Should I buy Sata or ATA133?

[buildingit]

Hi

I read the sticky but I am still not sure of a couple of things.


Firstly, I am wondering if motherboards will always be backward compatible with ATA133 or about how much longer do you think they will continue to support ATA133 without having to have an added PCI controller? 1 year, 5 years? Or even now, do they all have native support for ata133?

ok, so here is my situation:

I am buying a new hard drive for the system in my signature. It will be a secondary drive- I am keeping my OS on my current drive. My motherboard does not support Sata.

I plan also on gradually building a new computer over the next year- that will become my main computer and this computer will be demoted to internet-only use.

So, I would like to take my new hard drive that I buy now and put it in my new computer when I build it. Or, depending on what you say, I may just buy a new harddrive at that time.

So which type to buy right now? I don't care so much about performance. I see the 250 GB Maxtor Diamondmax here is the same price for ATA133: $125 CAD.

But I think I have to buy an
"Adaptec 2-port host controller supports up to two Serial ATA drives" http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/pro...st+Controllers

Is that right?? That is $55 CAD here or half the pirice of a brand new drive!! Is that what I need to buy?

Also, will the required SATA drivers come with this controller? And the 7 pin data cable attaching the SATA drive to this controller, will that come with the harddrive or this controller or must I buy it and if so approx how much is next to nothing?

Also, I need to buy the 4 pin legacy/15 pin Sata power connector adaptor? Does anyone know what that is called? and about how mcuh it costs?

So, price-wise, maybe it's better to just buy ATA133 now and save the controller and cable money for a new hardrive for the new one. Convience wise i am not sure, Sata sounds awefully easy to install! Another option is to buy ATA133 and move IT to my new computer in a year but I don't want to be restrained by having to have ATA133 support on my new motherboard or do you think that won't be an issue for years to come?


I look forward to hearing what you think, thanx!

[RJ]

Firstly, I am wondering if motherboards will always be backward compatible with ATA133

Nope. PATA is dying. Eventually, it'll be gone for good.

about how much longer do you think they will continue to support ATA133 without having to have an added PCI controller? 1 year, 5 years? Or even now, do they all have native support for ata133?

Nobody knows how long PATA will last. Intel never supported ATA133, their chipsets support ATA100, and the newest ones only support 1 PATA instead of 2 like in the past. I don't know about other chipsets but I guess it's not that different.

ok, so here is my situation: I am buying a new hard drive for the system in my signature. It will be a secondary drive- I am keeping my OS on my current drive. My motherboard does not support Sata. I plan also on gradually building a new computer over the next year- that will become my main computer and this computer will be demoted to internet-only use. So, I would like to take my new hard drive that I buy now and put it in my new computer when I build it. Or, depending on what you say, I may just buy a new harddrive at that time. So which type to buy right now? I don't care so much about performance. I see the 250 GB Maxtor Diamondmax here is the same price for ATA133: $125 CAD.

Since your mobo does not have SATA, I'd get a PATA drive. I think they'll be around for at least half a year more. It's cheaper to get a PATA drive than a SATA drive + a controller card. And, when you get a new computer some day, you don't need the controller card anymore coz it has native SATA support. Hence, I'd stick with PATA in your case.

Also, I need to buy the 4 pin legacy/15 pin Sata power connector adaptor? Does anyone know what that is called? and about how mcuh it costs?

About $2.

RJ

[glc]

I think PATA will be around for a lot longer than 6 more months. Hardly anyone has SATA optical drives yet. It took 5 years for ISA slots to die out after PCI was introduced.

Some SATA drives have a legacy 4 pin power connector in addition to the 15 pin SATA power connector - you can use either (but not BOTH).

[buildingit]

Thank you! And nice to see you again

Well then, I will use the KISS principle then and buy the ATA133 and cross my fingers that my next motherboard will take it. If not, no great loss at all as I will have saved $55 on this purchase.

thanx again

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by buildingit But I think I have to buy an "Adaptec 2-port host controller supports up to two Serial ATA drives" http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/pro...st+Controllers Is that right?? That is $55 CAD here or half the pirice of a brand new drive!! Is that what I need to buy?

I've never used one but they do have SATA HDD to IDE adapters available too. Might cost less than a PCI IDE controller card...try looking around for one at one of the Canadian vendors.

Cricket

[Louds3]

also, If you buy a PATA and they start dissapearing, you could always put it in one of those external hard drive enclosures and use it for backups of your newer sata drives. the odds are very likely that your new PATA drive will be dead by the time you can't find new motherboards to support it, especially since (as glc said) not many people at all have SATA optical drives, because ata optical';s still work great and really don't need the SATA interface like hard drives do.

steve

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by RJ ... Nobody knows how long PATA will last. Intel never supported ATA133, their chipsets support ATA100, and the newest ones only support 1 PATA instead of 2 like in the past. I don't know about other chipsets but I guess it's not that different...

Just for a note of interest, at least one mobo has gone the other way: the Asus A8V Dlx. It has the normal 2 channels for 4 HDs or optical drives, and a 3rd channel that supports HDs only, for a total of 6 drives (plus SATA drives).