Hard drive question (1 Viewer)

[Hotter]

I know this isn't directly EQ related, but I'm pretty sure someone here can help me out. I'm looking to get a new hard drive, and my A+ classes (what I can remember from them at least) didn't cover this. How do I know if I should get an ATA100 or ATA133 drive? I can't figure out which I currently have. I don't think I want SATA right now. Any help for this silly question is appreciated.

 

[iamgman1126]

Get your current model number and look up its specs online?

 

[Alatyami]

Curious .... why not SATA?

Alot of times it will be listed on the mobo next to the IDE connector. Just depends on the manufacture.

 

[Ccomp5950]

Check out HDtune and see what is supported for your hard drive and what it is running.

Also, just a quick thing...make sure your hard drive had the 88 pin IDE ribbon cable and not the 44 pin IDE ribbon cable...I've seen many computers like this in my shop.

Your CD drive will have 44pin if you see double the number of wires in the ribbon on the Hard drive IDE ribbon cable then you are fine, if it looks the same as the CD drives ribbon cable then look into getting an 88pin cable.

Also: Most HD's do not come with IDE cables, I've seen SATA drives come with SATA cables but haven't really seen many IDE HD's come with cables.

 

[Hotter]

I looked up the model number online, and what I found was not the same hard drive I have.. odd. I don't have a SATA cable, which is a pretty lame excuse I guess, and my computer is kinda old, so once I upgrade it all I'll probably do SATA. And I actually got my 2nd hard drive working again, so I don't really need extra space right now. Thanks for the help

 

[sillywabbit]

ATA133 is backwards compatable with all other IDE interfaces but will only run at the speed of your IDE controller. So if you find a great deal on a 133 drive snag it.
Most IDE drives made for price/performance are ATA100 of the older IDE interface however.