IDE channels - help please!

[RV4Guy]

I have read conflicting advice in magazines so I have turned to you for help....

On a standard mobo with 2 IDE channels with 2 hard drives and 2 optical devices, what is the optimum way of connecting those devices?

a) HD's on one channel, optical's on the other ?
b) One HD and one optical on each ?

What are the perils of doing things the wrong way round?

I have tried a) and b) - I am a b) man at present.

Thanks

 

[AkumaBao]

Well let's look at this example. Let's say we have two HDD's running at ATA-100, and two CD-ROM's running at ATA-66. IF you add a HDD & a CDROM on one channel, the HDD will be forced to run at ATA-66 rather than it's normal ATA-100. On top of that sharing a IDE connection is going to slow it down even more on top of that. So in conclusion, use both your HDD's on IDE0, and both opticals on IDE1.

 

[Mavrick007]

It's not true that the cd/dvd-roms will kick back your ide hard drives to the speed of the cdrom, and I've been hearing that the new ide controllers do allow separation of the master/slave devices no matter what they are(ie. hard drive master is ata100 and slave is ata33, both will operate at their spec'd speeds).

I find that the safest bet is to run your primary master to be your boot hard drive.
Primary slave = dvd/cdrom
Secondary master = cdr/dvd
Secondary slave = hard drive 2

This way you can access a hard drive separate from your cdr for when you burn from hd to cd, burn cd to cd, operate an app on the 2nd hd and use cd at same time, play a dvd and/or burn at same time, etc. There are minor problems with the ide bus in this config.

 

[BlitzRommel]

I just put everything on seperate channels; most of my boards have onboard RAID that I've been able to use for standard IDE ports. JUst gotta use nicely--rounded IDE cables for less clutter

 

[dunkster]

The fact that the 'standard' motherboard still includes only two IDE ports is pathetic, considering that the overwhelming fraction of all posters to these forums has a minimum of 3 IDE devices. The minimum number of IDE ports on a motherboard should have been raised to 4 a long time ago. I think most who purchase RAID-equipped boards do so to get 4 IDE ports for the elimination of master/slave device configurations, not for any interest in implementing any RAID mode. That was the only reason I bought a RAID board.

The basic problem in master/slave configurations is planning for max efficiency in priority tasks. Will you be writing to your optical recording primarily from HD or DVD? Whichever master/slave config you choose should be based on that decision, and will result in compromised system efficiency for other writing tasks.

I think the optimum path for you is to spend about $30 for a PCI IDE adaptor card such as offered by Promise, which provides two additional IDE ports and allows each of your IDE devices to be configured as a master device on a dedicated IDE port. That eliminates the need for any master/slave system efficiency compromises.

Rant ended. Hope this helps!

 

[Scurvy]

Hey Dunkster good tip - that's definitely the way to go. I just built a new box and the HDD and DVD drive are all that's in it now. When I order the CDRW in a month or so, one of those Promise cards is on the list. Thanks!

 

[RV4Guy]

Thanks for all the tips - so quick as well

I am due another motherboard in the Summer and so will get a RAID one - from all your replies this seems a wise purchase.

In the meantime, I am fast realising that there is no 'right' way and it depends what you do with the drives that matters. Here Maverick007's plan would best fit what I do with my machine. A bit of minor rejigging is needed...

And as for the rounded IDE/floppy cables: I have just ordered a set! My case is a nightmare tangle inside . Fine with my little PIII500 but my upgrade to a 2Ghz would see the whole lot get rather hot indeed!

Thanks again

 

[BlitzRommel]

The problem though, is I am a multi-tasking freak so I'm about to ditch my IDE for SCSI

 

[BFG10K]

I have both of my HDs on the primary channel and my DVD & CDRW drive both on the secondary channel. It's neater that way plus there's absolutely no chance that the HDs will be dragged down to ATA/33 speeds from either of the removable drives.

 

[Bovinicus]

It probably doesn't even matter. I would do one of each on both, but that is just me. I really doubt you will be saturating the bandwidth anyway. Especially if you have ATA100 or ATA133 IDE controllers.