The Benchmarks...

Let's examine single-drive WinBench and IOMeter scores.

Single-drive WinBench Scores...

Nothing stands out in the WinBench scores presented above - both cards perform pretty much identically. The 29160 holds a slight lead in the Business Diskmark test while the DC-390U3W scores slightly higher in the High-End Diskmark test. Both of these gaps fall within WinBench's margin of error, however.

Single-drive IOMeter scores...

IOMeter scores, on the other hand, are more interesting. Note that the same pattern may be seen in the File Server, Workstation, Datebase, and Random Write tests: though scores are virtually identical under linear, very light, and light load, the DC-390U3W takes the lead under moderate and heavy load. Even more interesting is that the DC-390U3W's relative advantage is much larger under moderate load compared to heavy load - 15% vs. 4%, on average.

It's impossible to say exactly why the 29160 performs so poorly under moderate load - overall, it scores slightly worse under moderate load (64 IO's outstanding) than it does under light load (16 IO's outstanding). But if we had to guess, we'd probably chalk this up to a driver issue. For whatever reason, perhaps the 29160's driver's command reordering algorithm isn't efficient with 64 IO's outstanding.

Whatever the reason, the DC-390U3W performs significantly better under moderate load, and slightly better under heavy load. This may come as a surprise to many readers given its low cost relative to the 29160.

 Multi-drive IOMeter scores...