Motherboards with multiple IDE slots?

alexw · 12 Mar 2007 at 10:14

Are there any (good) AMD motherboards with more than 1 IDE slot available anymore?

I'm a non-gamer on a budget, so was looking at the AMD AM2 motherboards, and couldn't spot anything with more than 1 IDE slot.

I last built a computer 3 years ago, but following a PSU blow out am considering building myself something new, but would want/need to carry as much over from my old/current computer as possible.

I have 2 IDE HDDs and an IDE Plextor CD-RW drive and a generic IDE DVD drive, so to use all those I'd need 2 IDE slots, but am struggling to find any boards offering this.

I also have a Terratec soundcard which would need a standard PCI slot, so that's a further requirement for the motherboard.

Am I so far outdated that what I need isn't really available anymore, or am I just not looking hard enough?

Thanks very much.

MeatLoaf · 12 Mar 2007 at 10:33

Most, if not all AM2 boards have dual IDE channels. Also every board will offer at least 1 IDE slot.

geff_r · 12 Mar 2007 at 10:42

They are out there most of the ones with 2 x ide are £120 +.
and a lot seem to be the 975x chipset.

alexw · 12 Mar 2007 at 11:56

MeatLoaf said:
Most, if not all AM2 boards have dual IDE channels. Also every board will offer at least 1 IDE slot.

Aye, the trouble is that with 4 IDE devices (2 optical, 2 hdd) I'll need 2 slots...

geff_r said:
They are out there most of the ones with 2 x ide are £120 +.
and a lot seem to be the 975x chipset.

Ah, balls. Thanks though, I'll have a hunt.

The solution that first springs to my mind is to switch to all SATA hdds and put the IDE hdds into basic external cases to be used as backups (the kind that only get turned on once in a while to copy stuff over).

Are IDE harddrives very much old-hat now, even in multi-drive setups, if this is the state of play with motherboards? As I say it's been 3 years since I last took any but the vaguest look at computer technology.

geff_r · 12 Mar 2007 at 12:03

Yes but you can run the dvd and 1 hdd on the same ide cable now.

squiffy · 12 Mar 2007 at 12:07

For newer motherboards that lack IDE, just buy a Promise or Highpoint IDE controller, about 25 quid.

alexw · 12 Mar 2007 at 12:23

Thanks, the option of getting an IDE controller card would be about the same price as an external caddy by the looks of things, if not even cheaper. Not available at OcUK though unless I'm looking in the wrong places. My only minor worry with the IDE controller card route is that my soundcard would be running off PCI and I'd be wary of the possibility of conflicts between the two.

PhillyDee · 12 Mar 2007 at 12:32

Dont think there would be much chance of a conflict. Ive never had conflicting IRQ's since the days of windows 98.

squiffy · 12 Mar 2007 at 12:45

You won't have any problems with using PCI IDE controller with soundcard. It'll be faster and more reliable than using external enclosures (going through USB bus and chipset in the enclosure)

WJA96 · 12 Mar 2007 at 13:08

I think there is some confusion here - you want/need an AMD motherboard that has 2 PATA ports for 4 PATA channels?

Most of them do. If you are mistakenly looking at the Intel Core2Duo motherboards then mostly they have only one.

AM2 - the DFI Infinity has 2 PATA ports for £65 and DFI usually get a pretty decent name amongst the performance types.

AM2- mATX Abit NF-M2 has 2 PATA ports for £71

Pretty much all the S939 boards have 2 PATA ports too.

I think you may have been looking at the Core2Duo boards?

MeatLoaf · 12 Mar 2007 at 13:38

Thats what i was trying to say, i meant to put that all board will have at least 1 PCI slot and typed IDE by miatake

alexw · 12 Mar 2007 at 13:52

The stress is getting to me...

Ha, thanks. I was looking at the right page, but the stress of computer death must definitely be getting to me - for some reason I'd got it into my head that there was only 1 IDE slot on the boards I'd looked at. Checking now I see that some do indeed have 2 slots. Sorry for the confusion.

If this is the DFI you mean, then it's only £47: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-021-DF&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=805

Of the AMD AM2 motherboards, are there any clear winners or duds, or are they all much of a muchness? I don't game or overclock at all, my uses would be purely photo processing and largeish-scale (~2TiB) music/photo storage, along with the usual online gubbins of course.

alexw · 12 Mar 2007 at 14:14

I figured out where my confusion/question arose from. Going from their websites both the Abit KN9 Ultra and the MSI K9N Neo only have 1 IDE slot while the Asus M2V and the DFI Infinity nF Ultra II do have 2 IDE slots. I jumped to conclusions from looking at the wrong subset of the boards available - sorry.

My previous question as to AM2 motherboard choice still stands, if anyone has any thoughts. I would be willing to consider the 1 IDE slot boards too, if they were worth it for other features etc., what with the IDE controller card solution.