Recent content by Dave Perry

Yes, they are the 16 MB Caviar SE's, 250 gig. Mainboard is Epox EP-9NPA+Ultra. I'm positive it's not the board, now. Someone who builds PC's says he's used this board in five machines and it always works with SATA-II. Plus, the massive amount of clicking is consisitent with the complaints...

Hey, thanks to everyone for the replies. In response to the last poster, no this was the 250 GB Caviar SE "3.0 gb/sec" model. Both have been shipped back to Newegg. Hope the next ones work, but after reading some of those reviews of the new 400 gb SATA 150, I'm a bit worried. What is happening...

Actually it was two drives, both identical WD Caviar SE's, and they were both on dedicated SATA outputs, no adaptors. But those drives do have molex inputs so I guess they must be the same. Any idea why they went with the blade form contact for the SATA? I actually find those kind of hard to get...

Hi guys, this is a follow-up to a thread from last night. It's also a cross-post so forgive me, but I'll explain below why I'm in a hurry. I got the parts for my Athlon 64 PC two days ago and most everything went well until I installed the two WD Caviar SE SATA-II drives, using my 460 Watt...

Hi everyone, I got the parts for my Athlon 64 PC two days ago and most everything went well until I installed the two WD Caviar SE SATA-II drives, using my 460 Watt Soly-Tech PSU's SATA power connectors. I already had Windows XP installed on a 30 gig UATA drive using molex power. Everything...

Do you anticipate firmware updates can fix this, or will I need a new board to run full bandwidth? I know it's an educated guess, but I'm interested to know your opinion.

Got the diagram. Just stick a jumper vertically on the two pins one over from the left. I'll try it when I get home from work. I bet that's it. I think loosing the 300 mb/sec output is not a big deal. Based on benchmarks I've seen, it only shows up when you transfer large files. Better to go...

Yep, they are those (250's). I'll try that. Thanks for the link but I can't read the print on that image so I'll have to search for another diagram. I wonder if this problem can be addressed with a BIOS update. BTW, have you had a similar experience with SATA-II drives?

Yep, it's an NForce 4. There are caveats to jumping to the conclusion that both brand new drives are bad, which, in spite of Western Digital's less than spotless reputation, does seem a little unlikely. For instance, the weird way BIOS has reacted to these. I mentioned them both showing up as...

Hi guys, I've been bulding an Athlon 64 PC running Win XP Home since last evening and have had the typical run of depressing experiences. Probably the biggest one is that I can't successfully full-format either one of my new OEM Western Digital SATA-II Caviar SE drives. In the first case...

Thanks for the reply. Would it make sense, if it was a hard drive going bad, for this to only happen during startups, and for it to never happen many times in succession (like the "click of death" is supposed to do)? I've gotten some feedback on another board from a certified technician who...

Hey, thanks for the reply. I know that was sort of the "War and Peace" of posts, but this whole issue has sort of mushroomed over the past few hours as I've been looking for help online. I have only one extra HD, which I can certainly disconnect, but I don't see how I can disconnect the...

This is a cross post but I'm a little confused on where this question should go... I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 2400 to which I've added a Sony DVD burner and a second HD. I believe the system drive is an 80 gig Maxtor, the 2nd HD is a 250 gig Caviar. Within the past two months or...

Hi guys, I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 2400 to which I've added a Sony DVD burner and a second HD. I believe the system drive is an 80 gig Maxtor, the 2nd HD is a 250 gig Caviar. Within the past two months or so I've been noticing that a fairly loud (considerably louder than any other...

Hey everyone, I need a major computer upgrade from my Dell 2400 2.2. The faster the system is overall, the better. I also want quality components. I have the option of starting with a barebones with an Asus board and what appears right now might likely be a Prescott 3.2 because the NW...