> This is a tough issue. It really it really depends on several things.
> 1) If your controller is a busmastering SCSI controller - I believe that
> the 1542 is not (but I might be wrong)
The 1542 is an ISA busmaster. I run Linux off of one myself -
mostly because I didn't want to spend more money on a VLB one I'd have to
trash when/if I go to Pentium. Even so, it's more efficent than my IDE
drives (on a 32-bit integrated mobo controller) CPU-wise :)
You're getting it confused with the 152x series (and the 150x and
the 151x), although they're really good for CD-ROMS and are supported by
everything. The 1542 is a rather expensive card actually... but quite
good if you can't use or afford a busmastering PCI board.
I'd say if you have busmastering (even ISA) and if you don't
have a Trition-based board which can do EIDE busmastering/DMA, you're
better off with SCSI if you can afford the extra cost of the drives
(which are often higher-quality, at least interface-wise)
- Chad