[Facedown98]

Hi guys, I want to purchase a new hard disk for my desktop computer, which will be internal. Now, I'm not sure how the whole SATA/ATA thing works... That's the one area I never really researched very much. My question is, how can I tell what type of hard disk I have now, and what kind of hard disk I will need to buy? I see options of an ATA, an ATA/100, SATA, SATA-150, or SATA-300. Would simply going into the BIOS tell me what I have now? Anything you think I should know before installing a new HD?

EDIT: Alright, I went into EVEREST, and looked under the Storage Drives, and all I see is a dropdown/expand box for ATA. I don't know about ATA/100, if that will show or not. All help is appreciated!

Also, the hard disk down here: (click here) is VERY similar to what I have now.

Thanks!

Edited by Facedown98, 06 April 2007 - 04:57 PM.

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The differences between Pata( old standard IDE hard drives) and Sata hard drives is quite noticeable.

Pata connections
http://www.hitachigs...abling/ide7.jpg

http://geekspeak.org..._hd_800x618.jpg

Sata connections
http://www.musicxpc....l_ata_cable.jpg

http://geekspeak.org..._hd_800x575.jpg

Just looking at your Hard drive connector should tell you what you need. If you have Sata drives you may need to look up the specs fro your computer to check if you have sata150 or sata300 drives. Sata 300 drives are backwards compatable but will work better if you need to transfer the drive to a newer computer. There are some sata 150 drives at very low prices because the standard is already obsolete.

SRX660

[SRX660]

The differences between Pata( old standard IDE hard drives) and Sata hard drives is quite noticeable.

Pata connections
http://www.hitachigs...abling/ide7.jpg

http://geekspeak.org..._hd_800x618.jpg

Sata connections
http://www.musicxpc....l_ata_cable.jpg

http://geekspeak.org..._hd_800x575.jpg

Just looking at your Hard drive connector should tell you what you need. If you have Sata drives you may need to look up the specs fro your computer to check if you have sata150 or sata300 drives. Sata 300 drives are backwards compatable but will work better if you need to transfer the drive to a newer computer. There are some sata 150 drives at very low prices because the standard is already obsolete.

SRX660

[Facedown98]

Ok, well, I double checked Everest, and found the true model of the hard disk. I went on Seagate to find information, but it's not showing anything. It says it's an SATA drive though. This looks like it as well: (click here) ... I guess I won't be getting my deal after all, but this here is an SATA-150. I haven't checked the connections yet, but I think I got it... Everest is also identifying the connection as an SATA disk. Looks like I overlooked that bit. Thanks, looks like Everest told me what I needed to know.

Edited by Facedown98, 06 April 2007 - 07:56 PM.