SATA vs ATA 100

CathJ

CathJ

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What's the difference between a SATA drive, and a ATA 100 drive? Are they physically different, or is one just faster than the other?

In other words, can I just buy the cheaper one, or do I need find out which one will work with my laptop?
 
Yeah, the way they connect to your motherboard is architecturally different. They use different cables and, as far as I know, laptops take either or (most new desktop motherboards take both). SATA is much faster, but if your laptop doesn't support the connection you won't be able to use it. You can tell the difference by looking at your harddrive - if you have a connector with 47/48 pins it is an IDE connection (or ATA), whereas the SATA has a little L-shaped connector, and an extra L-shaped connector for your power.
 
The biggest advantage of SATA over PATA is that the cable it uses is smaller which results in better airflow.
 
WKJ?:beanie said:
The biggest advantage of SATA over PATA is that the cable it uses is smaller which results in better airflow.
Click to expand...

Big into your notebook aerodynamics? I hear the Ferrari laptop had to do 72 hours in the wind tunnel in Maranello before it could be sold. :D
 
timgaul said:
Big into your notebook aerodynamics? I hear the Ferrari laptop had to do 72 hours in the wind tunnel in Maranello before it could be sold. :D
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that it's the biggest advantage over PATA. It's been discussed on these forums before, PATA's data transfer speed is enough for just about every hard drive. According to Wikipedia:

In current PCs, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s already greatly exceeds the sustainable (non-burst) transfer rate of even the best hard disks
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But I still prefer SATA :D
 
bdt said:
..make/model of laptop - we'll get what kind of drive you use from there.
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It's a Dell Latitude D510 - about 2 years old. I tried looking in the Device Manager, and in the BIOS, but can't still can't really figure out which it uses. And I'd rather not open up it more times than I have to!
 
What about taking it to a computer shop and asking them ?
I see you from Cape Town, contact: [email protected]
I'm sure he'd be willing to help you, he has sorted me out so many times (with my laptops that i've owned and PC's) in the past and he cares about 'your' stuff so you know you're in good hands!
 
gdiza said:
What about taking it to a computer shop and asking them ?
I see you from Cape Town, contact: [email protected]
I'm sure he'd be willing to help you, he has sorted me out so many times (with my laptops that i've owned and PC's) in the past and he cares about 'your' stuff so you know you're in good hands!
Click to expand...

I just don't have the time. I have no problem with opening it up to check - I've worked on plenty of PCs, just never on a laptop. I was just hoping that there would be a way to tell without opening it up, closing it again, then ordering, then opening, putting in the new drive, and and closing it up again.
 
goto Device Manager, get the exact model number of your hard drive. Google it.
 
PeterCH said:
Look in your BIOS Setup.
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I thought it would be there, but oddly enough it isn't.

I'll google the hdd model number this evening - otherwise I'll just open up the laptop and see which connector it's got.
 
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