My Optical Drives
 

I have a two Lite-On drives. One CD-RW and one DL DVD+\-RW. It seems that my DVDRW is running or at least capable of UDMA 4. My CDRW is running or at least capable of UDMA 2. It was my understanding that all IDE optical drives run at UDMA 2. I current have them on seperate channels. I would like to put them on the same channel so I can get rid of one of the PATA cables in my case. However, it was my understanding that the IDE devices will run at the speed of the slowest device. If that is the case, if I can put them on the same channel, what kind of performance hits from my DVDRW should I expect, if any? I don't really do any CDRW to DVDRW or visa versa transfers, so that isn't a concern for me. Assuming its okay for me to put them on the same channel, would it really matter which device is master/slave?

In case you're wondering why I have to drives, I have to drives because I want to keep my DVDRW to burn and read DVDs exclusively. I want my CDRW to do all CD-ROM and CDR/CDRW jobs. Any info is appreciated.

that's correct, so putting them on the same cable will surely slow them down and doing anything at the same time (like burning a CD and watching a DVD) will be slower too. Would consider getting/making some rounded IDE cables and keeping the "one cable" for "one device" rule. It will work out best in the end.