IT7-MAX 2 HD set up??

[chop]

I have two hard drives. WD 100G 7200 and WD 40G 7200. Any ideas what would be the best set up for these drives on this board? As you know, this board comes with a Serial connector, but not sure the performance boost, if any, by using this. I have never used RAID before so I'm not sure which way to go for Maximum performance? Can you use ATA 133 drives on this board with IDE Connectors 1 and 2? I have read through the sitckys on RAID. Thanks for the help.

[Xaotic]

Connect the two HDDs to the HPT RAID controller(IDE 3+4) without configuring them as an array. This will allow them to operate without interference from the optical or other drives, mounted to IDE 1+2. You will need to load the HPT drivers from FDD while loading the OS by hitting F6 during setup, but will give much better performance with your current equipment.

The serial connections would require adapters for using your current drives. Unless you are getting serial ATA drives, stay with the above configuration and save your money for future drives.

You can use ATA133 drives on IDE 1+2, but they will be limited to ATA100 specifcations maximum.

[chop]

@Xaotic,

Thanks for the info. Just so I am clear. Connect one of the Hard drives to IDE 3 and the other to IDE 4 (seperate cables?). Does it matter which one goes where? Then connect my DVD or CD-R to IDE 1 and 2? Once the HDs are connected, while loading XP, hit F6 when it asks you to install third party RAID drivers, and use the disk that came with the Motherboard to install RAID Drivers. Obviously, I need to make some adjustments in the BIOS? Correct? So I will not be in RAID afterall? I'll just be using IDE 3 and 4 for the HDs. Thanks for your help. I'm a rookie.

[Xaotic]

Correct, they should be on separate cables. It doesn't matter which one is which, just select the drive you want as bootable in the RAID miniconfig. No other RAID configuration will be necessary.

[chop]

Is the RAID miniconfig in the BIOS somewhere? Also, will you be able to partition these drives under this configuration? Thanks again for the help.

[Xaotic]

CRTL+H when the prompt comes up during POST will access the miniconfig, if I remember correctly. Partitioning can easily be handled in setup. Just format the OS partition, any others can easily be handled using Disk Management.