2 hard drive 2 optical drives...best way to set them up?

[bunker]

Right now I have each one on their own IDE channel. (raid controller being used as ata133 controller)

I'm using rounded cables in a smaller case and the airflow still sucks so I'm going to switch to only using 2 of the IDE channels to clean up the inside of the case.

I'm thinking it should be:

IDE 0
HDD (boot drive) - Master
Cd Rom - Slave

IDE1
HDD - Master
DVD RW - Slave

Is that the best way to set them up?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

thats the best way however i doubt your IDE cables will be able to reach the 5.25 bay then back down to the 3.5

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
thats the best way however i doubt your IDE cables will be able to reach the 5.25 bay then back down to the 3.5

They do when I put them on backwards

Plus the hard drives are about 2 inches from the IDE plugs on the MB.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i'm not sure if that would work,maybe it could so long as your not using cable select. i dunno,its probably not recommended.

 

[nageov3t]

yea... I've had problems when using ide cables in reversed direction.

the way I had mine setup:

IDE0 - hdd master, hdd slave
IDE1 - cd master, cd slave

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
i'm not sure if that would work,maybe it could so long as your not using cable select. i dunno,its probably not recommended.

it shouldn't matter as long as you don't use cable select. i've tried this before and it has worked 3/3 times for me

 

[nitromullet]

I personally keep optical on one channel, and HD's on another. I know that some burning software in the past didn't like that config for copying cd's, but it hasn't been an issue for me since I got nero. I would think that since you are trying to move your cables around for the best airflow possible, it would make sense to keep the drives for each channel closer together so you don't have to criss-cross your ATA cables. Just a thought...

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
I personally keep optical on one channel, and HD's on another. I know that some burning software in the past didn't like that config for copying cd's, but it hasn't been an issue for me since I got nero. I would think that since you are trying to move your cables around for the best airflow possible, it would make sense to keep the drives for each channel closer together so you don't have to criss-cross your ATA cables. Just a thought...

That's exactly why I wanted to separate the optical drives. I haven't had 2 on the same IDE channel in a long time so it may not be an issue any longer.

I guess I'll just have to try it both ways.

Thanks for all the replies folks!

 

[Boonesmi]

on some boards (i dont remember which ones, i work on 5-10 pc's a week) but ive noticed that if the ide cable is attached backward the motherboard only identifies it as a 40 conductor cable (instead of 80) and drops the speed down to ata33.

personally i would run both harddrives off the primary ide, and both optical drives off the secondary

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: bunker
Right now I have each one on their own IDE channel. (raid controller being used as ata133 controller)

I'm using rounded cables in a smaller case and the airflow still sucks so I'm going to switch to only using 2 of the IDE channels to clean up the inside of the case.

I'm thinking it should be:

IDE 0
HDD (boot drive) - Master
Cd Rom - Slave

IDE1
HDD - Master
DVD RW - Slave

Is that the best way to set them up?

Actually I disagree with those saying you've got it setup the best way. I'd say:

IDE 0
HDD (boot drive) - Master
DVD RW - Slave

IDE1
HDD - Master
Cd Rom - Slave

With the following assumptions:
1) You'll always install from CDROM to primary HD (boot drive).
2) You'll always CD copy from CDROM to DVDRW.
3) If you burn a ISO it'll be coming off your secondary HD.

ie: Try to keep source and destination drives on seperate cables as much as possible.

Thorin

 

[Brian48]

I always use this config:

IDE1:
HardDisk1 = Primary Master
CDRW/DVDRW = Primary Slave

IDE2:
CDROM/DVD-ROM = Secondary Master
HardDisk2 = Secondary Slave

 

[Yourself]

Originally posted by: loki8481

the way I had mine setup:

IDE0 - hdd master, hdd slave
IDE1 - cd master, cd slave

Ditto here...been using that setup for about 5 years without issues or performance degradation.

 

[Sid59]

get a 4 channel ide cable

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: Sid59
get a 4 channel ide cable

They make those? And can one IDE controller handle 4 devices??

 

[beatle]

I agree with Thorin, depending on where you install most things from. It doesn't matter which drive you use as a source for writing dvds/cdrs, as the writer will not be fast enough to matter.

No, they don't make 4 channel ide cables.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: bunker

Originally posted by: Sid59
get a 4 channel ide cable

They make those? And can one IDE controller handle 4 devices??

no i got lazy to write, "search the forums" was my way of telling people to search and find out.

 

[snidy1]

It's best to have the hard drives on the same channel.

 

[lavaman]

I always put my hard drives on IDE Channel 1 and my optical drives on IDE Channel 2. Never tried anything different because this has always worked out great for me.

 

[GnomeCop]

why would anyone want to put a HD and optical drive on the same IDE channel? wouldn't the IDE channel run only as fast as the slowest device which is usually the optical drive (ATA33?)

I always keep my HDs together to maintain ATA100 and the optical drives together at ATA33.

 

[sharq]

I doubt that reducing the number of round cables would help air flow alot.
Plus, does it really slow down the ide channel if you have a IDE HD and a CDROM on the same channel (I have that setup for one of my hd's and my burner)?

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: GnomeCop
why would anyone want to put a HD and optical drive on the same IDE channel? wouldn't the IDE channel run only as fast as the slowest device which is usually the optical drive (ATA33?)

I always keep my HDs together to maintain ATA100 and the optical drives together at ATA33.

This isn't true, at least not anymore. I never have 2 harddrives on the same channel unless it's absolutely unavoidable. With an optical drive having such slow seeks and low xfer rates (85 ms and 7 megs/sec is GOOD) you'll never put much of a strain on the channel. 2 harddrives talking to each other on the same ide channel will thrash it, especially new harddrives.