PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Current system
QDI advance 9 MB(via pro133 chipset)
800mhz p3
512mb ram
seagate 40gb hd 5400rpm
2xpowersampler
luna3.01 software
creative audigy
cubase vst32
windows me

I have just ordered a new IBM 120gxp 7200rpm harddrive purely for audio use. I am thinking about getting a promise ata100 controller so I can take advantage of the higher bandwidth. I get the occasional pci overload message although it does not reoccur on retry and things generally seem quite smooth.

Is fitting one of these ata controller cards pushing things too far though? Am I likely to suffer more pci overflow problems?

Is anyone experienced with a similar setup?

I have the latest via drivers and latency patch installed.

Thanks in advance for replies.

someone trustworthy warned of PCI bandwidth problems with these controllers in the CW forum. It's no problem imho to have the slower drive (w. Win swap file) together with the CDRom as slave on one channel and the new audio disk on the other. Distribute your workfiles over both drives (playback from slower, recording to faster) accordingly will do fine. Those high controller bandwidth values are mainly for marketing purpose, not for real world apps.

Thanks for the answer. I'll try this method before parting with more of my hard earned on a controller card.