KT7A - should I use IDE1,2 or IDE3,4??

[AMD4ME2]

Ok I only have one hard drive its a 7200rpm ata66 drive. I also have a CDRW and a CDROM. what would be the best configuration I could use to get the most performance?

I could put everything on separate connectors.. but thats alot of cables so im thinking of not doing that. other than having them all on their own channel which of the 2 sets provides the best performance:

HTP370 controlled raid IDE's
or
VIA 686B ATA100 controller

 

[Jamey]

HD on IDE channel 1. The rest won't matter, but put them on seperate channels. This will allow you to copy from HD or CD to CD-RW, and using the HD on IDE 1 should avoid possible boot configuration headaches. If your CD-RW drive is slow (4x or lower) you may get by putting the CD and CD-RW on IDE 2. If you choose this, make the CD-RW the master. Some CD-RW drives don't like being a slave.

 

[AMD4ME2]

Thanks Jamie,

I have a 32x panasonic CDR and an older 2x HP writer, still don't have a processor yet, but im looking forward to putting it all together. Probably won't be doing RAID or anything real soon, so thats not a big issue. Just wondered what would be best.

 

[AMD4ME2]

anyone else?

 

[JustStarting]

do not put cdrom or cdrw on ide 3 or 4. my manual states this clearly. use ide 3 and 4 for hdd's only.

 

[AMD4ME2]

hmmm.. don't see that in my manual.. perhaps this is an updated manual and they left that out..

what page is it on?

 

[Skiracer]

On the KT7-RAID I would strongly recommend putting your HDD on the primary channel of the RAID controller, and making your two CD drives masters on each of the two standard IDE channels. This will maximize your transfer speeds to and from each of these devices. I know, three IDE cables can be a mess, but it should be worth it in terms of speed and stability. You could put your 32X CD and 2X HP CDR on the same standard IDE channel with the HP as master since the HP is only 2X and the single IDE channel should be able to keep up during CD copying. If you do this and start to make coasters, then put CD as master on second standard IDE channel. If you put the HDD on the RAID controller, make sure that you select the ATA100RAID as all three boot drive selections in the BIOS.

 

[rominl]

okok, in the manual, after the first few pages about the features (at the very end of features), it states that the HPT controller is a high speed controller, and they SUGGEST users not putting any slow devices like CDROM or CDRW there. I don't see any reason why you can't, and ABIT never say you can't as well. They just suggest you don't, which I do agree.

IMHO, I think putting the hdd on the primary of the HPT controller, which is IDE3, is the best choice. Then all the CDROM etc on the IDE1 and IDE2. That should be the best choice.