Computer HELP

[Kyle.Kimber]

I've built several computers and know a little bit about the gizmos involved. I do have a question however.

I Have 3 hard drives, 2 in the computer and running and 1 I just purchased. They are all IDE and work fine. I have IDE 1 and IDE 2 ports on the mainboard. IDE 1 has the 2 harddrives while IDE 2 has 2 optical drives (DVD-RW and CD-RW). can I take out an optical drive and replace it with another harddrive?

Thanks

[sneakyhacker420]

theres no problem with taking out an optical drive and putting a hard drive on the same cable, but I personally suggest investing in a PCI card that supports additional IDE channels, and keep your two optical drives that you have now


here's a good PCI IDE controller card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816102007

there's some for less, but thats definitely one of the better ones out if you have the cash

[rkjunior303]

Yes you can.. Just remember one has to be the "master" and the other needs to be jumped as the "slave". You can get combo drives on the CHEAP.

[thecavemankevin]

theres no problem with taking out an optical drive and putting a hard drive on the same cable, but I personally suggest investing in a PCI card that supports additional IDE channels, and keep your two optical drives that you have now


here's a good PCI IDE controller card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816102007

there's some for less, but thats definitely one of the better ones out if you have the cash

i agree with sneak on this one. I have three HDD's and three opto's in my system. I originially planned on 4 optos but that final bay was a great place to hide excess cabling and i decided i didnt really need 4 optos.

[robnix]

I've built several computers and know a little bit about the gizmos involved. I do have a question however.

I Have 3 hard drives, 2 in the computer and running and 1 I just purchased. They are all IDE and work fine. I have IDE 1 and IDE 2 ports on the mainboard. IDE 1 has the 2 harddrives while IDE 2 has 2 optical drives (DVD-RW and CD-RW). can I take out an optical drive and replace it with another harddrive?

Thanks

The only problem you'll run into is speed. You'll fall back to the lowest speed on the port, so with an optical drive on there, your hard drive will only run at ATA/33 speeds.