> You can probably reduce the CPU load by switching down the IDE I/O 
 > mode if your CMOS setup allows it.  For example, enabling multiple 
 > sector I/O is a big help, and dropping to PIO Mode 1 or 0 may also 
 > help.  Although PIO Mode 3 will transfer the data faster, the 
 > overall system speed may improve with a more restrictive PIO Mode.  
 > If you have DMA support on IDE, then it will usually be an advantage 
 > to enable it.
Ok, then I wasn't wrong... someplace I got the idea that PIO required the cpu 
to handle each byte, rather than triggering a DMA transfer...  So even though 
the PIO Mode 3 is faster, it requires cpu intervention for each byte 
processed... unlike a DMA type HD to ram transfer (which is what I am used 
to).
So I guess maybe I have the best of "both" ide worlds... I have an GSI 21 
(E)IDE controller that runs on an ISA bus, activates multiple block i/o, and 
the docs claim its builtin bios will allow me to access single ms-dos 
partitions upto 8 gigabytes... :)   Ignoring the fact that an ISA based 
server probably would not be able to handle a very big load :)
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