IDE HD (Very) Slow

[cl777]

Hi,

I just bought a "new" HD for my PC (wdc wd5000aakb-00h8a0), because the old one was so slow, I thought it was broken.
Problem is, the new one is just as slow. I tested it with HDD Speed Test and the results are: 4,2 MB/s write / 18,10 MB/s read.
Also compressing/uncompressing files with 7-zip happens at around 6 MB/s and Video streaming stutters all the time.

I know, it`s an old system, but shouldn`t it be faster?
I think it`s the HD that slows everything down. (Other guesses?)

(I know about stuff like Defrag, Tasks in Backround, drivers etc. and everything is quite optimized. Still the problem remains.)

thx in advance


System

AMD Athlon XP 3000+
ASROCK K7VT4A+
2GB RAM
Sapphire Radeon x1950 pro
Western Digital wdc wd5000aakb-00h8a0 (Ultra DMA 6 Mode)
Win XP Professional

 

[blacksci]

Have you tried replacing your IDE cables? If you have might just be the mobo starting to give up the ghost.

 

[Hawkeye22]

It sounds like your drive controller is running in PIO mode. Make sure it is set to DMA. Here is how to set it to DMA. don't let the title fool you. this works for all devices attached to the IDE bus.

http://www.onthegosoft.com/dma_setting_nt.htm

 

[cl777]

@BLACKSCI - Just tried, no difference.
@Hawkeye22 - It`s running in Ultra DMA 6 Mode.

 

[blacksci]

You have the pin set so its master right?

also, have you hooked up some more fans or something else that draws power from your pc? tried another molex cable?

 

[cl777]

Yes, the jumper is set to master (it`s also the only ide device).
No, it`s just the usual stuff (one cpu fan). I even bought a new power supply not long ago because of the graphics card.

 

[blacksci]

The only other thing i can think of is the drivers being corrupted somehow, but how long have you been using this mobo ?

 

[RetiredChief]

Did you clone old HDD, or reinstall operating system?
may be wrong but speed is not all that great 100Mbits (25MB).

 

[cl777]

When I got the new HD, I made a clean install of win xp, so drivers shouldn`t be a problem.
The mainboard is in use for about 6 years, I guess.
Does the 25MB refer to max writing or reading speed?

 

[RetiredChief]

Re did my google search and can not find were I read that.
Agree, if new instal of XP driver should not be a problem. Did you check the MB website for lates driver?

 

[caqde]

Did you clone old HDD, or reinstall operating system?
may be wrong but speed is not all that great 100Mbits (25MB).

Hard Drive controllers are in MegaBytes not bits. So it is 100MB/s not 100Mbits per second. So technically even the old ATA/100 is almost fast enough to drive most modern HDD's of today almost.

 

[RetiredChief]

^ you are correct that a HDD, even the new ones on barely exceed the OLD ata 100/133 for sustainded read/writes.

Drive manuf (NOT controller) often use megbits in their specs 100Mb sounds better than 12.5MB.

As to controllers, NOTE the Sata I,II,III (1.5/3/6) uses Megbits(Mb), NOT MegaBytes (MB).
IE "SATA revision 3.0 (SATA 6 Gbit/s)" check wikipedia

EDITED my post as 100Mb/sec =12.5MB/Sec (100/8)

 

[cl777]

Just installed the latest VIA Hyperion 4 in 1 drivers and even tried the secondary ide port. No change.
Maybe I should test it with another HD speed test software (although you notice the slowness without having to test it).
Any recommendations?

 

[blacksci]

Do you have other harddrives? Im wondering if its a hard drive issue or a Mother board issue. If you do hook em up and see if the speed is the same. If it is then its more then likely the mobo, if not then probably the harddrive.

 

[cl777]

I only have the HD that was build in before and, like I said, it`s just as slow. I guess it`s the mainboard then, although everything else works just fine.