supports hot-plug SATA drives and is compliant with both SATA 1.0 and SATA II including Native Command Queuing (NCQ). The Intel 31244 chip supports PCI-X 1.0a specification bus operation and 64-bit at 33/100/66MHz. The Intel 31244 provides for burst data rates of up to 1064 MBps. In addition, the Intel 31244 PCI Expansion ROM enables boot-up capability in the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter which some other host adapters lack. The one issue with the Intel 31244 is that it does not support Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC). Only Hitachi drives have SSC set on as the default. Unfortunately, legacy Hitachi SATA drives do not have a mechanism to turn off SSC and as such they are incompatible with the Intel 31244 and the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter. I have a Hitachi 160GB SATA part number #13G0254 that would not work with the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter, as expected. I called Hitachi (1.888.426.5214) on 3/21/05 and explained the situation to them. They stated, there was no way to modify the drive to work with the Intel 31244 chipset. If you buy the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter, do not expect it to work with your legacy Hitachi SATA drives and do not expect Hitachi to help you solve this issue. FirmTek discloses this compatibility issue on their website and they also state that, "Hitachi Serial ATA hard drives introduced after December, 2004 should be compatible with SeriTek/1V4". Drives listed as compatible are:
Model 7K400 (400GB) – Part Numbers 0A30984 and 0A30985
Model 7K250 (250GB) – Part Number 0A30340
Model 7K250 (160GB) – Part Number 0A30339
Model 7K250 (120GB) – Part Number 0A30338
Model 7K250 (80GB) – Part Number 0A30337
The only problem with this is that I have been unable to find any of these part numbers for sale from newegg or zipzoomfly as of this review. The question is does this really matter? The Maxtor 300GB SATA is faster than all of the other SATA drives I have tried including the Hitachi. The moral of this story is use your legacy Hitachi SATA hard drives some where else. Every other brand of SATA drive that I have tried works with the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter. I tested Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate drives. They all worked with no problems. I will be happy to trade off using Hitachi legacy SATA drives for a fast host adapter card like the SeriTek/1V4 with booting capability.
Thoughts
If you would like to add SATA drives to your PowerMac G4 or earlier you can do so with the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter. If you would like to provide your PowerMac G5 with a 64-bit SATA bus that can connect up to four more internal drives using the G5 bracket, the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter can do that too. If you want to configure a fast multiple drive RAID using Disk Utility and the SeriTek/1V4 host adapter, I am here to tell you it works well. The FirmTek SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card needs no software drivers and you can boot from it using attached individual drives or a RAID configured from drives connected to it. From my tests, the FirmTek SeriTek/1V4 is the most reliable and easiest to use 4 port internal SATA host adapter on the market. The only drawback is the Hitachi Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC) issue, but I am not married to Hitachi SATA drives. Personally, I think Hitachi legacy SATA drives should have been built to allow users to switch SSC on or off.
Pros
Mounts up to four additional SATA internal drives.
Supports Mac OS 9, and OS X version 10.1.5 or later.
Can be used with boot drives.
Provides fast transfer rates.
Allows data transfer to all four drives simultaneously.
Multitasks disk transfers which increases CPU efficiency.
Supports Power Mac G5 PCI-X bus.
Backward compatible with standard 32/64-bit PCI.
User-upgradeable firmware.
48-bit LBA support for drive sizes larger than 137GB.
Can mount single drives or a RAID configuration.
No additional Mac drivers needed.
Works on all PowerMacs with a PCI slot.
Supports deep sleep.
Well designed and easy to install.
Cons
Does not support legacy Hitachi SATA drives.
Card does not support "Hot Swapping" like the 1SE2 adapter does.
Requires an empty PCI slot.
FirmTek SeriTek/1V4 gets 5 AMUGs out of 5!
The SeriTek/1V4 is the best overall internal host adapter I have seen. It can increase your PowerMac drive performance substantially even in a two drive system. When you are ready to add additional drives it can support them, up to a total of four. Single drives or a RAID work well with the bootable SeriTek/1V4 host adapter card. You can see more details on the 1V4 at http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/seritek-1v4/
FirmTek Special Offer - (Requires AMUG Membership)
AMUG Members can save $15 on the SeriTek/1V4 ($119.95) by ordering it at http://www.store.yahoo.com/firmtek/ and entering the code provided in the AMUG members only area in the comments section of the FirmTek order page. This promotion will end June 30, 2005. FirmTek will adjust the price for the 1V4 from $119.95 to $104.95 when the order is processed. AMUG membership is required for this discount to apply.
Contact Information:
FirmTek, LLC
sales@firmtek.com
http://www.firmtek.com
Copyright 2005
Arizona Macintosh Users Group, Inc. (AMUG). Visit AMUG at www.amug.org for news, discounts and friends. JOIN AMUG!