Shoutbox

I currently have a CD Writer and 2 HDs (120GB and 40GB) in my PC and on thursday I am getting a new HD (250GB) and a DVD Writer.

Is it possible to have all 5 connected, or can I only have 4.  Or does it depend on my motherboard and if it has enough connectors and IDE cables?

If i cant have all 5, I'll just take out the 40Gb and replace it witht he 250GB as its slightly larger.

Not true, depends on your motherboard...
Check how many IDE slots it has.
IDE slot looks somewhat like: [::::::::::.::::::::::] (dunno exactly how many pins it has)
They should also be labelled IDE0, IDE1, etc.
It might also be your motherboard has SATA, in that case look for tiny connectors that look somewhat like: =====/
Again, they should be labelled.

IDE slots can have two drives each (master & slave), but be sure to set the jumpers on the drives properly.
SATA slots can only contain one.

Furthermore, make sure there is enough space in your case,
I don't think normal cases can handle 3 HDD's...

Also you might want to check if your motherboard has RAID functionality. You can use the RAID IDE sockets to plug in extra hard drives and use them normally. Some motherboards can support 8 IDE devices (daisy chained).

The other option is to by a controller card, they're around $30 US and allow you to plug IDE devices in to them. The downfall? You need a spare PCI slot to put the card in to.

I saw a motherboard that had 4 IDE ports on it, so you could have 8 things on with the master/slave thing

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris Boulton
The other option is to by a controller card, they're around $30 US and allow you to plug IDE devices in to them. The downfall? You need a spare PCI slot to put the card in to.

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don't kno if anyone else in the uk use's ebuyer (i find it really cheap for most things, so i use it quite alot)  this is the one that i bought i have a drd write and a 120GB HD connected to it and i have had no problems with it, so would recommend it as a good buy since it is cheap too

I would drop the 40Gig drive.... maybe someone (but not me )will even give you some money for it.

quote:

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Originally posted by Geniuzzz
I would drop the 40Gig drive.... maybe someone (but not me )will even give you some money for it.

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why drop a prefectly good HD when its easy to have 5

why dont u buy an external drive?pretty simpler...and keep the stuff that u cant talk about here in the forums in the new drive, for the ocasion of a criminal inspection at ur place and u can throw it down the window LOL

quote:

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Originally posted by johny
why dont u buy an external drive?pretty simpler

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that costs around the same as an ide controller (which allows up to an extra 4 drives to be installed) !! so there is no point (unless he wants to be able to move the hardrive around quickly to another computer. and even then i think i would be a couple of IDE caddy's )

hm but how does that ide controler?connect it to a ide and u have more 4 slots , like a usb hub?