Where do I plug in the hard drive?

[friendlyphil]

I'm new at this, so please bear with me. On my Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard, I have 8 SATA plugs. 6 go directly to the ICH10R chip, 2 go thru a gigabyte SATA2 chip, then to the ICH10R (I hope I'm explaining this right). Where do I hook my 2 hard drives to, or does it matter? I also have 2 SATA DVD burners, does it matter which SATA plugs I attach them to? And while I'm at it, should I attach my video card to the PCIE x8 or to the
PCIE x16, or does it matter? Any help here will be appreciated. I don't want to screw this thing up.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Honestly, I'm not sure about the SATA question. I don't think it matters where ... I think they all work the same, even not knowing the HDD specs ... but I'll leave it to someone who knows better to confirm or correct.


And while I'm at it, should I attach my video card to the PCIE x8 or to the PCIE x16, or does it matter?

I think we'd need to know what video card you have. Unless I missed an earlier thread.

Sorry that I don't have any real advice ... just wanted to gather info, keep the conversation moving, and let you know you've been heard.

Spiff :^{D

[The Wise Monkey]

Video card -> PCI x16 slot for best performance.

SATA ports don't matter that much - the only difference would be in controlling how a RAID array is set up if you plan to do that.

[friendlyphil]

I think I've figured out the video card thing, but I was under the impression that if I did not put the HDD's in the correct slot, they would either run slower or some other piece of equipment, like the DVD burner, would be mistaken for the HDD and get designated the "C" or "D" drive. And then I read about this "southbridge" and "northbridge" business and figured I had to put the HDD's on the northbridge. But I'm just rambling now. Thanks for the help.