ATA vs. SATA

What are your thoughts on this? I've heard some people say that there isn't really very much of a difference between the two and that you're best to aim for the ATA these days since the SATA's are pretty expensive comparatively.

What I'm actually wonderinging about these things is compatability. See I have two ATA HD's in my computer. If I purchase a new motherboard (mobo?), do I automatically have to get SATA HD's? Or can I just my ATA's?

Is there some sort of bridge connector for the two?

 

Most new motherboards come with both IDE and SATA connections, since ATA hard drives are still commonly used and SATA CD/DVD drives are quite rare.

 

Yeah, there is very little difference between them because hard drive transfer rates are not able to use up the 133Mb/s bandwidth that Ultra ATA133 has. So the 150Mb/s and 300Mb/s are not very helpful yet. As for the prices, you can find SATA drives pretty cheap now, but the biggest deals are still usually on ATA drives.

 

Okay, if hard drives cannot use the full bandwidth that ATA133 provides, how can you notice such a huge performance increase with a SATA drive? Not that I've used SATA much, but the differences that I've seen have been great.

 

SATA drives are just as cheap as IDE/ATA now. I just picked up 320 Gig for a little over $100 bucks w/16 a Meg cache. I'd go with SATA and think of it as future-proofing.

 

HDD's
SATA all the way baby!
The cables are soooo much neater
Prices same same, What I see is better deals in general on the SATA interface

 

i was told that theres not that big of a differance in speed, ive never messed with sata yet. im kinda getting out dated. i have two atas in my computer now. leave all my games on one hard drive and my system files on the main hard drive. dont have to install and uninstall all the time.

 

where might i ask did you come upon this wonderful deal? Id grab one or 2 for that price...

o never mind, here it is...lol
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140

also, how can i tell which version of SATA my mobo supports?

 

SATA II is backwards compatitable so even if your MOBO SATA I or if it's add on SATA I card an SATA II HDD will work fine.

Most new SATA II drives will have a jumper to enable SATA II

Check MOBO manual or manufacture web for detailed spec of your mobo



The fastest HDD is SATA period!
IMO it's not a question which to choose, na na nana na na SATA
An SATA even uses less power!

 

What I'm still stubbed on is the compatibility for mainboards that are made nowadays. Can I use my ATA's on a DPI Lanparty for example? And while I'm at it, can I use pretty much any power supply-or does that kind of a mainboard require that I have a more updated power supply (I'm currently using one that is at least 5 years old).

 

Dan,
Yes, like ASUS said, most (99%) MOBO's with SATA capability comes with both IDE and SATA controllers. Meaning, you can still use your old IDE hdds or SATA drives. However, as far as I know, most SATA hdds use different type of power connection - which comes with SATA drives when you buy a new one. If not, you need to buy one or look for SATA drives with regular 4 pin power.
For the Power Supply question, if you have a 5 year old Power supply, I strongly suggest you get a new one. ATX form factor, at least 450watt, P4 compatible - which is very common these days - will cost you around $30 - $50. check out the pricewatch.com for free shipping stuff.

 

By the way, if we are talking speed, I definately agree that SATA is faster when you use it with proper MB.
However, if you got the money, there are SCSI HDD's too.

 

Ok! Thanks for the clarity! I guess I didn't quite figure that out from Asus' post.

I'll have to do a bit of homework on SCSI though, I'm not familiar with that...