Flat vs. round internal SCSI cables... any difference?

[leoblob]

My title says it. Just wondering if there's any difference performance-wise. I know the round cable obstructs air flow less and may be easier to route.

Thanks.

[rkawakami]

Adaptec says round cables have better performance:

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/products/c ... s_u320.htm

The round cable improves impedance uniformity on the cable to minimize reflections, which causes most of the signal degradation.

Mind you, that this may only be applicable to Ultra320 vs. Ultra160 cables. I wouldn't worry too much if this cable is going to be inside your system; the length of the cable probably has more effect over the quality of the signals than round or flat construction.

[leoblob]

Thanks. Very interesting article. I actually understood a small portion of it.

Actually, I am interested in U320. The problem has been that for some reason it's been difficult for me to find a "plain vanilla" U320 cable that's un-terminated, which isn't real long, and which doesn't have connectors for a bunch of drives. I've found a few from companies or manufacturers I've never heard of and this makes me nervous.

A few minutes ago it occurred to me to check ebay, and I found Item 170125898764 which seems just right. It's original Dell (surplus) and I think this may do it (plus it's round).

Sorry I don't have a link. The real link is very long and I don't remember how to have it post in a shortened form.

Moderator edit: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0125898764

[RealBlackStuff]

I use round SCSI cables in my PC to minimize air turbulence.
I still use an old Plextor SCSI CDRW drive and an AGFA Snapscan 1236s SCSI scanner. That scanner is top quality, even after probably 10 years or more (can't remember when I bought it).