primarry vs secondry :master/slave

[Guest]

i am a little uneducated in setting up hardware....my current machine has a 6.4GB quantum...and a 48x CD ROM....i'm expecting a 45GB IBM GXP...and a plextor 16/10/40....the question is....i'vr read a lot in this forum about master and slave setup....but i don't really understand it....so if anyone could help....what's the best way to put in these 4 IDE drives....P.S. ....i know the old hard drive will slow performance....but i was thinking of keeping it for MP3s...so that i can also carry it around.......thanks..
FORGIVE MY IGNORANCE...

 

[Guest]

The only performance issue faced when using 4 devices with only two IDE controllers is that only one device per channel can send or receive data at a time. Meaning only two devices at a time (and the they have to be separate channels) can communicate simultaneously. So which Drive is the most sensitive to this? I would say the CD-RW. It needs the most continual stream of data generally from your main hard drive or CD-Rom.

So I would put the GXP and CD-Rom on the primary as master/slave respectively. The CD-RW and older drive on the secondary (technically there it shouldn't matter which is master or slave as that's really just a way of addressing the drive on the channel).

It's a tradeoff, because the CD-Rom will compete with the main hard drive when installing software or running applications, etc from the CD-Rom. But you insure that the CD-RW will not have to compete when burning from the main hard drive and CD-Rom.

The issue of whether you run the GXP in ATA33/66/or 100 is dependent on what your motherboard is capable of.

***Hey I run Intel... but let's get real***

 

[Guest]

wow.....thanks man...that's a cool tip.....