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Thread ID: 54560	2005-02-15 21:14:00	Slow IDE with nforce2 boards	maxpower (6618)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
325388	2005-02-15 21:14:00	I have been having some problems with slow IDE speed on nforce2 motherboards. I replaced an old Via based Epox with a GA-7N400 Pro Rev2, and when I tried copyig files from one of my hard drives to the other it took roughly a minute to copy around 30 files totalling 130mb. I have two IBM deskstar ATA-100 drives connected as master + slave (not raid) and used the supplied 80 pin cable. However this board also had two extra ide connectors designed for use with raid and plugging the drives into ide 3 or 4 instead of 1 or two and installing the relevant drivers for using those ide channels resulted in the files being copied in around 10 to 15 seconds. These extra channels used the ITE controller. The problem was that using this configuration was dodgy, as you would have to reinstall certain software after a reboot as somehow the previous installation data was lost. Anyway I returned the board because of other problems with it and got an Asus A7N8X-E deluxe and I get the same problem- slow data transfer rates. This board only has two ide channels and both are slow. Both boards use the nforce2 ultra 400 chipset. I know there are problems for winXP users who use the nvidia IDE drivers for nforce2 boards, but I use win ME and so can only use the standard microsoft ide drivers as nvidia dont make ide drivers for ME. What can I do to speed up the data transfer rates? They were a good deal faster on my old Via based Epox. Would switching to XP make a diff? Or perhaps buying a pci ide controller and plugging it into the drives? If I do this will I be able to boot from my drives? I have heard you can get pata to sata cables. If I used these to connect my drives to the sata connectors on the board do you think it will make a diff? Or perhaps there are other ide drivers I could use? I have tried finding a solution to this problem for the past few weeks and havent really got anywhere so I would appreciate your help.	maxpower (6618)
325389	2005-02-15 21:41:00	oh also cd to cd copying literally takes hours. I have a DVD drive and CDRW drive connected as master + slave on ide2, and on both boards copying a disc takes ages, compared to a few minutes with my older board.	maxpower (6618)
325390	2005-02-16 05:10:00	first thing.... when you swapped the motherboards did you reinstall windows from scratch ? (ie format reinstall) i think someone mentioned there can be a bit of a problem with nf2 boards ide exspecailly when useing the onboard sound.	tweak'e (69)
325391	2005-02-16 05:58:00	First, do yourself a favour and at least get Windows 2000 or XP. Second in Device manager under IDE/Atapi controllers, check the primary and secondary IDE channels are working in DMA mode, not PIO mode. If necessary, change and reboot.	E|im (87)
325392	2005-02-16 12:41:00	first thing.... when you swapped the motherboards did you reinstall windows from scratch ? (ie format reinstall) i think someone mentioned there can be a bit of a problem with nf2 boards ide exspecailly when useing the onboard sound. yeah, I've disabled the onboard sound and am using my soundblaster instead and I did reinstall windows from scratch	maxpower (6618)
325393	2005-02-16 12:45:00	First, do yourself a favour and at least get Windows 2000 or XP. Second in Device manager under IDE/Atapi controllers, check the primary and secondary IDE channels are working in DMA mode, not PIO mode. If necessary, change and reboot. ***!!!!!!!!!! Can't believe it, i switched to DMA mode and it took about a second to copy the files as opposed to a minute before! I suppose thats the problem solved then! Cheers m8!	maxpower (6618)
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