?'s about UDMA/33 and UDMA/66

[azonicbruce]

Let's see. I have an Asus P2B-F motherboard. On the specs sheet it states under the headding "On Board PCI IDE":

*2 x Ultra DMA/33 IDE Ports (Up to 4 IDE Devices)
*Support UltraDMA/33 : 33MB/Sec (Max), DMA Mode 2 & PIO Mode 3,4 : 17MB/Sec (Max)

Here's my question: My HARD DRIVE is a Maxtor Diamond Max 7200 rpm; Ultra DMA 66 compatible (UDMA/66, Mode 4). SO, it seems like the HDD isn't runnning at it's full speed (data transfer)capability, correct?

HOW CAN I get my hard drive to transfer at 66MB/s without having to get a new motherboard? Is is possible? Will a Controller Card work (I don't know what exactly a control card does so any info would be helpful)?

That was my main question but here's another: My Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32 (ATAPI interface) CD-RW drive manual says the "IDE controller must be set to PIO Mode 4 or DMA Mode 2." Obviously from my motherboard specs it says it will support this, but how do I know if the MB is actually set to those MODES? Is there somewhere in BIOS or Windows that indicates that those modes are set correctly?

Any help, info, or suggestions would be VERY much appreciated. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
You catch more flies with honey, than with a rifle!

[Rick]

To get the Max out of your Ata/dma 66 drive you will need to install a new ide controller card.

To check your mode settings for the cd-rom you need to check the Bios settings for the channel you have them connected to.

If/When you install your new IDE control card just disable the on board controller and use the 4 channels on the new card for both hard drive and cd.

------------------
To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !

[azonicbruce]

Hey Rick, thanks.

I went into my BIOS and under "Chipset Features Setup" I found the following:

IDE0 Master PIO/DMA Mode: AUTO
IDE0 Slave PIO/DMA Mode: AUTO
IDE1 Master PIO/DMA Mode: AUTO
IDE1 Slave PIO/DMA Mode: AUTO

I have my CD-RW drive set up on the Secondary IDE slot; it is also set as Master. So which corresponds to the Secondary IDE slot, IDE0 or IDE1? Also, should I leave it on "AUTO" or should I set it to "4/2"

ALSO, who makes a RELIABLE ide controller. Any recommendations? Also, where would be the best place to get one for a good price?

------------------
You catch more flies with honey, than with a rifle!

[bassman]

Hi Bruce,
The secondary channel is IDE1. With computers, if the numbering of devices starts with 0 then that will be your first one.
As for choices of manufacturers, Promise seems to be somewhat popular here.
CheckHERE (http://www.pricewatch.com) for price. Look under the I/O heading for controler cards.
Good luck

------------------
If I tell you to think for yourself, then you're not doing it.
.
.
This is not directed at those asking questions in order to gain knowledge. That shows you are thinking.

[kenja]

I wouldn't expect a huge performance gain going from Ultra33 to Ultra66. From storagereview.com: "Remember, since ATA drives have yet to break sequential transfer rates greater than even 45 MB/sec that ATA-66 (and in many cases, even ATA-33) interfaces will run a drive with optimal performance. Our testbed remains equipped with a Promise Ultra66 controller."

The Promise Ultra66 (and Ultra33, for that matter) have been good for me. The Pricewatch listing of newegg.com is outdated, they no longer carry it. Feeling lucky? Overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PROFRAME&PROD_ID=30747&fp=T) has refurbs for $19, delivered.

My Plextor 8/4/32 won't run on it, however, and I run all my CD-ROMs off of the motherboard controller.

[iisbob]

ok, don't get caught up in the ATA standards; they are only for burst rate transfers-no harddrive currently supports better than 20-25MB's per sec sustained transfer rate. So all the hype you hear about 33/66/100 is just that, hype! More important you should be concerned about the sustained data transfer rate of your drive, and unless you transfer Gigabytes of data ( like video ) you'll never see any kind of imporvement of having 66 over 33, likewise with the UDMA100 standard.

Speed is by far the more important factor in considering a Harddrive; a drive spinning at 7200 allows the read/write heads to acces data more quickly than one spinning at 5400rpm, so i would considere that-the mean access time-more important than wether it's capable of 100MB's per sec data transfer burst rate.

You system is just fine as it is, i wouldn't waste your money on a drive peripheral, unless you just want to add more drive storage space.

Until they come out with a capable sustained data transfer rate for hard drives ( possibly the serial ATA interface?) you're not really going to see a difference in drive performance just by getting a UDMA66/100.

if you really want a speedy system, go SCSI. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

------------------
iisbob
"640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981"
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

[azonicbruce]

OOps! it's too late. I already bought a brand new IDE controller for $29 (ordered it actually). So what you're saying iisbob is that I'm not going to notice ANY difference in performance unless I do some benchmarking?

I did do a little reasearch and you're right, most of the seek times for a 7200 rpm HDD are about the same regardless of which ATA interface.

Mine is a 7200rpm drive, and the only other ones I've seen faster are two Seagate hard drives, one is 10,000 rpm and the other the Cheetah X15 @ 15,000 rpm. I haven't checked the specs on those yet.

So should I just try and return the card I just ordered?

*******
I STILL need an answer to my second question, though (regarding the CD-RW drive; see 3rd post)

"...should I leave it on "AUTO" or should I set it to "4/2"


------------------
You catch more flies with honey, than with a rifle!

[kenja]

I'd leave it in "Auto". Assuming your OS is Win98: In Device Manager, expand "CDROM" and double-click on your CDRW. Look at the Settings tab. In the Options, there should be a "DMA" checkbox.

[BigBlue66]

IDE 1 is the secondary slot and Auto should be fine.

BB 66


------------------
"Right turn Clyde!"

[kenja]

As to whether to return the new adapter: maybe, but I'm running an Ultra33 motherboard with both a CDRW and a DVD as "masters" on their own cable, with an Ultra100 HD on the Promise Ultra66.