Barry OGrady <god_freee_jones@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:3u2lhvk1r4sfhfn7936sl9r8tj2um5h6df@4ax.com:
if it still applies today but I still apply the rules to any system I
assemble just in case since there is no harm.
Supposedly if the cd rom is running at a lower access speed it forces the
hard drive to run at the same lower speed when they share the same ide
channel.
Eg: pairing a udma100 hard drive with a cd rom that runs at dma33 would
slow the access speed of the hard drive to dma33.
Found the following info at:http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/cdrom/
Other Miscellaneous Tweaks
Particularly if you have an older computer, make sure that your CD-ROM
drive isn't on the same IDE channel as your hard drive. Sharing of IDE
channels can dramatically slow down CD-ROM and hard disk access. Also, make
sure that the drive is configured as the 'master' on it's IDE channel,
instead of the 'slave'. This can increase access time by allowing the CD-
ROM drive to pre-empt other traffic on the channel.
Also, using a CD lens cleaner on your drive can speed it up dramatically,
because any dust or other junk that touches the laser lens will slow down
its access time, just like scratches on CD media will. And while you're at
it, clean the CD tray and your CD's as well - every little bit helps,
particularly if you are playing a game that you've had for a while
And more of the same at:
http://www.storagereview.com/guide20...rformance.html
Hard Disk and ATAPI Device Channel Sharing: There are several reasons why
optical drives (or other ATAPI devices) should not be shared on the same
channel as a fast hard disk. ATAPI allows the use of the same physical
channels as IDE/ATA, but it is not the same protocol; ATAPI uses a much
more complicated command structure. Opticals are also generally much slower
devices than hard disks, so they can slow a hard disk down when sharing a
channel. Finally, some ATAPI devices cannot deal with DMA bus mastering
drivers, and will cause a problem if you try to enable bus mastering for a
hard disk on a channel they are using.
