No announcement yet.

oem hd ?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • oem hd ?

    plan on buying a Special Edition Caviar 80GB (EIDE, Ultra ATA/100, 7200 RPM) Western Digital ,and this is a bare drive "oem" so my question is ,do i have to still buy cables for this or do i get all the necessary cables when i buy my antec plus 660amg mini tower

  • #2
    You will need to buy your own IDE cables.
    Cameron "Mr.Tweak" Wilmot
    Managing Director
    Tweak Town Pty Ltd

    Comment


    • #3
      I think u should buy the cables. Even if the HD comes with them, you may want to get a window or it may even come with one. So since your in cramped quaters, you will want to have 12-18 in. rounded cables(dont worry, its too small to have frequency lost). And i bought a SB live digital OEM and it came in a litle static bag with old drivers, and thats it, so im betting it wont evem come with them anyways
      <font color=orange>AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton (166*11=1883MHz) -|- Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev2.0 -|- Corsair XMS PC3200 512 MB RAM 2T-3-3-6 @DDR333 -|- Leadtek A250 TD GF4 TI 4400 300/630 -|- 40 Gig Quntaum Fireball AP+ -|- 52x Samsung CD-ROM Drive -|- SB Live Digital 5.1 -|- Antec SG case w/350 Watt Power-Up PSU</font>

      Comment


      • #4
        OK I'm really getting confused,what kind do i need to look for,any suggestions like brand and part #,this is my 1st time. using a a7n8x mobo. thanks

        Comment


        • #5
          Any decent 80 conductor IDE cable should be fine, rounded or flat it's your choice.
          Most anyplace that sells computer hardware will have these.

          80 conductor is neccesary to use ATA 66 or higher transfer. These have the same 40 pin connectors as the old ATA 33 cables, but each wire has it's own ground wire - hence you get 80 conductors.
          Most likely you will find them labeled as ATA 66/100 or ATA 100/133.

          Stick with the kind that have 3 connectors, 2 for drives - 1 for the IDE controller on the motherboard. And yes, try to keep the overall cable length to 18" or less for best data transfer.

          You can get the utilities for that and all Western Digital drives at;
          http://support.wdc.com/download/

          Get the latest version of Data Lifeguard Tools, it is the whole suite of tools for the Western Digital drives.
          With the diagnostics you will be able to check the drive over and ensure it is in good working order.
          You may need the ATA Manager as well to set the data transfer rate too. (I believe they are set at ATA 100 by default, but it never hurts to make sure.)

          Have fun!
          The reason a diamond shines so brightly is because it has many facets which reflect light.

          Comment


          • #6
            Stick with the kind that have 3 connectors, 2 for drives - 1 for the IDE controller on the motherboard
            good answer mr. c, but i thought i read some-were that if you use the same ide cable to hook up your hard drive and cd player you loose some performance,you should use dedicated cable to and from each drive, or am i confused? .Or are the 3 connectors type for 2 drives separate and just bound together.

            Comment


            • #7
              You are correct sir!
              The IDE channel will revert to the lowest common denominator. If you hook an ATA 100 HDD as a primary along with an ATA 33 CD-ROM as slave, you will get a channel running at ATA 33.

              But the 2-device type cable is probably easiest to find, and you can always leave the middle connector unused.
              (Note, use the end connector to your Master HDD - some drives and IDE controllers can be fussy about this, so play it safe and only use the middle connector on devices set to slave.)

              Then, if you add a second HDD later, you already have the cable.

              A lot of users find that 2 IDE controllers will eventually be lacking as this only allows for 2 HDD's + 2 other IDE devices total and opt for an IDE controller card that utilizes a PCI slot to allow for more drives.

              In a standard PC setup, you have 2 IDE controllers, and x amount of drives, and you just have to work out the best arrangement you can to get performance/usability.
              You just have to do the best you can and go with it.

              If you want a single device cable that's great. In the future the 2-device cable may be necessary.
              And for now, a 2-device cable will be fine, just tuck the unused connector out of the way to keep your airflow optimized.
              The reason a diamond shines so brightly is because it has many facets which reflect light.

              Comment


              • #8
                oh forgot to say thank you 4 your answer,you make learning easy with your kind of answer.not just a answer but an explanation with it. thanks again

                Comment


                • #9
                  I suspect I've been accused of being long-winded at times:D
                  The reason a diamond shines so brightly is because it has many facets which reflect light.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X