Daddy whaz that?

[Fuser Man]

Okay guys another computer question.

If I get two HD's how does that work? Can I have internet and crap like word and excel on one and games on the other?
For the most part it's cheaper if I get two 40GB HD that one 80GB HD. That's why I want to know. How do I set them up at the beginning?

Also the computer I want to build will have a DVD and CDRW. If I have two HD's how do I hook all of them up to the mobo.
One cable to the two HD's and another cable to the other items?

Thermal paste? what up with that stuff? Do I need to put this on where the CPU and fan meet?

 

[Noite Escura]

Don't know if I understood all you have asked, but: 1 80 Gb is surely cheaper than 2 of 40, but with 2 HDs you can setup a RAID array(if your mobo allows or if you have a RAID card) and it will be waaay faster. I never did myself a RAID setup, so I can't tell you exactly how it's done.
RAID apart, if you have 4 IDE devices (2 HDs 1 DVD 1 CDR) the best way to plug them is using an independent flat cable to each one and connecting on separate IDE ports. If you MoBo has only two IDE channels you will have to connect 2 devices in 1 port. This is possible coz the flat cables have two connectors. So you will have a master and a slave device for every IDE channel. If you HAVE to do this, keep the two HDs on the same cable. Don't mix HD's with CD devices or you will loose perfomance.
If you have two HD's you have to choose one for installing the OS. Otherwise you can put wathever thing you want in one or another. Right now I have 1 HD with 2 partitions: 1 small for the OS and all that "crap" , 1 bigger for games .
The thermal paste MUST have to be applied when you attach the heatsink to the CPU. Just spread a thin level over the core(someone said to use a credit card to level that, I used it and it works). Most of the heatsinks already come with a thermal pad in the bottom. I found that removing the pad and applying thermal paste worked better for me, even if the paste was not of good quality.
I hope I was somewhat clear

 

[Fuser Man]

There is this website that has new, used and pulled computer parts. Sometimes they have really cheap HD's. Last week they had about 100 new Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm HD's for $80US(they were gone in two days). If I had got two of them that turns out to be $245CND and a 60GB HD goes for around $280CND.

Thank for all the input.

This RAID card you talked about about, who makes them?

 

[HomeLAN]

A lot of folks make them. I don't mess with raid much, so someone else will have to recommend a good card. Since you're a bit of a beginner, I might recommend that you stay away from raid for now.

CD-RW's like to be the master on whatever IDE channel they are on, and putting a CD drive on the same chaneel with a fast hard drive will slow the HD down if both are being used. So, you'd want to hook 'em up like this:

IDE Channel 1 - Master Hard drive with o/s, some applications
Slave hard drive with applications only

IDE Channel 2 - CD-RW jumpered as Master
DVD jumpered as slave.

For good instructions on applying thermal paste:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
You must use this.

Hope that helps.

 

[Noite Escura]

Originally posted by Fuser Man
There is this website that has new, used and pulled computer parts. Sometimes they have really cheap HD's. Last week they had about 100 new Maxtor 40GB 7200rpm HD's for $80US(they were gone in two days). If I had got two of them that turns out to be $245CND and a 60GB HD goes for around $280CND.

Ok, then . Anyway I dare to say a smaller HD with the same technology will be a little faster than a bigger, even without RAID. I can be wrong tough. I think www.promise.com makes one of the best RAID controller cards. Like HomeLAN said, it can be a bit tricky to make it work.

 

[Gonzo]

Also, it'll be easier to setup if you hook up one HDD, get the OS on it & then hook up the second one. Then wire up #2 & it'll find it & set it correctly. I don't know about DVD/CDRW, but I've always had my CDRW as a slave to a CD-ROM & it's not been a problem.

or has it?


PS-DO NOT put CDRW/DVD/CDROM, etc on same channel as HDD-see homelans setup lesson