3 IDE devices, only 1 IDE controller

pickarooney

I'm replacing my motherboard and have the following devices in my current config:

1 x 500GB IDE HD
1 x 200GB SATA HD
1 X 200GB IDE HD
1 x IDE DVD/RW DRIVE

The new motherboard only has one IDE controller on board.

I'm trying to figure out what my options are

1. Can I add some sort of splitter to the on-board IDE controller so I can run all three IDE devices from there?

2. Is there such a thing as an IDE-SATA converter so that I can connect the IDE cable from one of the devices indirectly to the motherboard?

3. Is there a way of converting an IDE drive to a SATA? (the 500GB drive is this one).

4. Should I ditch the IDE DVD/RW drive and get a SATA version?

5. Should I splash out on a 1TB SATA hard drive to replace the 200GB IDE?

tman

I'd lean more towards #5 tbh

While it is possible to get ide to sata converters, or a PCI card which would provide a couple more ports, you're better off looking into replacing that 200GB (and 500GB) drive with something like a Spinpoint F3 imo

I'd put money on the Spinpoint F4 pissing all over your existing 2 hard drives from a great height performance-wise, despite being 5400 rpm

You're pouring money into getting old tech to work when you could be replacing it with far improved stuff for a little extra cash

For #2/3 you could go for something like this (PATA to SATA converter)

http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/12_CABLES/06_IDE-ATA/productdetails/15344907/Sunsway_ST_Lab_PATA_to_SATA150_Converter/S_240/default.aspx

smokiebeverage

I'm with tman, the old drives are slower to read and write data, and all you will be doing is creating a bottleneck in a new machine. Between buying cards/converters you wouldn't be saving an awful lot over the price of a new sata drive.

superneat

1. no
2. yes
3. no
4. yes
5. double yes

A new sata OD can be got for less than 20 bucks and a 1tb HDD can be got for 60 bucks. Get something like the samsung spinpoint f3, amazing drives.

Tea_Bag

sell your IDE HDD's and fund a new 1tb HDD.
the 500gb is quite valuable, cause its EOL. if you're lucky, you could make a profit after purchasing the 1tb SATA.

get a samsung F3 (the 7200rpm version)

EDIT: keep the DVD driver if it works fine. cheap to replace, but pointless. i still use mine in my rig.

pickarooney

Thanks for the answers. Ideally I would go with 5.. shouldn't be too hard to justify it as a long-term investment, eh?

Is there much of a difference between the Spinpoint F1, F3, F4 and something like a WD caviar blue sata drive? The reason I ask is the shop I'm getting the rest of the gear in only stocks the F1 and it's the same price as the WD a friend recommended.

Moon54

Yeah, I'd agree. The €20 spent on trying to get them all to work, would be better spent on a new drive.
I'd recommend this 2TB Samsung F4 on Amazon for €76 incl shipping;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-EcoGreen-5400RPM-SATA-II-Internal/dp/B0042SGDVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1296655271&sr=1-1

It would fit everything on the 3 you have, with room to spare, and will be a fairly future-proof item for the next few years.
You could keep the older drives safe somewhere as a backup, if ever needed.

pickarooney

Seems to be unanimity on Samsung drives anyway! I'd still prefer to buy locally rather than be without a machine for a week (plus it's easier in case of any problems) but int he 1TB Samsung range I only have a choice between

http://www.microconcept.com/produit-composant/disque-dur-35/disque-dur-35-sata-samsung-1-to-eco-green-13677

and

http://www.microconcept.com/produit-composant/disque-dur-35/disque-dur-35-sata2-spinpoint-f1-1-to-13157

(in French, but specs are specs)

marco_polo

pickarooney wrote: »

Thanks for the answers. Ideally I would go with 5.. shouldn't be too hard to justify it as a long-term investment, eh?

Is there much of a difference between the Spinpoint F1, F3, F4 and something like a WD caviar blue sata drive? The reason I ask is the shop I'm getting the rest of the gear in only stocks the F1 and it's the same price as the WD a friend recommended.

The F3 a couple of years newer than the F1 so are a little bit quicker but even the F1 would still be a huge improvement over those older IDE drives. The large capacity disks in the F4 range (2TB) are all 5400rpm drives, with the exception of a couple of smaller capacity (160Gb etc) F4s which are also 7200rpm

tman

Samsung can do no wrong in my eyes! I think I might be turning into a fanboi...

If you're only going for a 1TB drive, and had to pick one of the two you linked to, I'd go for the Spinpoint F1 (the 7200rpm one), but I doubt there's much between them.

I can post up a couple of benchmarks this evening if it'd help you make up your mind (have a 750GB Spinpoint F1 and a 2TB Spinpoint F4)

Maj Malfunction

Samsung Spinpoint or Western Digital HDD's are good solid choices. I've used both types in recent years and never had a HDD failure with either of them.

AFAIK the difference between the Spinpoint's is speed. The F3's are 33% faster than the F1's. Your best bet is probably to google a couple of HDD comparison sites on the net to refine your decision.

pickarooney

I'm a bit clueless on hard drives to be honest. I thought 5400RPm drives had become extinct a few years back!

Just for the layman, what makes Samsung drives good - speed, reliability, noise?

Tea_Bag

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm a bit clueless on hard drives to be honest. I thought 5400RPm drives had become extinct a few years back!

Just for the layman, what makes Samsung drives good - speed, reliability, noise?

tops all three tbh

pickarooney

I've given up on getting a drive locally but now can't decide between

http://www.materiel.net/disque-dur-3-5-pouces/samsung-spinpoint-f3-ecogreen-s-ata-1000-go-32-mo-55194.html

and

http://www.materiel.net/disque-dur-3-5-pouces/samsung-spinpoint-f3-s-ata-1000-go-32-mo-51481.html

The only difference is the rev speed and 2 euros so I guess it's between slightly faster r/w speeds and slightly longer life expectancy?

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Those two models are both the same ecogreen version, infact its the same link. Which means they are a good bit slower then the standard F3's The whole concept of the ecogreen is to save on power. If you can, go for the normal version.

The other option (Which i dont think anyone has mentioned, but then again i have not read most of the posts) is a PCI IDE raid card. This will allow you to add 4 more devices (2 master and 2 slave) to a motherboard. I actualy had to use these years ago to get past the stupid 48bit LBA issue in windows xp when <128gb hdd's came out. You should be able to pick one up for about 10 euro in any of your local pc stores, or from the likes of ebay.

pickarooney

Sorry, copy/paste failure on my part. The second link should have been:
http://www.materiel.net/disque-dur-3-5-pouces/samsung-spinpoint-f3-s-ata-1000-go-32-mo-51481.html

This one was in stock and the other wasn't so my choice made itself in the end!

tman

Nice choice
Prepare to be gobsmacked at the difference in speed compared to your pata drives!

pickarooney

I'm sorely tempted to start putting together my new PC tonight but am afraid to cack up the mobo or plug something in backwards!

tman

Always best to do it when you're nice and fresh and have time to do it carefully rather than rushing through it...
I managed to bend half of the pins in the CPU socket once when trying to put a PC together in a tired rush:o

pickarooney

I decided to leave it. I managed to bleed all over my graphics card when I installed it last week so daylight and a quiet room seemed like a better environment for this job

pickarooney

I'm faced with the opposite problem on my new build. Along with the IDE drives simply not being recognised by the BIOS I'm short of SATA connectors on my PSU. I guess I need a molex-PSU adaptor but just want to check if this is what I need?

It says 5.25 inch but I can't imagine anyone would be connecting old-school floppy drives to sata connector so I don't know what that refers to.