WHy do all motherboards come with only TWO IDE ports now?

[qi0tri0t]

My old ABIT BE6-II had 4 IDE ports, but this new cheapo Shuttle Spacewalker AK12 mobo has only 2 IDE ports which forces me to share one cable for my HDs, and one for my CDRW and DVDROM. I"m in the process of geting a new computer now and notice that the ABIT KG7 has only 2 IDE ports (according to the picture on Abit's website herehere, but it says it has four channels).

 

[TimidOCer]

unless you get a raid motherboard you can expect this to happen on all mobos ... so stop whining
not all maybe but almost all

 

[qi0tri0t]

why do they do this?!?!?!!? Why can't they just stay with the same 4 IDE ports as before.

 

[TimidOCer]

because its a waste of money for them to put them on.. most people dont need 4 ide ports man...

basically since hardly anyone needs 4 ports they dont put it on and since hardly anyone complains and they save a few bucks they have no reason to put 4

 

[RossGr]

The ABIT BE6 and BP6 where exceptions, ABIT klugded on an extra HPT ATA66 hardware controller external to the southbridge. Thus they were cabable of 8 IDE devices. The ATA66 HPT controller was pretty problematic, but they were the first boards to support it.

 

[qi0tri0t]

oh... I thought that the average user would use 3-4 IDE ports.

This is what I have:

HD
CDRW
DVDROM


Should i put the HD on one IDE, and the CDRW as Primary, and DVDROM as slave on the same IDE. I can't even do CD-CD Copying with this config.

 

[TimidOCer]

qi0tri0t -

No the average user wouldnt need 3 or 4 because you can put 2 things on one cable without hurting anything....

as for the configuration you have there I would probably put the hd on its own but thats just me

 

[qi0tri0t]

okay, wouldn't putting say the CDRW and HD on the same cable hurt performance, or 2 HDs, or a CDRW and DVDROM and trying to cd-cd copy?

 

[JOSEPHLB]

theoretically, putting a lower speed device on the same chain as a higher speed device will slow the performance of the higher speed device..

If you want optimum performance , its best to use an "add in" IDE controller such as the Promise Ultra 100, and put your hard drive(s) on seperate channels, as with your DVD/CDROM & CDRW on the onboard IDE channels on your motherboard..
Thats a typical "power user" setup

The average person that buys a junky Compaq, or goes down to your local Compusa to buy a prebuilt system, doesn't truely have these thoughts in mind, and would more than likely do an upgrade, as in adding an add on CDRW drive, on the same channel as the hard drive, or the same channel as the built in DVD/CDROM drive, or vice versa...

 

[skriefal]

<< Theoretically, putting a lower speed device on the same chain as a higher speed device will slow the performance of the higher speed device >>



No it won't. That has been true for at least 5 years. All current chipsets have independent device timings, and are able to run each device at it's maximum supported transfer speed.

 

[Semimaker]

No it won't. That has been true for at least 5 years. All current chipsets have independent device timings, and are able to run each device at it's maximum supported transfer speed.

Err, No.

The transfer rate of the channel is defaulted to the slowest device (if you are trying to access both), you can not have 2 different transfer rate on IDE

As for only 2 IDE channels, the south bridge can only support 2. Any more requires an IDE contoller either built in to the m/b ot as an add in.

 

[Antos]

<< No it won't. That has been true for at least 5 years. All current chipsets have independent device timings, and are able to run each device at it's maximum supported transfer speed.

Err, No.

The transfer rate of the channel is defaulted to the slowest device (if you are trying to access both), you can not have 2 different transfer rate on IDE

As for only 2 IDE channels, the south bridge can only support 2. Any more requires an IDE contoller either built in to the m/b ot as an add in. >>



Yes, you are right, and the other guy is wrong. Putting a slower and faster HD on the same channel slows down the faster HD. I should know, because I've tried it too. Replacing the slower HD with a faster HD almost doubled my transfer rates...

I think even putting a SLOWER drive as *master* will slow the faster drive...not sure, though.

 

[gumbysucks]

Check the hot deals forum , I saw promise ultra 66 cards for $10. This will give you 2 more .

 

[Semimaker]

Antos,

Thank you,

BTW is does not matter where the slow device is, it will still lsow down the transfer rate.