IDE in recent motherboards

[neofit26]

Hello folks,

I feel the need to upgrade from my current system, ASUS A7N8X, Athlon XP+2800, 1.5GB DDR-400, to one of these new Core Duo 2 contraptions, most likely the E6400. I started looking at the available motherboards and one thing struck me: apparently they only have 1 IDE port.

In my current system I have 2x 300 GB disks, 1x DVD burner and 1x DVD reader. The 300GB disks have been purchased last December and I was (and still am) planning to keep them a few years. So even if I agree to ditch the DVD reader (but I'd rather not use the burner for reading), I'd still need connectors for 3 IDE drives, or 2 ports.

Now, in the Conroe Buying Guide on AT I read that the
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE motherboard has "2 Standard ATA133/100/66/33 Ports (4 drives)". I rushed to the Asus site, and have only found the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe. It has an extra "Deluxe" in the name, but the specs page says: "2 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33". So I am wondering, is it 2 ports or 2 drives?

Otherwise I can't find any other motherboard that has 2 IDE ports, besides the AsRock which I don't intend to buy.

I have a Matrox ATA-133 board that adds 2 IDE ports into a PCI socket, from the time when I had more than 2 HDs, before I bought the 2x 300GB drives. I'd rather not plug it in again. I am not sure I could boot an IDE drive from it with the current MBs, and when I tried to hook up the DVD reader or burner to it I could never make them run in UDMA mode (though HDs were fine).

Now, I hear there are SATA-IDE adapters. What if I buy one of these 1 IDE port boards, hook up the two HDs to the IDE port, then use adapters to hook up the DVD burner and reader to the SATA ports? Will I get UDMA performance from the IDE DVD burner and reader when hooked up to SATA ports through adapters? I don't want to spend 45+ minutes with 100% CPU utilization everytime I burn something anymore.

Thanks.

 

[vhx]

You could use the IDE -> SATA adapters. (They are like $10 a piece) You could also get a PCI IDE controller card. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124001)

 

[neofit26]

Originally posted by: vhx
You could use the IDE -> SATA adapters.

Yes, but will the IDE DVD burner, when connected to an SATA port through an adapter, work in UMDA mode (or the equivelent in SATA)?

Thanks

 

[neofit26]

Anyone?

(sorry to bump this)

 

[smitbret]

I vote PCI IDE card, then you won't have to worry about whether your CD/DVD Drives will work or not. And you'll only need to get one, instead of several PCI-IDE Adapters.
-Brett

 

[larciel]

I'd get two IDE->sata adapters and use em for your HDs

connect the optical drives into the IDE channel.

no need to clog inside of your case with 4x IDE cables.

 

[cmdrdredd]

2 drives per IDE port and 2 ports = 4 total drives. one master and one slave per channel.

In short the board has what you need,

 

[dandragonrage]

Sucks for you that you felt the need to buy IDE hard drives so late in the game.

 

[Aluvus]

The board in the OP has 2 ports, supporting 4 devices. This is clear both from the picture Asus provides and from the specs listed on Newegg:

PATA 2 x ATA100 up to 4 Devices

No need for any extra bits.

 

[dandragonrage]

It also has SATA, so he should have bought SATA drives to begin with.

 

[imported_Mongrel]

Originally posted by: dandragonrage
It also has SATA, so he should have bought SATA drives to begin with.

That helps...

Back 'then' *we* were buying 160GB ATA Seagates for $50 and 300 for $80-100. SATA drives weren't quite that cheap iirc, Conroe hadn't been announced and *our* NForce2 boards were still cutting it...

So, the OP's situation is far from unique to say the least.

SATA to PATA adapters sounds like the way to go or even a PCI PATA board. As far as clogging up the case, just slit the ribbon cables and round them off or buy rounded cables if the cash is available.