I am hoping to speed up my PC by installing a faster IDE Controller -- my system (see below) came with an ATA-33, various posts have recco'd I go to a an ATA-100 for speed. A few Questions:

1. Will this approach work?
2. Will it speed up the system?
3. See below -- will my 2-for-1 swap out of existing PCI cards work (Ethernet card + 1394 card replaced by one combo card)?
4. If I install an IDE Controller (ATA-100) in the newly open spot, do I just disconnect the IDE Cable from the mother board and connect to the card? Anything else necessary?
5. It appears as if the existing IDE Cable won't reach any IDE slot, so do I just buy a longer one at Comp USA or something? (It is currently connected to 2 drives (orig 14 gig + one 80 gig I installed a few years back)?

More Info:

• SYSTEM: Dell XPW T-500 (Pentium III 500 MHz) with 768 MB RAM (just maxed it out)
• PCI Slot situation: All PCI Slots are full so...I intend to swap out the Ethernet card and the 1394 / firewire card and replace with ONE combo card (which will also include USB 2.0) thus freeing up one slot

why not just get a cheap new thing? celerons cost like dirt these days, and any given celeron-D 3.2 is better than the old p3 you will have sata and a fast ide controller

New IDE Controller about $25... new PC at least $500... moreover, when I do get the next PC, I'll want to do a serious upgrade... the whole dual processors, 19" flat screens, etc... probably $1,500+... so Just want to make this oldster last one more year...

$500 is for a good strong thing, a cheap celeron (at least here) costs $40 for the processor, $50 for the MB, and $30 for a RAM module. everything else you've already got, except maybe a PSU - another $20
this way, by the time you get a new computer, you will have two quite operational machines, both with 3yr warranty, and capable of running fresh SW