IDE vs SATA

[cumminbk]

Pros and cons with a computer that uses IDE only components or SATA components meaning both hard drives and disk drives. I am considering switching to SATA only PC

[ripken204]

sata is better than ide for hdds. for disk drives it really depends on the drive, some are not mature yet and the bios may not detect them, so you cant boot off of it. so i guess do some research before you buy one.

[jcarle]

Clinging to IDE is like clinging to 5¼" floppies. There's no point. It's old technology, it's not properly adapted to modern needs and it's being phased out.

Anyone who choose to continue purchasing new parts based on IDE is wasting their money.

[spacesurfer]

sata is way to go. better aerodynamics because of cables.

[XL-DJK]

Aren't transfer rates far more superior with Sata? and what 's the diff between Sata and SataII?

[spacesurfer]

Transfer rates are superior for hard drives, not for CD/DVD-RW.

For HDDs:

People often think SATA = 1.5 Gb/sec and SATAII = 3.0 Gb/sec, but this is not true. SATAII is the name of an organization that developed the standard. Yes, SATAII is newer than SATAI and may have better speed but not twice the speed.

If you're looking for a 3.0 Gb/sec HDD, make sure it says so on box; don't just look for SATAII.

If you go directly to Maxtor or Wester Digital site, they don't used SATAII designation; they use 1.5 Gb/sec or 3.0 Gb/sec.

[jcarle]

More details here:

http://www.sata-io.org/namingguidelines.asp

[nmX.Memnoch]

And a little more explenation in this thread:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=95967

[ripken204]

Transfer rates are superior for hard drives, not for CD/DVD-RW.

For HDDs:

People often think SATA = 1.5 Gb/sec and SATAII = 3.0 Gb/sec, but this is not true. SATAII is the name of an organization that developed the standard. Yes, SATAII is newer than SATAI and may have better speed but not twice the speed.

If you're looking for a 3.0 Gb/sec HDD, make sure it says so on box; don't just look for SATAII.

If you go directly to Maxtor or Wester Digital site, they don't used SATAII designation; they use 1.5 Gb/sec or 3.0 Gb/sec.

well the raptor is sataI and is faster than basically every sataII drive

but you forgot to say what the definition really is. its the max transfer rate that could be possible by that type of connection. its all about the type of connection, not the drive. just like that max speed of ide 66, 100, or 133. sataI max is 150. and sataII max is 300. but since drives only have an average transfer rate of ~65 ill say, it really doesnt matter.

[jcarle]

well the raptor is sataI and is faster than basically every sataII drive

but you forgot to say what the definition really is. its the max transfer rate that could be possible by that type of connection. its all about the type of connection, not the drive. just like that max speed of ide 66, 100, or 133. sataI max is 150. and sataII max is 300. but since drives only have an average transfer rate of ~65 ill say, it really doesnt matter.

*smacks you*

There is no such thing as SATA I or SATA II.

[ripken204]

and why not!? how am i suppose to classify it then? im just pointing out how actual speed is basically the same.

[Zxian]

You classify them by 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s.

You're right that sustained transfer speeds will typically be the same, since it's not the bottleneck right now.

Another advantage with SATA is that you've always got just one device per channel. On PATA, you can have two devices share the same channel.

[jcarle]

and why not!? how am i suppose to classify it then? im just pointing out how actual speed is basically the same.

This was just discussed not even two posts before yours.

And I quote from the official website for SATA (http://www.sata-io.org/namingguidelines.asp):

The first step toward a better understanding of SATA is to know that SATA II is not the brand name for SATA’s 3Gb/s data transfer rate, but the name of the organization formed to author the SATA specifications. The group has since changed names, to the Serial ATA International Organization, or SATA-IO.

There are no "versions" of SATA. There is simply SATA. There is no such thing as SATA I or SATA II even though a whackload of companies use them. SATA is SATA, period.

What changes is which features they support. A so-called (wrongly named) SATA II drive may not even support 3.0Gb/s, it doesn't have to. It only has to support the SATA protocol, what it supports after that is up to the manufacturer of both the chipset and the drive.

SATA devices (both the controller and the drive) can support either 1.5Gb/s OR 3.0Gb/s using the SATA protocol. The following features are OPTIONAL and may or may not be supported regardless of the transfer speed:

• Asynchronous Notification
  
• ClickConnect
  
• eSATA
  
• Hot Plug
  
• Link Power Management
  
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
  
• Staggered Spin-Up
  
• xSATA
  

This is why you will find SATA drives that are 3.0Gb/s but do NOT support Hot Plug or NCQ, but you can find SATA drives that are 1.5Gb/s and DO support Hot Plug and NCQ.

Edited April 15, 2007 by jcarle

[nmX.Memnoch]

Transfer rates are superior for hard drives, not for CD/DVD-RW.

For HDDs:

People often think SATA = 1.5 Gb/sec and SATAII = 3.0 Gb/sec, but this is not true. SATAII is the name of an organization that developed the standard. Yes, SATAII is newer than SATAI and may have better speed but not twice the speed.

If you're looking for a 3.0 Gb/sec HDD, make sure it says so on box; don't just look for SATAII.

If you go directly to Maxtor or Wester Digital site, they don't used SATAII designation; they use 1.5 Gb/sec or 3.0 Gb/sec.

well the raptor is sataI and is faster than basically every sataII drive

but you forgot to say what the definition really is. its the max transfer rate that could be possible by that type of connection. its all about the type of connection, not the drive. just like that max speed of ide 66, 100, or 133. sataI max is 150. and sataII max is 300. but since drives only have an average transfer rate of ~65 ill say, it really doesnt matter.

You really should read the information on the SATA-IO site that both jcarle and I have linked for you. The max transfer rate is NOT the definition of a SATA "II" drive (remember, there's no such thing as SATA I or SATA II...only SATA).

"SATA II" is only used as a marketing term...it has no real meaning. If you look at the features supported between so called "SATA II" drives you'll probably see a lot of differences in the supported SATA features.

The Raptor drives are faster because of the faster spindle speed, as well as supporting nearly all of the technologies outlined by the SATA II members.

[ripken204]

ya and im just pointing that out. when ppl think that sataII is faster than sataI, its not true. b/c the raptor is sataI.