Using an ATA 66 and an ATA 100

[Angryhorse]

Hello,

I am putting together a computer and got a new IBM 40 GB ATA 100 HD. I already have a Maxtor 13 GB ATA 66 HD. Can I use both HDs without slowing down the fast one? Do they need to be on different IDE cables, or if they're on the same one, does it matter which is the master and which is the slave? (My mobo supports ATA 100)

Also, I got PC133 ram for the new system and I already had some PC100. Can I use them together, or will that slow down my system? Does it matter which slots they are in?

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[QuiltingB]

Each IDE channel will only run as fast as the slowest thing on it. I have a 66 and 100 HD on the same IDE cable, but that is because I have a slower mobo so its a mute point anyway on my system.
You can mix ram speeds, but since DIMMs have an onboard ROM which reports their speed to the system, most systems will run the memory controller and memory bus at the speed matching the slowest DIMM installed.

 

[SocrPlyr]

in reality you will see no slow down running an ata100 drive at ata66 since harddrives are not even capable of bursting over 66MB/s...

Josh

 

[bandXtrb]

I decided to run my Western Digital ATA100 drive in ATA66 mode because of problems I was getting during installation of Windows 2000. Of course, I could've installed the drivers during install, but I didn't know at the time. I kept the drive in ATA66 mode because almost everyone says that there is nothing to be gained from ATA66 vs 100 with current hard disks.