PATA133 HDD vs SATA to PATA adapter

[dragonreg]

I have access to an inexpensive 320Gb SATA HDD but have only a PATA socket on the Promise RAID controler(to mirror a pair of SATA HDD already on the controller). I recently saw an adapter that plugs into the SATA HDD w/a PATA socket for a IDE cable. These too are inexpensive. But how well do they function, ETC? Or should I just bit the bullet, buy a Parallel HDD. HELP! THANKS!

[HAL9000]

I've never personally seen such a device, but I personally wouldn't trust it.... also, not sure if I understand you correctly, but you want to use the SATA to mirror the PATA? I wouldn't even try that, you should always used matched drives.

[dragonreg]

Thanks Hal...I agree on both accounts But Promise FastTrack 378 allows 2 SATA + 2 PATA drives...RAID 0 or 1 on SATA and Pri/Sec PATA on IDE socket. If a pair are used on PATA and configured to mirror the SATA, only 1 drive is recognized(PRI)and utilized for that matter....and if the pair are configured to stripe, they are independent of the SATA. Circa the period between PATA & SATA1 I guess. When purchased, I assumed the controller would mirror the 2 striped pair. No such luck! It took more research than just reading the included guides. The fine print suggests like make and model drives as you mentioned but in the same breath it says only one PATA drive to mirror the SATA as long as it's of like size or larger. Therein lies some part of the question....the PATA port supports 133, my SATA brand only manufactures 100. I'd like to use the fastest configuration, 133 or 150. I can't imagine the cotroller differentiating between brands But don't have first hand knowledge just as I don't know about the adapter. I hope that doesn't muddy the water. Thanks

[glc]

You will never notice the speed difference between PATA 100, PATA 133, or SATA 150.