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Drives and Cables
- Hard Drives
IDE or SCSI?
The hard drive is the storage portion of your computer----it's where all of your data is stored---so when you're choosing one, plan on keeping it for a while! Obviously, you'll want the most dependable and efficient drive for your needs, so don't settle for something that you'll need to replace in a few months. The access rate is stated on the drive specs in seek time (in milliseconds), so the smaller the number, the faster the drive operates. (12 ms is about the slowest most people would want to go with). Speed doesn't always mean that it's a better drive, though, so pay attention to the rest of the drive specs, and, of course, the brand. The drive speed (the speed at which the cylinders spin) is stated in RPMs (revolutions per minute), which is usually either 5400 or 7200 for IDE hard drives.
IDE -- The most common types of drives used are IDE drives. This is the standard type that connects directly to the motherboard with either a 40 pin, 40 conductor data cable or a 40 pin, 80 conductor data cable necessary for newer drives (you can also connect older drives with 80 conductor cables).
Most IDE hard drives these days are either Ultra DMA-66 or Ultra DMA-100. If you're building a PC that you really want to be up there with the best, go with UDMA-100 and 7200 RPM. That's another thing to check for on your motherboard --- if Ultra DMA 100 is supported. Most are at least UDMA 66 and sometimes you can upgrade the BIOS to support faster. But it's safer to get a motherboard that supports UDMA 100 to begin with.
SCSI -- Some motherboards also have SCSI connectors, but SCSI is generally added as an adapter card. There are a lot of people that prefer SCSI over IDE and many high-end and business systems are equipped with SCSI drives. One advantage SCSI has over IDE is that you can chain several devices together without additional hardware (scanners, hard drives, CD-ROM drives, etc.).
Note: Windows 95 users cannot use a drive larger than 8.4 GB as the boot drive unless they are using the FULL version, rather than the UPGRADE version of Windows 95.
- CDROM Drives -- CDROM, CDR, CDRW, DVD, DVD-CD, DVD-CDRW, DVDR
IDE, USB, Firewire, Parallel or SCSI
- Floppy Drives
1.4, 2.88, Floptical
- Tape Backup Drives
The stripe on the IDE data cable always signifies pin 1.
The stripe in the IDE data cable generally goes closest to the power connector. (SCSI cables don't follow this rule--they can be either way, depending on the drive).
Use only 80 conductor data cables with Ultra DMA 66 and 100 hard drives. You must put a single drive on the end of the cable; with a master and slave configuration, many drives use the cable select setting and expect the master to be on the end location (the dark-grey connector) and the slave to be in the middle (the light-grey connector). The blue connector always plugs into the motherboard or IDE adapter.
It's absolutely crucial that you check your hard drive's installation directions and set them up exactly to the manufacturer's specifications!
Plug the BLUE end of the cable into the motherboard.
If you have just one hard drive with no other devices on the cable, you won't have to worry about jumpering for master & slave. The jumper should be set to either master, standalone, or sometimes cable select (depending on the drive) by default from the factory. It's a good idea to check all jumpers first, before it's mounted in the drive bay (and much more difficult to access!). Many newer drives use the cable select setting, so check with the manufacturer for the proper settings.
Don't put your CD-ROM drives on the same cable as your hard drive unless you absolutely have to--in which case always make the CD-ROM drive the slave. CD-ROM drives also have jumpers for master, slave, and cable select.
Be aware of static electricity; wear a wrist strap and ground yourself by holding on to the metal frame of the computer case.
Pay close attention to how your drives are jumpered. One incorrectly jumpered drive will halt the entire system.
Set your BIOS to "auto" or "auto-detect" for all drives so they will be set up properly. All of the newer BIOSes are capable of setting up modern drives to operate optimally.
If you have a standard IDE CD-ROM drive and an IDE CDRW drive, set the CDRW as master (or put it at the end of the cable for cable select) and the standard CD-ROM drive as slave (or put in the center position for cable select).
Keep in mind that you won't be able to access the hard drive until it's partitioned and formatted, so don't panic if you get an error message when trying to access the drive.
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Where to Find the Parts
HARD DRIVES
CD-ROM DRIVES
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CDRW & DVD DRIVES
CABLES
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