converting ide/pata to sata hard drive

urshobhit · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 10:28 AM

guys i have compaq presario 5000 series dekstop pc i.e p4 1.5, 384 mb ram . current there are two hard disk installed one is 160 gb and one is 40 gb which is pata but now i want to add an sata hard drive by converting pata/ide port to sata . so i want know that which is the best ide to sata converter and will this affect the performance of my pc and what will be my data transfer speed after converting to sata as compare to the default one pata. waiting for quick reply guys.

Digerati · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 02:09 PM

You have several options. This one is nice. The performance is the same as if you connected a PATA drive.

You also have the option of adding a PCI to SATA II Card. This one supports one internal and one external SATA II drives, but there are other configurations, some only internal, some with 2 or 4 external.

Note these are pretty low tech devices, meaning getting a brand name to ensure quality is probably not a big issue. Avoid the cheapest, but you don't have to get the most expensive either.

urshobhit · #3 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 03:23 PM

thanks for ur reply but tell me one think i have read that data transfer speed of pata drive is 100mb/sec and sata drive is 3gb/sec so please tell me howm much speed i will get and in the above 2 option what will be the better option.

and there is one more question i did have usb 1.0 on pc so i added one pci usb card 2.0 but i am not getting proper performance as compare to other usb 2.0 which pre installed by the company . my usb 2.0 card transfer 700mb in 3 minutes but on other computers same can be transfered in 30 sec to 1 minutes . so please tell me the solution to get better transfer speed .

Digerati · #4 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 04:09 PM

There are too many variables but it is generally safe to say the SATA drive will offer better performance than a PATA drive. But that stops at the interface, after which, the rest of the computer comes into play, and performance is then impacted by the amount of RAM present, CPU, motherboard clocks, etc. Without native SATA II support on the motherboard, everything is a compromise when trying to adapt new technology to legacy hardware.

Note the PCI bus has a maximum [theoretical] data transfer rate of 133MB/sec. USB 1.1 = 12 Mbps (1.5 MB/sec), USB 2.0 = 480 Mbps (60 MB/sec), USB 3.0 = 4.8 Gbps (600 MB/sec).

urshobhit · #5 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 04:19 PM

sir i want to know that should i buy pci sata card or sata to ide converter which one will be better for me ?

Digerati · #6 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

sir i want to know that should i buy pci sata card or sata to ide converter which one will be better for me ?

That depends on your future requirements. If you will only EVER need to do this with just a single drive, then the SATA to PATA adapter would work fine. But using a card offers the advantage of being able to connect 1 or more SATA drives, internally, as well as 1 or more externally. Personally, if only one drive is involved, I would prefer the adapter as then I am using the motherboard PATA controller, and no additional drivers need be installed. And is does support some good speeds. But as noted earlier, regardless the method used, performance depends on many other factors as mentioned, but also the drive's own specifications, such as buffer size, seek and transfer speeds. Ultimately, the speed of the rest of your aging hardware may be your biggest bottleneck. You should start budgeting for a new computer. I say computer, because the new motherboard will probably support a different CPU socket requiring a new CPU, new RAM support so you will need new RAM, PCIe for new graphics (if not on-board), and new power supply to run the new motherboard/CPU/RAM and graphics card.

So is the case with rapidly evolving technologies.

Digerati · #7 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 09:04 PM

Sorry for the delays. This thread will reopen shortly.

Digerati · #8 (**permalink**) 02-10-2009, 12:31 AM

Okay. We are back. Sorry about that.

The now removed posts suggested to return the SATA, if possible and used a PATA drive instead, the argument being there would no performance increase over PATA. I said above,

Quote:

There are too many variables but it is generally safe to say the SATA drive will offer better performance than a PATA drive. But that stops at the interface, after which, the rest of the computer comes into play, and performance is then impacted by the amount of RAM present, CPU, motherboard clocks, etc.

PATA drives are ancient technolgy drives. They also tend to have smaller buffers, as little as 2Mb, and typically 8 and rarely more than 16Mb. While large (500 to 750) SATA3.0 drives with 32Mb buffers are available for less than $70.

A faster drive will get the data to and from the interface faster. Therefore, unless the interface is swamped all the time, regardless if SATA or PATA, the CPU will get, and be able to hand off the data faster. So using a SATA with a large buffer will help performance in terms of finding and accessing the data. This includes Page Fle access.

Going with SATA instead of PATA is a wise choice too because you can carry a new SATA drive over to a new motherboard 2, 3 or more years down the road. PATA technology is 20 years old. New motherboards now only support one PATA connection. It may not be long before there are none.

urshobhit · #9 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 03:17 PM

thanks for your reply my doubt is clear now . please tell me one more thing that as i mentioned above that i have converted my usb 1.0 to usb 2.0 by pci usb 2.0 card but speed is not that good so please suggest me should i buy an external usb hardisk or sata hard disk and how much will be the speed difference i am asking this because i am also planning to buy an new laptop so sata hdd will not as usefull as external usb hard disk because i can use external hard disk on my laptop also so please tell me what should i buy my current usb 2.0 data transfer speed is 700mb in 3 minutes.

is it pci usb 3.0 card are available ?

Digerati · #10 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 06:17 PM

This too depends on the same other factors - including amount of RAM and CPU. Frankly, I have never been happy with USB performance. While 2.0 is faster than 1.0, the speed is still determined by the slowest link.

Quote:

i am also planning to buy an new laptop so sata hdd will not as usefull as external usb hard disk because i can use external hard disk on my laptop

I don't understand what you mean here. Your new laptop will likely support SATA, and may include an eSATA for an SATA external drive, or you can get an adapter.

Remember, there is no such thing as a USB drive. A USB enclosure connects to the computer by USB, but inside it contains either a PATA or SATA drive. So you may want to buy an SATA drive now, then install it in an enclosure when you get your notebook.

Also note that USB3.0 devices will be appearing soon. USB3.0 promises to be faster, and more reliable than 2.0. We'll see. In any case, if the computer is under powered for today's standards, it will remain your weakest link.