Should I use IDE?

[kleptophobiac]

Well, I just got a DFI Infinity.... and it has four SATA ports.

I have one Segate SATA 7200.7 120GB drive, and two optical drives. I also have two Abit serillel converters from my NF7 boards. Should I forego IDE altogether?

I'm sorta thinking that may be a pain to install windows on though.

Anybody done this?

The only point to this would be to clean up cable clutter, and reduce CPU load (since the Sil seems to use less CPU power while maintaining = performance)

[CrimandEvil]

Yes for info and help with the converter go here: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=f8b35bbab5741ce5b6bf74eda2e0d574
Maybe you should ask the specific question (will my abit convertor work with my new DFI board?) here: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=64&sid=f8b35bbab5741ce5b6bf74eda2e0d574

[kleptophobiac]

I already know it works. I've tried it.

I'm just asking if it is a wise choice.

[Ice Czar]

test it, copy several large files and a few compressed archives
then checksum them against each other

every time you introduce an extra interface there is the potential for issues, when you buy an external RAID array, with a half a dozen such interfaces (PCI>HBA>cable>RAID controller>SCA backplane>HDD) some Electrical Engineer has gone through and tested each interface and examined the signal quality

you can effectively do the same thing

give these a perusal
ATA Not So Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.lostcircuits.com/advice/atafaq/)
SATA and the 7 Deadly Sins of Parallel ATA (http://www.lostcircuits.com/advice/sata150/3.shtml)

Id recommend Haxial Hash (http://www.haxial.com/products/hash/) as a nice freeware checksum

[Benny Blanco]

Originally posted by kleptophobiac
I'm sorta thinking that may be a pain to install windows on though.
How would it be a pain? It's just one extra step that takes an extra 20 seconds... if you have a floppy drive that is :rolleyes:

[kleptophobiac]

I'm thinking it would be a pain if the cd-rom drives are on sata.

[Benny Blanco]

Oh... In that case, just switch the CD-ROM to sata AFTER you install windows :)

[Ice Czar]

personally I only know of one SATA converter that specifically states it supports ATAPI, youve tried those Abits on an optical?

[kleptophobiac]

yes, I used it on my burner, after I installed windows. Worked like a charm.