Another stupid question... In my new PC, I have a DVD-ROM and a DVD-R/RW. Should they both be run as master in a separate channel, or will it be alright with one channel, one master and one slave? I think I read somewhere that the disadvantage is that they split the 133mb/s. Is this true? Will 66mb/s each be enough for copying stuff on the fly between them? I know it would be easier to put them on separate channels and leave it at that, but I want airflow and for some reason I always like to use stuff to it's full potential... like an IDE channel.
First off your DVD/CD-ROM/RW does not go anywhere near as fast as a HDD. That is why in most set ups you have a 80 pin Cable going to the HDD and a 40 pin going to the CD/DVD. Putting both on the same cable is the logical set up. Some (Very few) DVD/CD-ROM/RW do not work well on a 80 pin cable. SO put them on the same ribbon, one as slave and one as master. You could also use Cable select if you want but I like being in control of my hardware. Also for some strange reason the HDD talks to the CD/DVD better when on different channels. It will also work with a CD/DVD on the same Chanel as the HDD. It will also work if on that channel the CD/DVD is the master. This is not normal setup as the HDD would usually be the master. It will work with HDD as a slave but not recommended. Hope this helps. Is this your first system you are building? If so try not to plug anything in the PCI right next to the AGP. IT shares the same IRQ. Not that is really a problem with XP but better safe than sorry. -Del
Yes this is my first build. My HDD will be SATA so the only concerns are the optical drives. So I should jumper my DVD-ROM as master and DVD+/-R/RW as slave on the same channel? That's exactly what I wanted to do By the way, I'll be using a DFI NF4 board so I don't have AGP... only 2 PCI-Ex16 slots Thanks for your help, I think you've helped in some of my other threads as well. I appreciate it... hopefully my new system will work without any problems!
You left out the SATA part but you will still be PK. Even though it is PCI-EX still try not to use the PCI next to it. Like I said it will not be the end of the world if you have to. Just helps avoid possible problems in the future. Oh yeah. You can put both your drives on channel one or 2 since you are using SATA. Standard is to have them on channel 2 but in your case it will not matter. -Del
