Building My First One.

[SHARKY]

First of all here's a list of all the parts I have ordered from a uk company called ccl computers :
1)Asus P4B533 (Skt478) Motherboard.
2)2.0Ghz Intel P4 Retail (Skt 478-Northwood)
3)Casetek 1016 Midi ATX Case
4)256Mb DDR (PC2100) 266
5)64Mb ATI Radeon 9000 RTL (Connect 3D)
6)60Gb IBM Deskstar 120GXP

I am intending to use the following parts from my existing computer and want to know if they will be compatible:
1)Creative CD-ROMS 3630E AC 101
2)Generic Hard Drive IDE disk type46 6Gb

Ive already asked about putting my HD in as the "master" drive so I know about the "Enum" removal part. I also hope to use my existing win98, will this be ok? One guy i talked to in my local computer shop said that the newer Operating Systems eg XP use alot of system resources and am better sticking with win98... should I stick with win98 or also upgrade it too, i dont really care about nice looking desktop themes or anything like that, aslong as it works.

If anyone sees any problems with this set up plaese let me know so I can order the correct parts.

[minsonngo]

It should be compatitible. But the hard drive you are taking from the older computer may be ATA 33. So if you combine this hard drive with your new one by putting it on the same ide channel it will cripple the new hard drive. Meaning the new hard drive will perform like the older one. The same may go with the older cd-rom drive. When ever you put something that is older and slower with a newer and faster part they both will perform the same as the older and slower device. This does not mean that the cd read speeds will be affected. It just means the transfer rate through the ide channels will be slowed down.

[SHARKY]

Thx minsonngo. The CD is a x36 and its only about 2yrs old so i dont think it will be the problem. How do I find out about the ATA xx , will it be marked on the hard drive or will it be in the systems manager?

If the HD is too slow is there anyway I can transfer business files to the new HD without "crippleing" it? I dont have a CD-RW, should i get one to do this?

[minsonngo]

Newer drives cannot yield their highest performance when connected to an ATA interface that does not support the fastest transfer mode the drive is capable of. But you can connect any ATA drive to any ATA interface with reasonable assurance that it will fucntion, although perhaps not optimally. If you don't care about the ide transfer rate then just install both. Otherwise install both together and transfer the files from the old one to the new one. Then take out the older one and save up for another new hard drive. The old one will not exactly cripple the new one. It will just slow down the tranfer rate. Your new hard drive is probably ATA 100, which means that it transfer data at 100 megabytes per seconds. The older may be ATA 33. Which means it transfer data at 33 megabytes per second. If you put both of then together. They both will only transfer data at the 33 megabytes per second level. Understand now?

[minsonngo]

You can find out about the older hard drive at its manufacturers website. Also check to see if it is printed on the hard drive. Otherwise post the information on the hard drive here and I will find out for you.