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Upgrading CPU & Motherboard

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by hawk22, 2006/01/25.

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  1. 2006/02/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    To be honest, I would retire the old 14 GB HDD and get a second HDD of 80 GB (or larger).

    I would partition the master C: = 20 GB (for the system and programs) and D: = 60 GB (for user data).

    I would partition the slave E: = 60 GB (for backups of user data) and F: = 20 GB (for Images of the system partition).

    If the second HDD is larger than 80 GB, you can make F: larger to hold more Images or add a third logical volume for downloads or general purpose. Your needs and backup strategy "decide "!

    Create the system partition only during setup. When setup is complete, go to Disk Manager and change the drive letters for the opticals. If you have two opticals and they currently are D: and E:, change to X: and Y: respectively and restart the computer to "release" D: and E: for hard disk partitions. Continue to create an extended partition with a single logical volume D: on the master HDD. Next, create an extended partition with two logical volumes E:/F: on the slave HDD. Format all partitions NTFS (full format, not quick).

    I use Replicator for backups and Norton Ghost 2003 for imaging but there are others to choose from.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  2. 2006/02/16
    Chiles4

    Chiles4 Inactive

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    Can you elaborate on that for me, Rsinfo? I still use FAT32 partitions simply because if there's a problem, I can pull the data off in a DOS environment.

    Technically, I know that NTFS has greater "data integrity" - if that's the right phrase - but since drives themselves and the FAT system are good enough to the point that I've never lost data - aside from outright drive failures - I've never felt the need to change.

    Gary
     
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  4. 2006/02/16
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Gary with today's huge hdd's FAT32 is like a dinosaur. For one it cannot support a partition size of over about 18GB, its cluster size becomes HUGE at this size (about 16kb per cluster). So you end up wasting a lot of space.
    It cannot support data encryption, ACL or data compression.
    FAT32 becomes confused easily. With NTFS you stand a better chance of salvaging your data if something goes wrong :(
    Regarding its compatibility with DOS, I guess thats the only point that FAT32 wins. In fact FAT32 has become the lowest common denominator in computer world with almost of all the popular OS capable of reading & writing to it natively.
     
    rsinfo,
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  5. 2006/02/17
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    rsinfo, I just transferred this installation of Win 98 to a 200Gb HDD (formatted in FAT32). The Seagate utilities said that I could not use more than 132Gb using FAT32 (that's fine I will use the rest later with a NTFS based system). One partition is 105Gb and the system is working better than it ever did (I plan to repartition the size of the drives using Partition Magic and Partition Magic should also be able to set the cluster size...I normally set the cluster size to 4Kb in FAT32 unless it is a large partition).
    Just a little confused.

    Matt
     
    Last edited: 2006/02/17
    mattman,
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  6. 2006/02/17
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Matt, the MS FDISK is limited to 18 GB or whereabout. If you want to use a large partition, you have to use 3rd party utility (Seagate s/w in your case). This might work but it severly limits the option you have. If something happens to your MBR, the data is not recoverable by normal means. These utils can also play around with cluster size etc. but its all non standard.
     
    rsinfo,
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  7. 2006/02/17
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    In what way? I have FDISKed up to 80 GB but above some 64 GB, FDISK reports the size wrong.

    The FDISK default cluster size increases with volume size: up to 8 GB > 4 kb clusters, up to 16 GB > 8 kB clusters, up to 32 GB > 16 kB clusters, over 32 GB > 32 kB clusters.

    Using other tools to alter the cluster size is possible but there is a limit to how low you can go. The limit is the size of the File Allocation Table which is 16 MB minus 64 kB.

    See Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP for more details.

    My take on the FAT32 versus NTFS battle is that NTFS has better self healing capability. The increased security is a set of features that I don't use and probably 90 % of all non-corporate users along with me.

    In a few weeks time, I will install a multi boot system (Win98SE/WinXPpro) on a 40 GB HDD. I will use FAT32 for all partitions (C: 4 GB for Win98SE, D: 8 GB for WinXPpro, E: 16 GB for data, F: 8 GB for Ghost Images and G: 4 GB for Ghost Images). This will be a public computer in our flying club and storage space is not important but being able to run Win98SE for older software is.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  8. 2006/02/17
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Thank you Guys, Crister in regards to your suggestion of retiring the 14gig and replacing it, can't do as this machine is not mine and I was handed the money to buy one 80 gig HD. I went and got a Seagate Barracuda it came with a 5 year warranty. The Seagate Utilitys that are beeing mentioned what exactly are they to be used for.
    hawk22
     
    hawk22,
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  9. 2006/02/17
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    hawk22,
    I don't know much about Seagate Utilities but I guess they are for diagnostic and partitioning/formating.

    Regarding the hard disks, check that the old one is not ATA33. If it is, there is a high probability that the ribbon cable is ATA33 and it will not support ATA100/133 of the new hard disk. (Well, it will run but at ATA33 and that would be a shame.) If you hook up both the new and the old HDD to the same ATA100/133 ribbon cable, they should run at their repsective design speed. However, some chipsets don't support Independent Device Timing and if that is the case, an ATA33 would force an ATA100/133 to run at the slower speed.

    Check in Device Manager > IDE ... controller > Primary to verify the modes.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #48
  10. 2006/02/17
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks Christer, very good point you have made here, I did not think about that I did get a new 80 wire IDE Ribbon, but did not think about the old one slowing the new one down to 33 what I think it is.
    I have the Bios on at the moment the other thread that I have open if you can answer that please do so.
    thanks for now
    hawk22
     
    hawk22,
    #49
  11. 2006/02/17
    Dave H 628

    Dave H 628 Inactive

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    Upgrading Mobo

    If your budget will allow, you should also consider upgrading your graphics card so that you can get a new motherboard with a PCIe X16 slot; this will give you the longest "upgrade path ". It is probably more important to select parts to give you the longest upgrade path, than to have the latest and greatest. With careful selection you can stay within a budget, and still have a computer that you can build into a screaming machine later on!

    Dave H
     
    Dave H 628,
    #50
  12. 2006/02/18
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Dave Hi, The Motherboard that I like most and at this stage will buy the
    "FOXCONN 6150K8MA-8EKRS" Has Integrated Video up to 128mb but also has the PCI Express X16 slot for those who are after better 3D with high games.
    You can read a review of the Board on PC Stats.
    hawk22
     
    hawk22,
    #51
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