ATA Card: Use CD/DVD ROM or HDD?

[Winky]

My larger drives are recognized both in on-board IDE connectors and Ultra Promise ATA PCI controller card that came with the WD hard drive. I need to add a new DVD-ROM drive.

I tried the DVD-ROM on the ATA card to see if the ripping speed improves. It does not change even with the correct DMA setting.

If I have a choice between a HDD or a DVD-ROM drive to go on a ATA card or on the on-board IDE, which one should I choose? Thanks.

 

[tcsenter]

First generation Ultra ATA PCI controller cards were fickle about ATAPI devices, to such an extent that even the vendor advised against attaching them. But any recent products should be good for all EIDE/ATAPI devices.

I would suggest placing the DVD-ROM on your ATA card, since it is a lower throughput device than any newer HDD and it won't sap your available PCI bandwidth to the extent a HDD would.