[G_man_radio_netwerk]

I just bought a Western Digital Caviar SE 80gb 7200 rpm hard drive and in the product specs, it says that it is a SATA/150 interface. Problem is that i am also buying a new motherboard and was wondering if this hard drive will work on a motherboard that has only SATA/133 capabilities.....as in can i use this drive on a lower level. any help and input is appreciated.

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I might be wrong, but I suspect that if a motherboard specs are listed as SATA/133, that 133 relates to the fact that it supports PATA (parallel ata) 133 (as opposed to sata 133).
As far as I know, sata is always 150. But even if I am wrong, I can't see why the drive wouldn't work OK anyway.

Does this help at all?

[Samm]

I might be wrong, but I suspect that if a motherboard specs are listed as SATA/133, that 133 relates to the fact that it supports PATA (parallel ata) 133 (as opposed to sata 133).
As far as I know, sata is always 150. But even if I am wrong, I can't see why the drive wouldn't work OK anyway.

Does this help at all?

[Samm]

Sorry, my systems being weird, just doubled posted that last one!

Edited by Samm, 02 May 2005 - 06:21 PM.

[G_man_radio_netwerk]

uhh...well i don't know...i don't know if the SATA/150 is refering to the transfer speed...because...as far as i know, there is SATA/33/66/100/133, but have found no existence of SATA/150, err...uhh....anyhow my question simplified is: Will this HD work with this Mobo???

here is the link for the HD: http://www2.newegg.c...N82E16822135106

(note that in the specs it says ATA/150)

and the Mobo: http://www.tigerdire...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

(note that in the detailed specs the motherboard supports up to ATA/133, but then in main page it says that it supports SATA up to 150mbs (is this what the SATA stands for?).(maybe i am ignorant, but is there a difference between the two?))

Anyhow that is my question restated Thanks

[Samm]

Hi there.

Apologies for the length of this post, but I'm gonna try to clear up any confusion over transfer rates etc to start with.

ATA or IDE refers to the standard hard disk controller interface. It is the one thats been used on IBM/PC motherboards for as long as I can remember (and I can remember the 386 fairly well!) and is still in use now. There are 4 main data transfer rates for ATA : 33, 66, 100 & 133MB/sec. Both the motheboard controller & the drive itself (& the drives data cable) have to be capable of supporting any given transfer rate in order to use it. ie if the motherboard supports upto ATA100 & you attach a ATA133 hard drive, the drive will work but at 100mb/sec, not 133.

ATA interface uses a 40 pin connection with either a 40 wire cable or a 80 wire cable (ATA66 & above). It is also refered to as P-ATA (Parallel ATA).

Serial ATA (SATA) is completely different. It is a different controller on the motherboard & uses a 7 wire data cable to the SATA drive. It is capable of transferring data at upto 150MB/sec. (NB this is the peak (burst) rate not the average or continuous transfer rate).
Also, you can only connect one sata drive to each cable, whereas PATA can support 2 devices per cable.

Your motherboard & drive:
The board in your link supports 4 standard ATA drives, at ATA-133. This means it will have 2 ATA channels or ports (each port connects upto 2 devices), giving a total of 4. You can connect optical drives (CD/DVD) and normal IDE drives to these 2 ports.
It also has 2 SATA ports, so you can connect upto 2 SATA hard drives (one per port) as well.


The hard drive in the link will be supported by the motherboard, theres no problem about that but, be aware of the following :

the drive in the link is an extremely good one but its an OEM product. This usually means that it won't come with any of the cabling or adapters that are required by SATA drives. You would be better off getting whats known as a 'retail' version which should have all the accessories.

Also, SATA drives can be a pain in the butt to setup initially, especially with XP. You can download utilities from the drives manufacturer for helping with this though, if you find it's necessary. A retail drive may well come with that software as well.

[G_man_radio_netwerk]

first off let me say thank you for your help, secondly, i have already bought that drive in my ignorance...so it is oem, and i am purchasing a SATA cable for it, but what all be the technicalities involved in setting up an SATA drive so that i am prepared for the coming hardships when my mobo comes in. and once again THANK YOU

Edited by G_man_radio_netwerk, 03 May 2005 - 04:16 PM.

[Samm]

You're welcome.

I suggest you visit Western Digital website (open your hard drive link & click on 'manufacturers website'). It gives detailed info about your drive & suggests that you purchase their SecureConnect SATA cable. I think most SATA cables should work with that drive but in case you have problems, you may need to get their one.

[G_man_radio_netwerk]

ok thanks...if i have any problems later i shall turn to you for help.

[Samm]

No worries.