What kind of IDE setup do you recommend ? (master/slave)

[xXgambitXx]

when i built my rig i didn't really care about what went where. so now i'm wondering what is the most optimized configuration for IDE devices ?

could you guys give me a rundown of what setup works best ? Which IDE channel (1 or 2) and whether to go master or slave ?

i have a HD, DVD, Burner and Zip. i don't do any "on the fly" burning, anything i burn is done so off the Hard Drive. i also will be swapping my Zip drive out for a backup harddrive every now and then so i want good file transfer speed between the placement of the Zip drive and the hard drive. any input is appreciated. thanks.

 

[Egekrusher2K]

IDE Channel 1: Hard Drive (master), Zip Drive (slave)
IDE Channel 2: Burner (master), DVD (slave)

 

[BZeto]

I would do this.

HDD: primary master
DVD: primary slave
CDRW: secondary master
Zip: secondary slave

 

[grifterspawn]

Is a controller card out of the question?

 

[xXgambitXx]

i'm not too interested in a controller card. i like the clean look of my cables, don't want any more floating around.

anyone have any general rules about this ? do 2 devices transfer to each other better or worse if they're on the same channel ? or on the same jumper setting ?

 

[Mavrick007]

I would go with Bzeto's suggestion.

If two drives are on the same channel, it will be a bit slower because it has to write and read at separtate cycles since it's on a single channel, where on different channels it will operate at the same time and be faster.

Drives act independent on the channel on newer motherboards so a slower drive will not hinder the speed of your hard drive. Now getting cables to actually work by reaching between drives will be a challenge sometimes cause of where hard drives and optical devices are located.