KOUTECH PIR133 IDE PCI add on card

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A two port IDE interface card for facilitating additional IDE drives to your computer.

Specifications:

RAID CARD KOUTECH PIR133

Model
Brand Koutech
Model PIR133
Specifications
Type IDE
Internal Connectors 2 x ATA 133
Interface PCI
RAID 0/1/0+1
Operating Systems Supported Windows 95/98/98SE/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP, and DOS

Features
Features 32-bit 33/66MHz PCI interface;
256 Byte FIFO per ATA channel;
Large FIFO independent;
Supports Ultra DMA 6/5/4/3/2/1, PIO 4/3/2/1/0, DMA 2/1/0 modes;
IDE drive types support ATA, Fast ATA-2, EIDE, Ultra ATA/33, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/100, and Ultra ATA/133
Packaging
Package Contents IO-PIR133
Driver Disk
IDE/PATA Cable

I had problems getting my ASUS P5K motherboard to recognize and initialize the card, even though I have four PCI slots on the motherboard I had to move the card around until the motherboard found it. This is not a good thing considering the card is supposed to be a standard PCI card. I figured out (the documentation does not say) that the card was a 33MHz speed card because there is only one 33MHz slot on the motherboard. Newer cards that support the PCI standard have circuitry in them to switch a PCI slot that supports 33 or 66 MHz, this one doesn't.

The next problem I had with this card is the connectors, there are two connectors, Primary and Secondary. If you are using only one cable you have to use the Primary connector, if you use only one cable and use the Secondary connector your computer will hang when you start it.

The card also has problems with the installed SATA drives that are connected to the motherboard, occasionally if a file transfer is in progress the computer will hang and the only way out is to power the system down.

If you have one drive you can use the CS function of the drive, but if you have two drives you have to use the Master/Slave function, the CS function will cause the computer to hang.

The last thing that really bothers me is once the computer initializes and goes through all the add-on card bios (such as your SCIS, Sound, and  main bois splash screen) the keyboard is locked out until the OS starts.

I found this very annoying when I wanted to go in to 'Safe Mode' when I had a problem. The only way in to safe mode was by setting it as the startup with msconfig.exe. This is not a good idea, it erases a lot of you desktop settings if you have a custom desktop.

I am giving this card a 2 out of 10. It has major flaws with the technology that will not recognize the bus speed of the slot it is installed in. It locks the keyboard on systems with SATA drives. The Cable Select function does not work properly when there are two drives connected to the cable. It interferes with file transfers between a network drive and a SATA drive or a SATA to SATA drive file transfer.

I would not recommend this product even though the price is less than twenty dollars (US).

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