Compatability: Ultra ATA

[JSD]

Happy New Year guys.

A general question that I can't seem to Google up an answer for.

Would an Ultra ATA/100 HDD be recognised by and be able to operate on a motherboard which specifies itself as being Dual-IDE ATA? I've heard about things being backwardly compatible (or something like that) and I wondered if this would be the case here.

Thanks for looking,

J

[HAL9000]

Yes... they're backwards compatable.

[JSD]

Thanks for that...so do I need to change my IDE cable for an 80 way version?

[Cricket]

You don't have to, but it's recommended so that you get full data transfer burst rates.

You only have 40 wire IDE cables in there now? How old is your computer?

:) Cricket

[glc]

If your motherboard controller is not ATA66 or better, no need. Standard 40 wire will run ATA33. If your motherboard is that old, I'd be more concerned with bios hard drive size limitations, you may have to get a PCI controller card, which will come with an 80 wire cable.

[JSD]

Thanks guys, I'm just leaving work now but I'll come back either later tonight or in the morning.