Review - Silicon Image Serial ATA Sil 3112 Controller

Reviewed by Andrew Chalfant

More on Serial ATA

The difference between Parallel ATA and Serial ATA is the number of wires. Parallel ATA uses forty of them, while Serial ATA uses only two - this has some hefty impacts. First, the connectors are less haphazard - giant ribbon cables really only serve to block airflow and get in the way of just about everything in the computer, whereas Serial ATA cables are svelte, malleable, and can be up to one meter in length, meaning more airflow, a less cumbersome time working inside your case, and those with server cases just might be able to take advantage of all those high up empty drive bays.

Power consumption and electronic noise are also improved upon advancing to Serial ATA. For one thing, Serial ATA cables require less voltage than those of their predecessor. This means not only is there going to be less power consumption, but that there will be less electromagnetic interference than with Parallel ATA, which means less data degradation. Additionally, Serial ATA is a lot more user friendly: Master, Slave, and Cable Select are all gone - each drive has its own dedicated channel with Serial ATA.

Finally, a large selling point behind SATA at the moment is that it is backward compatible with Parallel ATA drives. Adapters are available that convert between SATA and ATA, allowing users the chance to upgrade the interface without buying new hard drives.

The Card

Features

• Serial ATA - 1.5 Gbps (150 MB/s)
• Compliant with Serial ATA 1.0 specification
• Integrated Serial ATA Transport, Link logic and PHY
• 48-bit sector addressing
• Dual independent DMA channels with 256B FIFO per channel
• Virtual DMA
• Command buffering
• Supports up to 4 MB external Flasho Supports external BIOS
• Supports spread spectrum clocking to reduce EMI
• Register compatible with parallel ATA
• Single, digital PLL architecture, with 1 PLL for both channels

Transfer Rates

• Supports PIO and DMA modes
• Supports bus master DMA at 1.5 Gbps burst rate

PCI Bus

• 32-bit, 33/66 MHz
• PCI 2.2 compliant

Power

• Core: 1.8V, I/O: 3.3V operating voltage with 5V tolerance
• ACPI: PCI Bus Power Management Spec 1.1 compliant

Software

• SATA Operating System Drivers: Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP and Linux
• RAID Operating System Drivers: Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP and Linux
• Supports RAID 0 (Striping) and RAID 1 (Mirroring) with Silicon Image Medley™ software RAID

Minimally bundled with the review sample was one SATA cable and a power converter:

There are several very appealing features behind the Sil 3112A chipset. First, the card is capable of running on a 66 MHz PCI bus which means that the controller can take advantage of those who have the extra bandwidth of 66 MHz PCI slots. Second, the controller has software RAID features, enabling users to have their drives in mirror (RAID 1) or striped (RAID 0) modes. Third and finally, the Sil 3112A has official linux drivers and software - including RAID features. Anyone who uses linux and is considering SATA controllers will no have to worry about hours spent hunting on the web and recompiling drivers in vain. Unfortunately RAID features cannot be tested with this review as they were not sent along with the review kit, but this will be included in the retail version of the card.

Installation

Installation was a breeze. Just slot the card in, connect the serial cable to either socket, and turn on the computer. Windows XP recognized it instantly after the drivers were installed, and it started working right after it was formatted. Documentation is available on the Silicon Image website, but as the card has not yet officially begun shipping for retail consumption, how the manuals will look and feel is at the moment unknown.

On to testing...