first PC build, some questions

[uhaulball]

1. im using twisty ties to bundle up severl modular leads on my psu and my sata cable for my hdd. will the twisty ties cause any electrical/static problems?

2. i only have 1 sata hdd and 1 dvd burner at the moment. i have my other dvd-rom drive and floppy drive on my old comp which is at my college atm. however, i have no more 4 pin connectors on my psu, is there a way i can split one 4 pin power connector into two?

3. how can i transfer files from a PATA drive to a SATA drive? i dont even know where to start, never had a system with RAID or anything.

4. what is considered a good idle cpu temperature. mine is 37-8 degrees Celcius idle. But when i max out the cpu fan i get 28 degrees celcius. is that bad for my fan?

 

[mechBgon]

1) if the twisties have a metal wire core, don't let them get near circuitry (mobo surface, etc)

2) you can buy a "splitter" for 99 cents at Newegg that lets you power two 4-pin drives from one 4-pin PSU lead, yep

3) this won't be especially tricky, just add the extra drive, make sure your BIOS is still booting from the one that Windows is installed on (BIOSes often auto-prefer PATA drives when one's added to a SCSI- or SATA-booting system). Then within Windows, copy & paste files from one drive to the other as desired.

4) I don't know of any current CPUs where 38C is dangerous.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: uhaulball
1. im using twisty ties to bundle up severl modular leads on my psu and my sata cable for my hdd. will the twisty ties cause any electrical/static problems?

Not necessarily, but since there is a potential for harm, and also since internal neatness is not required, I'd avoid it. If you do decide to use twist ties, make sure they are clear from any circuitry. Also, do not use paper twist ties, as they would pose a fire hazard. Even plastic ties might melt, if they rubbed up against a particularly hot component. If possible, get some sort of heat-resistant metal-free ties.

2. i only have 1 sata hdd and 1 dvd burner at the moment. i have my other dvd-rom drive and floppy drive on my old comp which is at my college atm. however, i have no more 4 pin connectors on my psu, is there a way i can split one 4 pin power connector into two?

There sure is. Here's one. If you need to convert a standard power input to SATA, try this

3. how can i transfer files from a PATA drive to a SATA drive? i dont even know where to start, never had a system with RAID or anything.

You can't RAID PATA drives with SATA drives. In fact, I don't think you can RAID PATA drives at all (though I could be mistaken about that). Just install both drives in your system, install Windows onto the SATA drive, and just drag-and-drop whichever files you'd like to transfer.

4. what is considered a good idle cpu temperature. mine is 37-8 degrees Celcius idle. But when i max out the cpu fan i get 28 degrees celcius. is that bad for my fan?

Not at all. Those temps are great, by the way. At max load, my OCed Sempron gets up to 70^C on a hot day. That's the limit, though--I have my PC set to shut down when that happens.

 

[uhaulball]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
1) if the twisties have a metal wire core, don't let them get near circuitry (mobo surface, etc)

2) you can buy a "splitter" for 99 cents at Newegg that lets you power two 4-pin drives from one 4-pin PSU lead, yep

3) this won't be especially tricky, just add the extra drive, make sure your BIOS is still booting from the one that Windows is installed on (BIOSes often auto-prefer PATA drives when one's added to a SCSI- or SATA-booting system). Then within Windows, copy & paste files from one drive to the other as desired.

4) I don't know of any current CPUs where 38C is dangerous.

hey!! mechBgon... thanks! not for just for ur 4 replies tho, i used your guide 😉

but for the two replies, what i meant for question 4 is, when i go into bios and lower the "full fan speed when temp is above__" which therefore makes the HSF go at max speed, of 2766RPM, it brought my idle temp from 38C to 28C. I was wondering if the CPU fan constantly going at such high RPMs would cause it to die out sooner.

for question 2, the pata drive is on my old DELL rig. It has the Windows XP installed on it as well. will there be an issue when i connect two hard drives that both have an OS installed on them onto my mobo?

 

[uhaulball]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
There sure is. Here's one. If you need to convert a standard power input to SATA, try this

there is more than 1 way to power a SATA drive? The 2nd link shows a converter for a SATA drive that turns a regular 4 pin to a flat plug. Why would someone need to do that in the first place? I'm using the regular 4 pin to power my SATA drive, is that wrong?