IDE Interface issue

Lanshane

Hi there. I would be grateful if I could get some advice on the following. A friend of mine blew up their motherboard and wants me to do an upgrade. So I recommended getting an upgrade kit, including memory, motherboard and processor. This machine is over 8 years old. Now, the hardrive in it has an IDE interface, along with the two CD/DVD drives. From looking at motherboards nowadays most if not all seem to offer just one IDE slot(2 devices) and the others are all SATA. I want to connect up the original hard disk and boot from that to stay away from fresh installs etc etc.

What are the best options? Connect the hard disk with a DVD drive to the IDE channel, then what about the other DVD drive with an IDE port? Or should I connect the hard disk to one of the SATA ports, but unsure how to do this as I would need some kind of adapter or something? Where might I get that? The HD is 250GB. What would be the best way to go at this without having to purchase a new SATA drive and do a fresh (time consuming) install. Any help greatly appreciated. Tks all.:)

matt-dublin

why does he need two dvd drives, IMO if you've got SATA channels you should use them.

upgrade the hard drive as well, a 250gb sata disk can be bought quite inexpensivly.

but at the same time, for what youll paid for the upgrade kit and new hdd you could have bought a new PC with a warranty

Lanshane

Thanks Matt. Yes I agree but understand that I want to spend as little time at this as possible. I can get an upgrade kit(processor, memory, motherboard) for €250. This person is not a gamer or anything, just basic stuff. I want to connect all he has, existing hard disk, and both DVD the way it was but am just trying to find out which is the best way to do this given that motherboards nowadays have only 1 IDE channel. You mentioned to upgrade the hard disk to a SATA one, can I get an adapter to do this as this would be cheaper than buying a new one. This is what I am trying to find out. Help much appreciated.

polyfusion

+1 on the information above.

If your friend has no need for a current computer (and I'm like that myself - my current computers are 7+ years old, company cast-offs), he'd be best looking in the free-stuff section of Adverts for either parts or complete systems. Also, fitting a motherboard to a case it wasn't designed for (particularly if they are a few years apart) doesn't always go smoothly.

polyfusion

You can buy PCI cards that have IDE (and SATA) connectors on them if he really wants to use more than 2 IDE drives.

What kind of computer is it BTW?

Lanshane

Thanks Polyfusion. The case is an ATX case. I presume if I get a motherboard that is ATX compliant there should be no problems...or will there

Lanshane

The computer was orginally put together by myself, very basic stuff.

matt-dublin

Personally, for 350 you could walk into PC world and buy a brand new PC with a warranty, they should also transfer all the old info off the old HD and onto the new PC afaik.

polyfusion

Lanshane wrote: »

Thanks Polyfusion. The case is an ATX case. I presume if I get a motherboard that is ATX compliant there should be no problems...or will there

Generally, there shouldn't be problems, though I've seen differences in the I/O plates in the past which have made things awkward.

Also, you'd need to make sure that the current power supply would fit any new motherboard (20/24 pin), and it would probably need to have the correct connection for any new processor put in there. Then if you find you need to change the power supply, it mightn't fit the case.

IMO, either get old stuff free or cheap, or get a new PC.

Lanshane

Ok, thanks to all for your helpful comments. I might just tell him to get a new one.

matt-dublin

TBH you're probably better off, building a machine for a fella that's only using it for internet and email is a bit mad,

i would only ever suggest building a machine of you're looking for some serious hardware for gaming - graphic design etc.

M