Gigabyte motherboard GA-M55S-S3 - HDD compatibility

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17594)Gigabyte-motherboard-GAM55SS3-nForce-550.aspx

Im upgrading and want to get this, but my only issue is my hard drives. Ive got 2
IDE ATA-133 drives. Will BOTH still work on this?

Thanks for any help clearing this up for me.
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Xal · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:01 pm Post subject:

If you plan on using an optical drive (CD/DVD) then no but you could easily look at an affordable External HDD enclosure like the one I reviewed here and use the second drive externally with little to no performance hit.
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GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Ok, thanks.

One more question though, as ill be keeping my larger hard drive, the one that doesn't have windows on...will i have to delete the whole thing to create a new partition and install windows? If so I have a big problem.

Thanks.
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

Xal · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:

It is usually advisable to format the drive when installing a new OS but no, you can simply install on an existing partition and choose to "leave the current file system intact". Make sure you don't format during the installation process and your data should be safe. Still, if you can its always better to back up.
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Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Yeah backing ups the problem see..ive got loads of games installed that i don't own anymore...and i would like to keep them, and i dont know how ill back it all up as im one hard drive down now and cant afford a new one yet! lol i dont really know what to do now.

So basically...when i go and boot from the windows CD, can i create a new partition on this hard drive just for Windows, and then keep my other data intact?
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

Xal · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:50 pm Post subject:

unless you have unpartitioned space available on the drive then no. I would say no seeing as I doubt you would have left any portion of your drive unuseable when you set it up. Tou could also simply use the smaller drive internally and then have the larger one in an enclosure. I run games off my external drive all the time with no problems.
_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

GeForce · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 81

Hi again, thanks for your help previously...basically i went out and bought an 80gb sata2 hard drive to replace my 30gb one.

Anyway, brand new problem now! Ive completely replaced the machine and when i boot it up it boots for about 5-10 seconds then switches off unexpectedly. I don't know why it's doing this...ive done a little research and it indicates it could be the CPU heatsink fan. So i remounted it and it still does the same. I also tested my gfx card in someone elses machine, not that.

So i reckon its the CPU...should i remount it again, take off all thermal paste and reapply it?

Haha I always get a major problem of some sort when i do this bollocks...

_________________
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Gigabyte S series nForce550, 256mb GeForce 7800GTX, 1gb PC6400 Geil DDR2 150 & 80gig HDD, 650W PSU

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

Swap a different power supply in from another computer.
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Xal · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:10 am Post subject:

Also try a basic boot with no drives attached. Make sure your clear cmos jumper is not set incorrectly (if the motherboard has one it will be in the manual). Reset your bios. make sure your RAM is plugged in correctly and all addon cards are firmly seated.

Basicly just go through the system with a fine toothed comb and make sure everything is connected correctly.

Good luck.
_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case