ide hdd v sata hdd

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hash
  • Start date Start date
H

Hash

Hello

I've two ide hdd's. Both ultra-ata/33 on ide cables. One is on 7200 rpm
( 60gb ) and the other 5400 rpm ( 8gb ).

I like to replace 8gb with a sata hdd of a larger capacity. Can I do so ?
How can I tell if I've a socket for sata cable on my motherboard ? What
does a sata cable look like and is it provided with sata hdd ?

Which make of brand is more reliable and reasonable in price ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash
 
Hash said:
Hello

I've two ide hdd's. Both ultra-ata/33 on ide cables. One is on 7200 rpm
( 60gb ) and the other 5400 rpm ( 8gb ).

I like to replace 8gb with a sata hdd of a larger capacity. Can I do so ?
How can I tell if I've a socket for sata cable on my motherboard ? What
does a sata cable look like and is it provided with sata hdd ?

Which make of brand is more reliable and reasonable in price ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash
Click to expand...
 
Yes, you can. Check your motherboard manual to see what it supports. If
it's new enough it should have SATA. Drives don't come with cables -
you'll need the data cable and a power connector cable. Check places like
Newegg or search for info on SATA and the standards.

For drives - Seagate is a good brand. Others will have other choices.
 
A word of experience as I'm going through this. I have older motherboards
on two systems. I bought a controller for each. Neither mb sees the
controllers hence no boot to SATA is possible and even if I booted from IDE
the drives probably wouldnt' show up. Okay - get a better controller. Well
after pricing controllers I'm better off getting new motherboards that
support SATA. Note I can install XP on the drive just fine by specifying
the drivers but the mb doesn't see the drives so I can't boot!
 
Thank you all for your replies.

It seems since I have about a three year old pc system I may not gain much
going for a sata hdd. Also after reading your replies the technical side of
it seems complicated.

I rather wait until my system gets old then go for a pc with a built in sata
hdd and mobo. Thank you.

Regards
Hash
 
Hash, you could still go ahead and get a IDE 7200rpm 8MB Cache Hard
Drive. Even the newest Motherboards still
provide a IDE controller and connector.
 
You didn't give us much info about your system (motherboard brand/model,
etc.), but if it was made in the past three years it probably has an
on-board SATA controller. If not, basic controllers are not expensive and
one can be added to a PCI slot.

Most (all?) Western Digital SATA drives have both SATA and Molex (old-style
four-pin) power connectors, so if your PSU has no SATA connectors you won't
need to buy adapters. It is my favorite drive brand, but Seagate would be
another to consider. Note that most Seagates have five-year warranties, as
do WD "enterprise-class" drives, so consider that when making your choice.
Maxtor is struggling, having sold out to Seagate recently, and I would avoid
them, even though I've had good luck with the two I've purchased in the past
two years.

SATA data cables are much smaller than the 80-wire ribbon cables used on
PATA drives, and if you buy a retail package you should get a cable with it.
An OEM drive will likely be accomplanied by nothing but an anti-static bag,
and you'll need to buy a cable. At Newegg, the drives are clearly marked
"OEM" or "Retail," and the latter costs a bit more. Most drives you'll see
at these mail-order outfits will be OEM. If you can catch a sale at CompUSA
or other B&M outfit it will likely be a retail package.

SATA cables are easy to jostle loose, so be careful when rummaging around
inside your case. I've never had a problem, but some complain about it.
 
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