Just bought a xp2000+ witha msi kt3 ultra-aru board, I'm running a 60 & 40gig on 1 cable and a 32x burner and 12x dvd on the other cable. Now I know I can add extra hdds to the raid ports for mirroring or striping, but can I just add them for normal use, ala extra hdd?? thx
Probably. I want to say yes, but as MSI uses the Promise chip---which needs a separate BIOS to run RAID and another for just ATA controllers--so check your manual. This is one reason I like the HighPoint chips... I'll have to check some reviews out to see mention of it and the manual...
I'm not gonna list each indidvidual board, but Iwill, Epox and Abit are in the HighPoint crowd. Soyo has also recently started using HighPoint chips on their Dragon series. If you use RAID, I've found the Promise controller to be more desirable. If you need to use a controller as a standalone IDE controller for a while, HighPoint is better. If you can't use the Promise controller as a standalone IDE controller, leave the optical drives on the same channel, put one HDD on the other, and then use the Promise for the other hard drive. If it's your boot drive, you'll need to fully install the drivers for the Promise controller or you won't be able to get into Windows after changing the controllers.
Maybe. I don't like it because of the no legacy (no PS/2, Serial, Parallel) USB, and limited PCI slots, but the HPT374 4-port ATA controller is nice. The KX7-333 would be something I'd personally go for with the KT333 boards, since it's not as radical in the design. I haven't had as great of success with Abit boards in the past, but the NV7-133R I have now is very good, so maybe Abit's gotten better or I've just had some bad luck. Another popular board is the Epox 8K3A+ (the '+' denotes the extra IDE controller). It's more on par with Abit's KX7-333. Another option besides dropping another $100+ on a new board would be to buy an addon card with the HighPoint controller. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=11&manufactory=1640&DEPA=1 The link is off Newegg's site, an on-line retailer I highly recommend (if you're in the US), and it's to HighPoint add-on cards. Unless you really need the dual-channel ATA133 card, the ATA100 dual-channel card would be good too. Take a look at the link for all the different goodies you can get. Again, see if the board can be made by jumper or a BIOS setting to just use that Promise controller as a standalone IDE controller. It's also the cheapest way to go
thx 4 the reply i'm in the uk, so will check out the boards you've mentioned and then pop along to my local computer fair
if you do go to the local computer fair! make you the thing works or if doesn't that you can return it get their contact details or something!
