Serial ATA

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by NH2112, Nov 22, 2005.

  1. NH2112

    NH2112 Private E-2

    I'm finally upgrading my P4 3.0GHz to XP, and noticed that I can use Serial ATA hard drives with it. I've done a bit of research and know they're faster, but we all know that benchmark results don't always directly translate to big improvements in real-world applications (i.e., EPA estimated fuel mileage vs real-world mileage.) So, my questions is: Would I see a big enough improvement in speed to make it worthwhile to buy a SATA drive to replace my current 80GB drive?
     
  2. Dogin

    Dogin Private E-2

    The WD SATA Raptors are faster than the IDE drives and do translate into good improvement in large data transfers. But your total system needs to be performanced tweaked and that is just one of the refinements to consider. Some of the 16mb cache IDE drives are also preforming very well. I would google some reviews and check out the forums here before deciding what is best for you. http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showforum=2

    I do like the small cables, but use the WD secure cables (can order with the drives) to attach mine as the regular SATA connectors are fragile. Went to a SATA optical to keep the case as clean as possible.
     
  3. Dogin

    Dogin Private E-2

    Just to add, the main performance increase is going from the 7.5K to the 10K drive speed on the Raptors. More benefits are coming with the later SATA revisions if your mobo and drives support them.
     
  4. NH2112

    NH2112 Private E-2

    Thanks for the replies, my mobo is an ASUS P4P800 I've had about 2 years now, don't know the RAM speed off the top of my head but I want to say DDR2200 (I guess I'm just a very minor geek LOL). It does have the connectors for SATA cables, I've been running 98SE till last week so I never had to bother with them. As far as tweaking goes, once I get the new CPU fan in and can play around with things I'll do some tweaking, so far all I've done was overclock to 3.6GHz (50C CPU temp at 100% CPU usage) and keep everything but the bare necessities off the system tray (SoundMax (which I hate), printer control program, volume control IIRC.) To be honest, I'm not completely sure what I'm looking to do with this PC, I'm a flight-simmer but can't use my FLCS/TQS with it (ACS card won't fit) and between the horror stories I've heard about TM's Cougar, not to mention the price, I think I'll just find myself an older PC for sims and maybe get into C/S or some other 1st person shooter LOL
     

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