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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
 Posted - 11/28/2004 : 20:22:38
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I recently purchased a 200G SATA hard drive and I was just wondering what exactly the specifications are for an SATA drive. Do these attatch to IDE cables like most hard drives, or are they a different kind of interface altogether? If they don't hook up to an IDE cable, are there special attachments that you can buy for a standard IDE setup on a PC, or did I waste my money? (It wasn't a bad deal, btw, it cost $120.00.)
What could be better than a swan dive into the asphalt?
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mun chien andalusia
= Quote Accumulator =
Italy
2139 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 03:06:34
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your motherboard must support SATA that is a completely different channel, and yes the plugs are different too. seems that SATA discs are faster and more reliable than IDE but i don't think that there is an easy way to transform a SATA to IDE. if i'm not wrong there are pci cards that add SATA channels but i have no idea of what they cost and if they really work. if your Mo.Bo is relatively recent and not a completely entry level most probably supports SATA. if not you have a problem.
 join the cult of errol\and you can have a beer\without having to quit smoking
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n/a
deleted
4109 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 03:16:24
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MCA, Why did you moved to Iraq? Wasn´t it peaceful in Vatican??
Valeu a pena? Tudo vale a pena
Se a alma não é pequena.
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Edited by - n/a on 11/29/2004 03:19:29 |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 06:30:46
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You can buy a PCI SATA board, yes. Obviously not as good as a direct connection to the motherboard as you're now going through the increasingly antiquidated PCI bus, but for a hard drive, you probably won't notice the difference the majority of the time.
 "Join the Cult of Frank 2.0 / And you'll be enlightened (free for 1.x members)" |
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whoreatthedoor
> Teenager of the Year <
Spain
2873 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 07:37:51
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And what about going back to the shop and changing it for a cheaper IDE drive? The speed difference is still minimal. Seagate never failed to me, so it's always my first choice.
Caminar sobre las hojas del otoño es romántico y resbaladizo |
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 10:26:00
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Well, the drive is a Seagate. I bought it off of Newegg, so I don't think it would be possible for me to send it back. And, MCA, my computer is about two years old. It's a Dell Dimension 4550. Where could I find if it supports SATA or not? Would this information be in the Device Manager?
EDIT: I just looked at the Device Manager. It says IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and then underneath that it has the listings for the Primary and Secondary IDE Channels. Does "ATA" not have anything to do with "SATA"? They sound awfully similar.
What could be better than a swan dive into the asphalt?
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Edited by - glacial906 on 11/29/2004 10:28:57 |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 11:16:13
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They are similar, but SATA basically means Serial ATA, whereas the old drives are just ATA. So completely different connector.
"Join the Cult of Frank 2.0 / And you'll be enlightened (free for 1.x members)" |
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whoreatthedoor
> Teenager of the Year <
Spain
2873 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 12:12:39
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Two years old... It's unfair that it has a SATA connector. Look for the motherboard specifications over the net or simply open the case and look at it.
Caminar sobre las hojas del otoño es romántico y resbaladizo |
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 12:39:10
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As it turns out, I don't think it DOES have an SATA connector. I looked inside the tower and there was nothing that matched the picture of an SATA connector on my MB. So, I suppose I will have to buy the PCI card. I have been looking around. I have found one for as cheap as $20.00, but I am scared to buy one that costs so little. If it costs that small an amount of money I'd expect it would be crap. But, I don't need the RAID support and combo USB-RAID bullshit, either, and so I can't see myself forking over $500.00 for the top of the line controllers when the HD itself only cost $120.00. I have found a couple for about $50.00 and am leaning toward those.
What could be better than a swan dive into the asphalt?
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whoreatthedoor
> Teenager of the Year <
Spain
2873 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 12:47:04
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$20 sounds good to me 
Caminar sobre las hojas del otoño es romántico y resbaladizo |
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 13:10:15
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Should be fine. That's not really a PCI card, that one goes right on your IDE connector by the looks of it, which is probably why it's cheaper (in addition to you not getting more than one SATA connection). Should do you just fine, though, although I might be concerned about not being able to plug in more than one IDE device.
"Join the Cult of Frank 2.0 / And you'll be enlightened (free for 1.x members)" |
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 13:15:46
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Well, perhaps I will hold out for the double-SATA PCI card...I was intending to use my original HD (a Seagate IDE) as partially a Linux installation and partly extra storage space for Windows. (Linux does not need 116G for a basic desktop installation...) So I guess I will need something that does not take up the IDE connector. Thank you fellas.
What could be better than a swan dive into the asphalt?
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PixieSteve
> Teenager of the Year <
Poland
4698 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2004 : 16:27:44
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| i'm sure you can return it if you want. i know over here internet buying comes under long distance selling, and you have the right to return after 7 days, for any reason. have to pay p&p though... |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2004 : 10:47:40
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Newegg has a good return policy, you can send it back. Exchange it for a IDE drive; don't waste your time with a SATA controller card. Seagate makes some great drives...they are some of the most quiet with a low seek time, and best of all...5 year warranty! I'm planning on hooking up with a 200GB SATA Seagate soon myself.
I guess I just wasn't made for these times. |
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Hatchetman
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
234 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2004 : 13:13:36
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If you can get the SATA drive to work, it's worth it (depending on what you use your pc for). I haven't tried using just one SATA drive, so I don't know if there would be much of a speed increase over a standard IDE drive, however, I do have 2 x 80Gb SATA drives running in raid mode and I have noticed a significant speed increase of data transfer over the standard IDE drives. I use my pc mostly for running audio apps, so the faster the hard drives the better.
Ade
As the air conditioner hummed.... |
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2004 : 19:03:08
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The main reason that I bought a new hard drive was because my old one is making a wierd noise. It only does that when the computer is doing something kind of intensive, like running a virus scan, but it makes this low kind of...pulling noise. That's the only way I can describe it. But I have isolated the noise as the HDD because it doesn't make that noise if I unplug the hard drive and turn the computer on.
And I did send the SATA drive back. It got here today, but I was able to get an approval from Newegg to send it back. (Unfortunately there is an $18.00 "restock fee," but other than that...) When I am able to send the SATA drive back I will go ahead and get a standard 200 GB IDE Drive instead. Sucks, though; I wanted to have my dual-boot Windows/Linux machine set up by now. I figure since I'm going to order another HD soon it wouldn't really make much sense to do a dual boot on my current one. (Especially since I will have to reinstall Windows on the new drive, rather than transfer data with a program like Ghost.)
What could be better than a swan dive into the asphalt?
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glacial906
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1738 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2004 : 19:08:55
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quote:
Originally posted by El Barto
Newegg has a good return policy, you can send it back. Exchange it for a IDE drive; don't waste your time with a SATA controller card. Seagate makes some great drives...they are some of the most quiet with a low seek time, and best of all...5 year warranty! I'm planning on hooking up with a 200GB SATA Seagate soon myself.
I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
If my MB supported SATA I'd love to keep this new drive.
The Drummer from Def Leppard's Only Got One Arm. |
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A Quick Computer Question
