Kay, I've had it up to here -^- with this system of mine and its suddenly slow burn times. I think it's time to reformat -uhhhh!
I'd like to know what some of your ideas or suggestions are for my different configuration options. Here's my current setup:

Custom build 1.4 AMD
-A7N8X deluxe Rev.1.4 (using onboard sound)
-512MB PC2100
-80gb Maxtor (8mb cache), boot drive and program files
-20gb WD (about 3yrs old, not sure it's cache size), MP3s, photos, backup files and PCgame program files.
-GeForce3
-Plextor 16/10/40
-DVD rom drive

Current configuration is as follows:
Boot drive and Plex share channel 0. Device 0 / 1 respectively
Backup drive and DVDRom share channel 1. Device 0 / 1 respectively
My theory behind this was to allow each optical drive it's own channel for disc-on-fly copying.

Now let me throw another option at you.... in my drawer I have another 20gb WD identical to the backup drive in my rig plus a Highpoint controller card. Before I got the Maxtor I had a 40gb RAID-0 setup, lost a drive once (lost data once), then fried my old Boistar board once (lost data twice), yes I learned my lesson ....ya followin me so far? So, hence the move to a single HDD with lots of cache.

So now it's time to reformat and I have an opportunity to change my hardware config also. I'm a little more comfortable having a RAID again since I have an xtra drive...

How should I wire this thing??? Some example options that I've come up with are:

-Maxtor for OS and program files and Raid-0 for PC Game program files
-Raid-0 for OS and pgm files and maxtor for games
-Maxtor for OS and Raid for program files including games??? (Not sure about this one. OPINIONS PLEASE!)

Then, how should I run the opticals? I'll have one free channel if I use the Highpoint card. Probably keep the Plextor on it's own channel huh? and share the DVD with the HDD?

Feel free to tweak any of these ideas any which way.

You can start your replies with, "If this were my machine, I'd...."

Thanks everyone!!!

If this were my machine, here's what I'd do:

Primary Master: 80GB Maxtor
Primary Slave: DVD-ROM
Secondary Master: Plextor 16x10x40

Then, if you have a RAID controller, I'd run the two 20GB drives in a RAID 1 configuration. I have a few reasons for this. First, I'm deathly scared of running RAID 0. I've lost too much data to even be concerned with the performance gains that can be realised with RAID 0. If you use RAID 1, you will have only 20GB of space, but you will have data redundancy in case something goes awry. My other reason for suggesting this is so you can get the 20GB drive off of the CD-RW's IDE channel, thus eliminating the possibility of too much traffic on the channel during a burn.

I'd partition out the 80 GB drive, putting all of the system files and partitions on a single partition. Then, I'd make a smaller partition to keep the data you work day-to-day on. I'd use the 20GB RAID 1 array to store my more important data that I might have. In my case, it'd be CD iso images and system backups. In your case, who knows what might go on there?

WOW!!!!
Okay, that's a totally different config than what I've gathered thus far. Interesting....

Please, Keep them opinions comin'...