All modern drives are EIDE. IDE was the original ATA standard, known as ATA-1. It could only transfer in PIO modes at rates up to 8.3mb/s. It is now obsolete.
EIDE is used to describe all subsequent ATA standards (ATA-2, -3 ... -6). I think technically it only refers to ATA-2 or -3, and subsequent standards are just referred to as ATA-4, ATA-5, or ATA-6, but in common reference most drives that support the newer ATA standards are still listed as EIDE.
So from a practical standpoint, you don't need to worry about it -- you can't buy an "IDE" drive today.
Main Topics
Browse All Topics





by: CallandorPosted on 2005-10-07 at 10:20:48ID: 15040442
EIDE is Enhanced IDE, which supports larger drives and faster accesses. Nowadays, when referring to IDE drives, it means EIDE drives and the terms are used interchangeably. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wi ki/EIDE for the history and specs.