jiler
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ATA/66 80-Cond. Cable on ATA/33
I've heard that ATA/66 80-conductor IDE ribbon cables reduce crosstalk. Can these cables be used on ATA/33 drives and would there be any benefit to using them?
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1cell
as far I know, you cannot use the 80pin cable on a standard IDE drive. If you can, it wont do you much good as the only difference between the cables is bandwidth and an IDE drive would not use it.
> would there be any benefit to using them?
1. Yes, the vendor makes more money (from you) by selling you the "high-performance" ribbon-cables.
2. Yes, if the computer is in a "hostile" environment, i.e., in a university's physics research lab, with lots of high-voltage electrical fields nearby.
1. Yes, the vendor makes more money (from you) by selling you the "high-performance" ribbon-cables.
2. Yes, if the computer is in a "hostile" environment, i.e., in a university's physics research lab, with lots of high-voltage electrical fields nearby.
ASKER
The ad I saw claimed the 80-conductor cable "significantly enhances system performance by increasing READ/WRITE data transfer speeds by 95% and 56%," and that it "provides more reliable data transfer by eliminating errors and reducing signal crosstalk at drive speeds of 33 MB/s and higher."
Since even ATA/33 drives simply don't achieve this type of sustained transfer, I simply considered it advertising hype.
Since even ATA/33 drives simply don't achieve this type of sustained transfer, I simply considered it advertising hype.
1cell
FYI
It's not an 80pin it's a 40 pin, 80 wire and they are backward compatible but it won't enhanced an ATA33.
FYI
It's not an 80pin it's a 40 pin, 80 wire and they are backward compatible but it won't enhanced an ATA33.
woops, thanks sorgie, guess I shouldn't try to do so many things at once.
anyway, the ATA cable and ATA transfer method for that matter doesn't even significantly help on all ATA drives. From what I have found, drive with RPM of less than 7200 don't use the bandwidth of the ATA interface. Running some tests with identical hard drives and systems, one using ATA cable and one using standard IDE cable, I found that the performance increase came with drives above 7200RPM and even then was not incredibly significant. Simply, it booted a little bit faster and opened programs a little bit faster. Again, nothing incredibly significant.
anyway, the ATA cable and ATA transfer method for that matter doesn't even significantly help on all ATA drives. From what I have found, drive with RPM of less than 7200 don't use the bandwidth of the ATA interface. Running some tests with identical hard drives and systems, one using ATA cable and one using standard IDE cable, I found that the performance increase came with drives above 7200RPM and even then was not incredibly significant. Simply, it booted a little bit faster and opened programs a little bit faster. Again, nothing incredibly significant.
ASKER
Ah, but isn't that the whole idea -- booting faster and opening programs a little faster? Granted, ATA/66 hasn't come into its own just yet. So far, it doesn't matter how fast the conveyor belt runs when the guy doing the shoveling can't keep up. And that's about the way things now stand with ATA/66.