ATA 100 O.K. For New HD Question ?

[BOBRR]

Hi,

Buying a new HD as a second HD for my PC.

Present Dell PII Dimension XPS R400 system is a few years old, and
has ATA 33 for the (original) 13.6 GB HD.

Any potential compatibility problem with the new HD I'll be buying
being ATA 100 ? Probably be installing a new 30 GB Maxtor.

Thanks,
Bob

[MoxManiac]

Hi BOBRR,

ATA/100 is completely backwards compatable, so your new drive will install just fine, albiet it will run at ATA/33.

EDIT: One thing I failed to mention, is that make sure your BIOS can handle a HDD that big. Older BIOS have size limits for HDD you can install. However, most HDD makers have software that can get around that. Or you cn update your BIOS if possible.

[PardeGT]

No, the new ata100 drive will work just fine, however it will drop to the speed the motherboard will support - in your case 33mb/s. If you want to utilize the ata100 speed of the new drive get yourself a Promise ultra100 card. If you get a 7200rpm drive you will benefit from the rpms (compared to a 5400rpm drive) with or without the promise card.

Also, may I suggest an ibm instead of the maxtor. This is my preference because or reliability and prices are very good right now. Here's a link to very reputable vendor:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...nufactory=1302

HTH

[PardeGT]

If you prefer the maxtor here is a good deal on a 30 gig 7200rpm drive. I've ordered two hard drives from here with good service:

http://www.pcbuyerclub.com/shop/IPS0...lssNm=Computer

I also see they have the same spec ibm drive, worth the extra $14 IMO.

http://www.pcbuyerclub.com/shop/IPS0...lssNm=Computer

[Electron]

Hi Bobrr,
I have just put in a new 40GB IBM ATA100 7200rpm hard drive and noticed a great improvement in speed. The hard drive i used before was a 20GB IBM ATA66 5400rpm, but the ATA speed is irrelevant as my Motherboard can only handle ATA66. So the speed difference must be with the rpm's.