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    Recommendations for a IDE or SATA Hard Drive?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by kentl901, Jul 1, 2010.

  1. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey all,

    My 7 year old tower is in need of a new drive. I believe it is about to fail.

    I've been getting warnings from Windows about impending failure. Also, HD Tune is also telling me that it is about to fail (via S.M.A.R.T.).

    Anyway, my really old tower has a ABIT AI7 motherboard. From the website, it supports SATA "up to 150MB/s."

    Looking @ Newegg, I see that the latest drives are up to 3Gb/s. Would this be a problem for me? Should I just stick to the old IDE hard disk?

    Cost-wise... I think IDE drives are more expensive. I'm looking for at least 200GB in the replacement drive.

    Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks!!!
     
    kentl901, Jul 1, 2010
    #1
  2. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    This really isn't the venue for your question. You should repost this over at Desktopreview.com, which is NBR's sister site.

    No, it should not be a problem for you. No, you should definitely NOT stick to an IDE drive.

    They may be more expensive (?) but SATA hard drives are dirt cheap. For $200 you can get yourself a 10k VelociRaptor with more storage in lieu of that 200GB IDE drive.
     
    garetjax, Jul 1, 2010
    #2
  3. MyOnlySt4r

    MyOnlySt4r Notebook Consultant

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    just get a 500gb/1tb 7200rpm drive for under 100.
     
    MyOnlySt4r, Jul 1, 2010
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  4. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    so do u have a IDE Drive or SATA drive .. i don't get it...
     
    sean473, Jul 1, 2010
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  5. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm currently running an IDE drive.

    Since SATA is faster and cheaper, I'm looking to move to that if possible.

    My main concern is whether my old motherboard would support the faster transfer speed of today's drive.

    My main concern is whether or not those drives that are rated at 3GB/s are backwards compatible for my MB that supports up to 150Mb/s.

    Thanks!!
     
    kentl901, Jul 1, 2010
    #5
  6. deeastman

    deeastman Notebook Deity

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    Yes, SATA I controllers will be able to deal with SATA II drives, but at SATA I speeds.

    First lets get the nomenclature correct. It is 3Gb/s (not 3GB/s) and your MB supports up to 150MB/s (not 150Gb/s). SATA transfers are 10 bit so for example 150MB/s = 1.5Gb/s and 300MB/s = 3.0 Gb/s.

    Yes your MB will support the faster drives, see my previous answer.
     
    deeastman, Jul 1, 2010
    #6
  7. deeastman

    deeastman Notebook Deity

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    His motherboard is rather unique. It has the capability of controlling IDE drives and also has a built in SATA controller so he can use either a IDE HD or SATA HD. I wish my old motherboard in my Sony Vaio desktop had that option :)
     
    deeastman, Jul 1, 2010
    #7
  8. G73Guy

    G73Guy Notebook Consultant

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    Desktopforums?
     
    G73Guy, Jul 1, 2010
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  9. MrFong

    MrFong Notebook Evangelist

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    The Seagate Barracude 7200.12 1TB has just 2 platters on it, which makes it pretty fast. And it's not that expensive, either.
     
    MrFong, Jul 2, 2010
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