Is my drive running in SATA mode?

Looking in device manager --> IDE/ATAPI controllers --> I see Intel(R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller along with Intel(R) ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850.

Under storage controller, I see Microsoft iSCSI Initiator.


Does this mean my system is running in SATA mode or just ATA?

What is the speed difference between SATA and IDE/ATA?

 

SATA is how the drive is connected. If it's a SATA HD, then it can only be connected using SATA.

 

I thought we need to install the right drivers for it to run in "SATA" mode rather than the old IDE ATA mode which is slower. Anyone?

I particularly mean this driver:
Dell R154200.EXE File

 

SATA is the name for the connection, IDE, or ATA are the names for the old connection...

 

SATA is not a "mode", its the type of connector and cable the hard drive uses.


ATA (aka IDE) on the left, SATA on the right



now, there are drivers windows uses to control the drives. XP with service pack 2 uses the drivers natively(IE the drivers are built into SP2). XP with SP1 and older OS's need you to manually install the drivers before you can use the dirve.

 

oh... thanks for that. Does that mean I don't need to install the Dell SATA drivers then?

 

Serial ATA (SATA) is the hardware connector for your drive. However, there ARE two modes it can be run in (you probably read this in another thread somewhere - there are a few).

Regular ATA mode is the original, now backup, communication protocol used by SATA. Newer operating systems should be using AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) to communicate through the SATA connection. Your new machine should be factory set to AHCI unless you somehow changed it during a complete wipe and reinstall of Vista.

If you really, really want to double-check this, you can go into the BIOS at startup (f-somethingorother) and check that the drive is set to AHCI mode. It should be.

 

Yes! this is what I meant... sorry... very new to this. hehe.

now looking at my device manager --> IDE/ATAPI controllers --> I see Intel(R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller along with Intel(R) ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850. Under storage controller, I see Microsoft iSCSI Initiator.

In my BIOS, its AHCI. So this should all be optimum then.

 

ppen, looks like you're golden. There's actually only a minor performance increase going from ATA to AHCI mode (depending on the system), but hey, it's always good to know things are optimum.

 

Interesting, though, is if you guys install the Intel Matrix storage manager, it shows the drive running in Ultra DMA-2 mode. It shows this on my Vostro 1500 and it did on my Vostro 1400.

Shouldn't it should DMA-5 or 6? In any case, HDTach speeds starting at >60MB/s would mean faster than Ultra DMA2, right?

 

One thing I should mention is that running vista performance tests shows that my HDD is 4.5 BEFORE updating to the Dell drivers and 4.6 after.