Silent Warrior
07-29-2006, 04:07 PM
Ugh... You know how it is. One day you think 'Wouldn't it be nice with a faster CPU?'. Sure. But why not upgrade to a quite recent CPU-generation while you're at it, so you won't have to do it again anytime soon? Good idea, let's. While we're at it, newer RAM (well, in my case the RAM I used before is pretty much extinct anyway) and newer graphics-card tech wouldn't be a bad idea.
So, off I go to buy a motherboard, a CPU, some RAM and a sparkling new X1900XT (and THOSE things are BIG - and weighs more than the mobo and CPU/cooler combined!). And when I get home and start to assemble the pieces, what gives? The motherboard wants a 24-pin main power-thingy, and I had only 20. And, hey, that PCI-E-card wants special rigging too! Well, darn. New PSU it is.
And... Hey, where the <blip> did all the IDE-connectors go?
There was only ONE IDE-connector (and a million SATA-connectors), and I have a grand total of 4 IDE-drives - 2 HDD, 1 CD-RW, 1 DVD-R. Which obviously means I damn well need TWO connectors. And the store just couldn't find an AM2-motherboard with 2 IDE-thingies. :irked: :frust: :hot: :skull:
The store told me to try a PCI IDE-controller, which is where I'm at now. While waiting for that card to arrive at the store, I tried to start with both HDDs connected. Looked ok, until XP blindly refused to start and just rebooted at me. Yummy. After speaking to people here and there, I was adviced to reinstall XP. Oooookay... That means I'll need one HD and one CD/DVD-drive on the same cable. Now, which HD is which again? In what order am I to connect the IDE-cable? Why the devil are the drives so far apart? Believe it or not, but I eventually got XP installed on the correct HD. Eventually. It took a LOT of doing! Damn jumpers and cable-select straight to hell!
Then to install this driver and that. Blarg.
In time I got down to trying to have Windows recognize that IDE-controller. No luck yet... I THINK I've just managed to get XP to use the bundled drivers. That I kept trying to install them as an IDE-controller instead of SCSI/RAID-dito :rolleyes: didn't make things any easier. However, according to the manual, some BIOS-thing should jump me at system start-up, but it hasn't done that yet, and with all the reboots I've made to complete driver-installations, I'm starting to doubt it ever will. And the store doesn't open until Monday due to summer.
I'm currently sitting with the smaller HD and the CD-RW. Where are all the games that would likely benefit from this upgrade? Where are all my patches? All my MP3s/MP4s? Yup, on the SECOND HD. And a few of those games (well, 4, of which only one is actually installed) are on DVD. And for some strange reason the HD-space on the first HD is shrinking rapidly - but there's a perfectly good reason for that. If all else fails, I have almost 10 Gb of fan-made NWN-content to ditch.
Today's morality: Your next HDD will be SATA.
So, off I go to buy a motherboard, a CPU, some RAM and a sparkling new X1900XT (and THOSE things are BIG - and weighs more than the mobo and CPU/cooler combined!). And when I get home and start to assemble the pieces, what gives? The motherboard wants a 24-pin main power-thingy, and I had only 20. And, hey, that PCI-E-card wants special rigging too! Well, darn. New PSU it is.
And... Hey, where the <blip> did all the IDE-connectors go?
There was only ONE IDE-connector (and a million SATA-connectors), and I have a grand total of 4 IDE-drives - 2 HDD, 1 CD-RW, 1 DVD-R. Which obviously means I damn well need TWO connectors. And the store just couldn't find an AM2-motherboard with 2 IDE-thingies. :irked: :frust: :hot: :skull:
The store told me to try a PCI IDE-controller, which is where I'm at now. While waiting for that card to arrive at the store, I tried to start with both HDDs connected. Looked ok, until XP blindly refused to start and just rebooted at me. Yummy. After speaking to people here and there, I was adviced to reinstall XP. Oooookay... That means I'll need one HD and one CD/DVD-drive on the same cable. Now, which HD is which again? In what order am I to connect the IDE-cable? Why the devil are the drives so far apart? Believe it or not, but I eventually got XP installed on the correct HD. Eventually. It took a LOT of doing! Damn jumpers and cable-select straight to hell!
Then to install this driver and that. Blarg.
In time I got down to trying to have Windows recognize that IDE-controller. No luck yet... I THINK I've just managed to get XP to use the bundled drivers. That I kept trying to install them as an IDE-controller instead of SCSI/RAID-dito :rolleyes: didn't make things any easier. However, according to the manual, some BIOS-thing should jump me at system start-up, but it hasn't done that yet, and with all the reboots I've made to complete driver-installations, I'm starting to doubt it ever will. And the store doesn't open until Monday due to summer.
I'm currently sitting with the smaller HD and the CD-RW. Where are all the games that would likely benefit from this upgrade? Where are all my patches? All my MP3s/MP4s? Yup, on the SECOND HD. And a few of those games (well, 4, of which only one is actually installed) are on DVD. And for some strange reason the HD-space on the first HD is shrinking rapidly - but there's a perfectly good reason for that. If all else fails, I have almost 10 Gb of fan-made NWN-content to ditch.
Today's morality: Your next HDD will be SATA.