Harddrive question...

Hey all, so it is that time again for a new hard drive... but I have a couple of questions to start it off.

My pc specs are as follows:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+
Motherboard Name DFI nF4 Series
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4, AMD Hammer
System Memory 2048 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT (256 MB)
Disk Drive Maxtor 6Y120P0 (120 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)

My question arises with what is the differences for hard drives, pertaining to ATA, PATA, and SATA. Are there restritions to certain OS, or CPUs? Also, what would be the best bang for my buck? I think i am going to go with a seagate (lifetime warrenty from what i hear). Any info would be great. Thanks!

~Catt

 

right now, the wester digital raptor is the best performer. it is sata. those things (ata/u-ata, sata, etc) are the interface that connects it to your computer, each one has different speeds that "talk" to your mobo. sata is faster than the others. and there are different ways to configure drives (RAID)
I'm not exactly sure which is best, but i know that SATA is prob your best bet.
your restrictions would be that there is a different power connection for sata, than the "molex" for ata drives. and no ide ribbon cables. your motherboard and powersupply have to be sata ready.

 

Last I heard Seagate was offering a 5 year warrantee but maybe they have extended it on certain models.

thesmokingun is right, your MB needs to support SATA if thats your choice. If it only supports IDE then thats what you need to stick with.

 

Ata and Pata are the same thing. Now that you have Serial ata they call the old ata (which is parallel) Pata.

 

I have the nF4 Ultra

(http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce4_family.html)

And i have a AtA atm... so I think it is a serial? Not sure atm...

 

Also..
(http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/s...0051&langId=-1&productId=138929&cmArea=SEARCH)

has a really HD but since i was/am confused on my mobo I'm not sure weather it is compatable or not...

 

The link that you provided only goes to a search page. A search of your motherboard specs. indicated that it supports both IDE (PATA) and SATA. So it is up to you and your wallet to make the choice.

 

According to this website, http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzQz, your board supports ATA and SATA. SATA is faster but a little more difficult to work with as in having to load a special driver to load an OS.

 

Alright.. thanks alot looks like ill be browsing around for a good sata (i will figure it out eventually) Thanks alot!

~Catt