SATA v IDE for DVD Burner

  • Thread starter Thread starter drs
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D

drs

Does anyone have a sense how much difference using SATA would make for a
cd/dvd drive? Is the interface the limiting factor, and is SATA worth an
extra $100.

System is p4 2.8, 1GB, SATA 10000 HDD, XPpro.
 
drs said:
Does anyone have a sense how much difference using SATA would make
for a cd/dvd drive? Is the interface the limiting factor, and is
SATA worth an extra $100.

System is p4 2.8, 1GB, SATA 10000 HDD, XPpro.
Click to expand...


Differences: thinner cable and thinner wallet, by $100.

Unlike the WD Raptor, a SATA optical drive isn't any faster. The Raptor is
faster because it spins at 10K RPM. Even at 16x DVD speeds, the maximum, the
SATA interface is superfluous.
 
Does anyone have a sense how much difference using SATA would make for a
cd/dvd drive? Is the interface the limiting factor, and is SATA worth an
extra $100.
Click to expand...

Nope. I wouldnt even use it on the Sata controller. I think someone
said Plextor was the only one making a sata burner and I doudt it
would make any difference at all. For the other burners youd have to
use a ide to sata converter and it might not work right.

Ive tried using my burners on all the addon controllers Ive had on my
boards that were plain old IDE and they never seemed to work right.
Always seemed to be flakey on the Highpoint and Promise controllers. I
even tried it once with a promise card and had the same problems.
I always put the CD/DVD atapi stuff on the first two channels.
 
Does anyone have a sense how much difference using SATA would make for a
cd/dvd drive? Is the interface the limiting factor, and is SATA worth an
extra $100.

System is p4 2.8, 1GB, SATA 10000 HDD, XPpro.
Click to expand...

Even if they were the same price, an SATA optical drive is
just a waste of an SATA channel, providing you had PATA
positions unused.
 
S.Heenan said:
Differences: thinner cable and thinner wallet, by $100.

Unlike the WD Raptor, a SATA optical drive isn't any faster. The Raptor is
faster because it spins at 10K RPM. Even at 16x DVD speeds, the maximum, the
SATA interface is superfluous.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is what I figured.

-d
 
One of the main design advantages of Serial ATA is that the thinner serial
cables facilitate more efficient airflow inside a form factor and also allow
for smaller chassis designs

In contrast, the IDE Cables are much bulkier increasing chasis sizes.

There is a small speed factor but i don' think the speed and cost matchup.
Thus, the speed is factor not as large as the $100 difference. AND I'm
guessing that's $100USD.

**First time helping out

Cheers
 
One of the main design advantages of Serial ATA is that the thinner serial
cables facilitate more efficient airflow inside a form factor and also allow
for smaller chassis designs

In contrast, the IDE Cables are much bulkier increasing chasis sizes.

There is a small speed factor but i don' think the speed and cost matchup.
Thus, the speed is factor not as large as the $100 difference. AND I'm
guessing that's $100USD.

**First time helping out

Cheers
Click to expand...

Good point but he can buy round cables too as Kony has pointed out.
The only thing I dont like about some round cables is they seem kind
of fragile at the ends where the wires attach to the ends. I always
end up yanking them out and in when Im testing something when things
go wacko sometimes and buying new stuff.
 
drs said:
Does anyone have a sense how much difference using SATA would make for a
cd/dvd drive? Is the interface the limiting factor, and is SATA worth an
extra $100.
Click to expand...

SATA vs IDE isn't relevant to CD/DVD issue. Reformulate a more precise
question.
 
Good point but he can buy round cables too as Kony has pointed out.
The only thing I dont like about some round cables is they seem kind
of fragile at the ends where the wires attach to the ends. I always
end up yanking them out and in when Im testing something when things
go wacko sometimes and buying new stuff.
Click to expand...


Some rounded PATA cables have a (clear?) lamination across
all wires which seems to even out stress on the cables a
lot. That would be a preferred construction choice but
given a cable with loose wires it might help to draw a bead
of caulk or epoxy across the wires where they meet the
connector.

For all the times I've heard people mentioning cooling
benefits of SATA, I just don't see it, rounded PATA cables
are as cheap (if motherboard didn't come with the SATA
cables) and are "good enough"... indeed, with a properly
cooled HDD rack even a flat PATA cable can be used and the
drives stay cool to the touch. I have to wonder if those
promoting different cables just have poor case airflow. It
does help to have SATA cables, don't get me wrong, but the
difference can easily be insignificant.
 
For all the times I've heard people mentioning cooling
benefits of SATA, I just don't see it, rounded PATA cables
are as cheap (if motherboard didn't come with the SATA
cables) and are "good enough"... indeed, with a properly
cooled HDD rack even a flat PATA cable can be used and the
drives stay cool to the touch. I have to wonder if those
promoting different cables just have poor case airflow. It
does help to have SATA cables, don't get me wrong, but the
difference can easily be insignificant.
Click to expand...

Yeah it depends. WIth me it made a big difference.
I think one of the worst cases is if you use lots of drives and have a
fairly small case. In my situation Ive used mostly boards with a
controller added on so I could use more than 4 devices. When you use
6-8 devices and some cables dont have two devices on them because the
strange layout of the board connector to the top drives - sometimes
you have to use a single cable cause the cables can barely reach two
drives - in the smaller cases it can become a mess. Thats why Ive cut
back on buying lots of small drives on sale though its irresistible
when you see 40-80 gig HDs on sale for $20-40 bucks after rebate.
You tend to just buy more and more and use them rather than clearing
up the junk thats piled up on your older hard drives.

I often see people who do the same with old drives. People give them a
bunch of old drives so to save money theyll cobble together 4-6 cheesy
old puny drives.
 
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