Longest IDE 133 Cables...

[Speed Racer]

Athlon XP 2600
2x 256MB Corsair XMS PC3200CL2
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Fluid Cooled (-21F)
RocketRAID 404
4 Seagate 40g 7200rpm

I have a large Lian-Li PC-71 case and it's quite a distance from the hard drive coolers up in the 5.25 bays to the RocketRAID card in the PCI slot under my vid card. 24" IDE cables just barely make it from the uppermost hard drives, but without slaving. Can I use a 36" cable ??? I heard that 24" is about as long as you would want to go... Is that correct ??

[Platypus]

The shorter the cables are, the better, from the point of view of performance and minimising errors. 24" is the longest I've seen around, and the longest I would want to use.

The specified maximum cable length for UDMA66 upward is 18"

[Wayward Clam]

Hmm... interesting, Platypus... because 36" ones do exist, I have used and sold them myself. There is one for sale here:

http://www.startech.com/ststore/itemdetail.cfm?product_id=IDE36&topbar=topbarc.htm

I have no idea how much it would degrade your performance to use it, though...

[Platypus]

Originally posted by Wayward Clam
Hmm... interesting, Platypus... because 36" ones do exist

Originally posted by Platypus
24" is the longest I've seen around
but I haven't been looking really hard...;)

The effect on performance etc would depend on the design. The data lines on IDE form what's known as an unterminated transmission line, its behaviour is affected variably by factors like length and load (drives fitted). SCSI in contrast is properly terminated.

[Speed Racer]

Thanks Platypus and Wayward...

I should have included the type of cable that I had planned to use.. Sry 'bout that... This is the only site that I could find a rounded silver shielded 36" IDE 133 cable:

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/rounded_cables/

But I must say that I have never heard of NE1 using a 36" cable... I have always been told to use 18" whenever possible and 24" as the longest length... hence Platypus is probably right about the performance issue. hehe... probably should do SCSI next time...

Thanks guys !!!

[factory81]

18 inch to 2ft is the longest recommended size due to shielding / I cant think of the word. I have sold 36 inch, and 48 inch ide cables. Usually the cables are the pre-made slim ones. But with longer cable you increase the need for better shelding, increase the amount of error possible by extending the length (aka hard drive errors, corrupted files, whatever).
If you need more then 24 inchs and youve moved the drive as low as it will go, you need to realize the manufactuer probably built the case with SCSI in mind, and those cables can go as long as 15ft.

[Speed Racer]

You're right factory81... my case is a server case. I wanted it big for all the insulated tubing and pump to water cool. I may just spend the extra $$$ and go SCSI. Those Cheetahs are nice... Thanks for your help !!