Adding a 2nd HDD

[PcAbuser]

Hi all,

I am putting a new hard drive in my Dell 4600.
Do any of you see a problem with it being installed as the slave to my CD ROM?
The trouble is, as of now all I have is an 18" cable, and the first hard drive is mounted in the lower front.
I COULD put the second hard drive into a slot justt in front of the exisiting one, but there is no place to put a front cooling fan, and ! am worried about two fast drives so close to eachother, without cooling.

So, I bought a 3 1/2 to 5 1/4 adapter package, that is a heat sink in and of itself, and has fans in the front blowing on it.

The machine seems to run ok, but if it is better to have both har drives on teh smae IDE channel, tehn I will need to get a longer cable. The 18" is about 1 inch short.

Opinions?


Thank you.

Best Regards,

Marlon

My personal credo:
Do well unto others, else you will, or at least should, not respect what you see in the mirror at the end of the day!

 

[dad200uk2000]

I can't see any problem with that.

 

[fuller772]

Putting your 2nd HD on the 2nd IDE channel with your CD-ROM drive will slow down the HD. Putting it on the 1st IDE would be best.

 

[rcraw2838]

I agree with fuller772. Cd drives always run alot slower than hard drives. Also, you're definitely right to be concerned about the heat issue. Just spend a few bucks and get a 24" cable. There are some vendors online that have the round cables for a few dollars but flat 24" is ok too unless you want to allow better air flow in the case by using the round type.

 

[PcAbuser]

Thank you for your responses.

I am not sure about the speed issue with the unit being with the CD ROM, as the IDE port is as fast as the other, (both are ATA 100) and I am using an 80 pin, 3 connector cable with cable select.

I was more concerned with both HD's being on the same channel, as one IDE port would be running both drives. I put my pagefile on the secondary drive for performance reasons, so this channel would be working ALL the time.

I do not have the CD ROM is use all the time anyway.

I HAVE however, already ordered a 24" round cable, and am putting a PCI slot Cyclone cooler under my video board, so hopefully there wont be a need for a front case fan anyway. I am gettting several CFM out of the secondary hard drive cooling kit that I mounted into a 5 1/4 bay.

If I do not install the second hard drive in front of the existing, I would then have room for a front case fan. May take a tad of adaptation, but what the heck.

Again, thanks to you all.

Best Regards,

Marlon

My personal credo:
Do well unto others, else you will, or at least should, not respect what you see in the mirror at the end of the day!

 

[cdogg]

Marion,
fuller and rcraw have fallen into that trap believing what some preach as the "lowest common denominator" scenario. It is simply not true. All motherboards made since 1998 use a technology called IDT (Independent Device Timing) which allows for different speed interfaces to run on the same channel. In other words, you can have a Hard Drive running at ATA 100 and a CDROM drive at ATA 33 on the same IDE channel. WinXP gives a perfect example of this which is evident in the properties of the IDE controller in Device Manager.

One thing you have to be careful of though is the IDE cable. The older 40-pin cables (typically found on secondary IDE channels) only support speeds up to ATA 33. You must make sure you're using a newer 80-pin cable which adds shielding to get ATA 100 or higher.

I see nothing wrong with your idea about off-loading another hard drive's bandwidth to the secondary IDE controller. If you use both hard drives simultaneously quite often, then your setup would be the next best thing to buying a PCI IDE controller which actually gives you a third or even fourth IDE channel.

Finally, I have read in various mags that rounded cables are less efficient and don't always provide the necessary shielding that a certified 80-pin cable does. Therefore, you risk having problems running at speeds greater than ATA 33.

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[PcAbuser]

Thanks cdogg,

The reason I went with the round 24" version, is because wehn I have the secondary drive installed in the 5 1/4 bay cooling kit, it is difficult to reach the master drive. The cable is simply too short.

Also, I figured having a round cable would be better for airflow.

The cable was inexpensive enough, that if I keep things the wya htey are now, I haven't lost much anyway.

I DID replace the old 40 pin cable for the secondary IDE controller, with the new 80 pin cable that came with my drive, for the reason you noted.

I am not sure as to whether the new 24"round cable is shielded or not, but I can't imagine someone NOT shielding it with that many wires running so close together.

I have read in various places, that IDE running at ATA 100/133 should NOT be longer than 18" though, so I am a tad concerened about this.

Thaks again to all.

Best Regards,

Marlon

My personal credo:
Do well unto others, else you will, or at least should, not respect what you see in the mirror at the end of the day!

 

[cdogg]

Well good luck and let us know how those rounded cables turn out!