p4p800se and wdc2500ks 250gb sata: imo always use the asus-supplied sata cables
 

For a new machine with asus p4p800se m/b, I bought 2x250gb wdc2500ks
drives. These drives came with wide (how wide? each has 4x the pins of
the asus cable; connector extreme width = 2-7/16 inches ) cables. Since
they were from wdc, I figured -- hey! -- they had to be better than the
narrower asus cables. Manufacturer knows best. Plus: more pins =
better!

With the wdc cables, the machine crashed with no error report four
times, and the first three times I had to (I thought) reload XPsp2. The
fourth crash powered the machine down and made it unbootable.

Desperate, I finally changed to the narrower (how narrow? 1/2 inch
approx) asus-supplied cables. No problem so far. And everything runs
faster.

We've all heard many times about avoiding wdc software. This is the
first time I've experienced seemingly-malicious wdc hardware.

-- fredo http://www.simple-nude.com/