sata confusion

[hasmudge]

Hi folks

I recently bought a new motherboard (msi k7ns delta) which supports SATA and am thinking of trying to set this up but can find very little info regarding how to, the mb manuals tell how to configure drives into an array etc, but say little about what is required (equipment)

Do I need two of these drives for this system to work?
What other requirements are there for optimum operation?
will using this system give much more benefit in terms of performance?

I can read the data transfer specs, but in actual desktop operation will I see much improvement?

I'm posting again here as I've trawled the net's sata links and find no real explanation anywhere, and, as yet, still have L plates regarding most computer problems

Thanks in advance. H

[Force Flow]

Straight from the most recent PCMech weekly newsletter:
I have gotten an increasing number of emails the last few months about SATA, namely asking how to install a SATA drive or whether or not PC Mechanic's tutorial on building a PC includes information on installing SATA. Well, let me tell you installing SATA is really not a big deal.

To install SATA using an add-in board:

Install the SATA board into an empty PCI slot on the motherboard just as you would any other expansion card.

Plug the SATA data cable into the drive. It will only go in one way. As for the power connector, SATA uses a different style of power plug. But, some SATA drives also have an older-style plug which you can simply plug right into the power supply. If it does not, you will need to use a power plug adapter to convert from the older power plugs to the newer SATA style. This adapter is usually included with the add-in board or with the hard drive.

The mounting of the SATA drive into the case is just like any other hard drive.

Plug the other end of the data cable into your add-in SATA controller. It does not matter which connector you use.

Clean up and turn on the PC. If you are running a compliant version of Windows, you should be greeted with the "Add New Hardware Wizard". Proceed through the wizard and use the drivers that came with your add-in board on an included CD.

Once done, you can verify that windows is properly seeing the new drive by going to your Device Manager. It will show up under SCSI controllers.

Once you verify connection, partition and format the drive as you would any other hard drive. Your SATA drive likely came with software to help out in that regard.

That's about it.

[glc]

If your motherboard has a SATA controller onboard, it's even easier, just plug the drive in and make the appropriate bios settings.

[hasmudge]

GLC+ Comp Slayer

The actual setup looks no problem my confusion is to do with the specific questions

1 will i see any great performance increase for the cost?
2 how many hd's do i need? 1 or 2 (this is where I'm most lost as everything i can find says 2 identical drives)

my specs are as follows
MSI K7ns delta-ilsr
barton 2500
ati rage pro 128
512mb corsair memory
20gb hdd
phillips cdrw
hitachi dvd rom
psu 350w (unknown model)

Thanks anyway folks. H

[Confused]

I run XP on a single SATA drive. I do not believe you will see any improvement in speed. It can probably be measured with proper benchmarking tools. Current SATA only has 150Mbps maximum burst transfer speed whereas IDE has 133. SATA is only offering about 10%+ increase at this time. And that maximum burst transfer speed, not day to day surfing or gaming.

If you want to run RAID then you would need two drives and you would be advised to get a matched pair of drives, but you can run a non RAID setup with a single drive if you want like I do.
Chas

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by hasmudge
1 will i see any great performance increase for the cost?

There is about a $10-$15 dollar difference between SATA and IDE drives. As for performance, unless you do a lot of video importing of a camera, you woun't see much of a difference at all.

[hasmudge]

Thanks again folks, thats cleared up my ?'s, I just didn't want to have to buy two drives at once for the one amount of storage space. Knowing I can have one working and add another when the budget allows has solved my problem about adding this facility. H

[Confused]

Originally posted by hasmudge
Knowing I can have one working and add another when the budget allows has solved my problem about adding this facility. H

If you are planning on running RAID then you need to start with 2. If you just want a second one for storage then use a old IDE drive if you have one or pick up a used IDE drive. I have a IDE drive for storage.
Chas