Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
More info?)
"Gavin" <gavin_masonNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote in news:427f6dd1_4@mk-nntp-
2.news.uk.tiscali.com:
> Hi,
>
> I have a M6TBA mobo. I've read the manual and it says it will support a
> high capacity HDD but does not allude to what a high capacity drive might
> be?
>
> Under the heading PCI Enhanced IDE Built-In On Board it says:
>
> -Supports four IDE hard disk Drives
> -Supports PIO Mode 4, Master Mode, high performance HDDs
> -Supports Ultra DMA/33, Bus Master Mode
> -Supports LBA Mode
> -Supports high capacity HDDs
>
> What would i be safe going for?
>
> Thanks in advance for the help.
> Regards.
> Gavin
Unless Biostar has released a BIOS flash upgrade since the one dated Aug. 99
for this board, your limit for HD sizes is 32 GB - not really up to snuff for
the current generation of hard drives, although you may be able to find a few
20's and 30's out there still. That upgrade, old as it is, is the most recent
I have been able to find.
There are a couple of other potential problems with this board that you might
want to take into account, depending on your other plans:
There are some complaints about the UDMA feature not working properly with
windows 98, which, in case you're going to use this board with a modest PIII
(say a 500 - 550), and anything less than 256 Mg memory, would otherwise
probably be your best option. This lack of UDMA in 98 means such a system
would probably be intolerably slow running XP, but won't be as much faster as
normal with 98. You may need to look at Win 2000 or Me, or a Linux distro to
find a really optimal OS for this board with some processor
and memory configurations.
Some people have reported getting this board to take up to 512 Meg RAM,
but others have claimed it only recognizes 384 M tops. This probably reflects
different RAM makers and combinations. Even 384 Meg would let you run XP
fairly well, but if you are planning to put several 128 and 256 Meg. sticks
in there, test the combinations carefully.
--
Veritas patesco per quaestio questio.
Truth is revealed through questions.