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3 HDDs??
DreamWeb:
DVD->DVDR is hardly a good enough reason to keep two dvd drives in your comp these days.
Not only is it usually just as fast to go dvdr->hd->dvdr... but, it's also more reliable.
I'd say dump the plain dvd drive.
d.
MonitorGuru:
Just in case if your new computer is a new Dell 4700 or 8400, be aware that it no longer provides 4 IDE ports.
The new motherboads with PCI Express include 2x IDE [PATA] ports (1 channel, master/slave) plus 2x SATA ports (1 channel, 2 drives).
So then if your new hard drive is a SATA drive, you can only put 2 IDE [PATA] drives in your system and not 3.
You can of course purchase PCI based IDE controller cards (sometimes for virtually nothing when people got extra ones included with "big" hard drives of the past in order to use them) to extend the amount of IDE you can have.
As far as DVD->DVDR---I agree with the others, copy to hard drive first.. more reliable than on-the-fly. Plus I would really suggest, IF you have room/power/connectors, keep both, and use the DVD player just to play DVD's and save the laser on your burner. Though it sounds like you're quite full as it is.
paigeoliver:
Yes, if you need an ide expansion card, get one on ebay, they cost almost nothing on ebay because they tend to get bundled with new drives whenever faster drives first come out.
Chances are fairly good that the card itself might be slower than your onboard ide, so put your least important drives on it (I know my card is Ultra 66, but the mobo is Ultra 133).
markrvp:
It used to be advised to not put an HD and a CD (DVD) drive on the same IDE bus. It killed the performance of the HD. Does XP's ability to individually select the drive's DMA capacity make this an old notion?
Not that anyone would do this, but if you rip DVDs using DVD Decryptor or such, a standalone DVD-ROM drive will typically have faster read speeds than a DVD-R or DVD+R drive. Makes ripping DVDs to the HD faster (for your own backup purposes, of course). Thus, having the two DVD drives is justifiable for this purpose.
Lilwolf:
btw, keep your first 80 just windows + installed apps
your second all your emulation stuff... So if you decide to jump to XP you don't have to worry about your roms... and you can do it with reformatting your drive (good thing).
I would probably keep the extra 80 off your system until you needed it... You might find another project (TIVO type white box?) that would be more useful. Your only adding wear / tear on a device you have no imediate use for
or sell it (buy/sell/trade)... Keep the money for a year until you actually need it... and buy a 300ghz drive for the same money. Sitting on near new computer hardware isn't all that useful. It depreciates VERY fast... and cash doesn't... (*depending on the current administration in office*)
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