i had planned to buy a sata disk or something 2 upgrade my pc(intel D845GE desktop board)was told that it only supports ata/100.is there any software to tell wat all formats(like SATA, ATA, serial ATA, etc,etc) supported by the pc?please reply, it's urgent! can someone tell me the best harddisk ( with gud speed, and light on pocket) supported by my motherboard.thanx
Harddisk Info. Help! Urgent
- Thread starter Lokesh
- Start date
- Replies 24
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Well SATA is a connector format, so you have to open your PC and see if it has SATA ports. ..hardware thingie my dear!!No software may help( there may be some s/w ..but what the heck!..) Also you can check in device manager, if any mention about SATA Controller is there or not.BTW I think the 845 thing is quite old system , and 99% it does not support SATA .Just buy a Seagate Hard Disk, 160GB , Pata (or IDE as its known) . Will come for around 3400 bux.
Go for a seagate 250GB Barracuda, similar price in terms of Rs/GB and more is usually better than less, giving more meaning to the term SIZE matters 
. In terms of performance or good, there is no such thing, these large drives are ok, if they are used in personal PCs. For these low prices, you have to make sure you back stuff up. What i do is buy dbl the Hds i use and sync to them on a monthly basis.There is one pottential problem with large HDs and old PCs. Namely that the BIOS will refuse to see more than 137GB, or LBA 48 problem. Now my pC is 5 yrs old and i set the HD to Auto-Detect in the BIOS. Since i use winXP SP2, the OS detects the HD correctly and i can use it to its rated capacity even tho the BIOS does not see more than 137GB. Not important as windows manages communications to the HD and bypasses BIOS when its up & running. Allowing me to add 3(or 4)x250GB but i also need the dvd-writer. Make sure that the partition you install Windows on is less than 137GB or just use the large HD as a slave for data storage and keep your original HD. If you use the larger HD for windows as well, windows will start up slightly faster as larger drives pack data in more densely and cosequently read more at the same RPM than smaller HDs.If the above does not work the max size HD you can use is a 120GB one unless you install a HD controller card in which case you can add SATA too if it supports it. Make sure the guy you buy from will allow you to switch to a smaller HD in case of a problem. Getting a controller card (promise) has been difficult o find here so i got a relative to pick one up from the US, < Rs.2k.Since your comp most likely has PATA connectors, the biggest drive you can atttach to it is the 400GB IDE one but at Rs.10k/piece its not worth the money right now. SATA1 offers 150MB/s vs your ata100 or UDMA5 that your HD currently offers. Not so interesting IMO, SATA2 is 300MB/s. If the 250GBs work, you could potentially have about 950GB at your disposal in your current PC, not worth getting a new PC just for that i think.My comp only has max UDMA4 (66MB/s) even older than yours and working great with 2x250Gb Seagates atm.
. In terms of performance or good, there is no such thing, these large drives are ok, if they are used in personal PCs. For these low prices, you have to make sure you back stuff up. What i do is buy dbl the Hds i use and sync to them on a monthly basis.There is one pottential problem with large HDs and old PCs. Namely that the BIOS will refuse to see more than 137GB, or LBA 48 problem. Now my pC is 5 yrs old and i set the HD to Auto-Detect in the BIOS. Since i use winXP SP2, the OS detects the HD correctly and i can use it to its rated capacity even tho the BIOS does not see more than 137GB. Not important as windows manages communications to the HD and bypasses BIOS when its up & running. Allowing me to add 3(or 4)x250GB but i also need the dvd-writer. Make sure that the partition you install Windows on is less than 137GB or just use the large HD as a slave for data storage and keep your original HD. If you use the larger HD for windows as well, windows will start up slightly faster as larger drives pack data in more densely and cosequently read more at the same RPM than smaller HDs.If the above does not work the max size HD you can use is a 120GB one unless you install a HD controller card in which case you can add SATA too if it supports it. Make sure the guy you buy from will allow you to switch to a smaller HD in case of a problem. Getting a controller card (promise) has been difficult o find here so i got a relative to pick one up from the US, < Rs.2k.Since your comp most likely has PATA connectors, the biggest drive you can atttach to it is the 400GB IDE one but at Rs.10k/piece its not worth the money right now. SATA1 offers 150MB/s vs your ata100 or UDMA5 that your HD currently offers. Not so interesting IMO, SATA2 is 300MB/s. If the 250GBs work, you could potentially have about 950GB at your disposal in your current PC, not worth getting a new PC just for that i think.My comp only has max UDMA4 (66MB/s) even older than yours and working great with 2x250Gb Seagates atm.chicmagnet
Regulars
250 gig ide is around 4k.... sata is around 4.4k and sata2 is around 4.6k
QUOTE(aniketvb @ May 22 2006, 11:42 PM) [snapback]52062[/snapback]
BTW I think the 845 thing is quite old system , and 99% it does not support SATA .
Just buy a Seagate Hard Disk, 160GB , Pata (or IDE as its known) . Will come for around 3400 bux.
[/b]
ya current disk is pata!
wat speeds shud i be gettin rite now( in this config: p4 2.4ghz, 4*133mhz fsb,etc)
am gettin only 25MB/s transfer rate.
QUOTE(blr_p @ May 24 2006, 11:33 AM) [snapback]52153[/snapback]
Go for a seagate 250GB Barracuda.............................
..................................... , not worth getting a new PC just for that i think.
My comp only has max UDMA4 (66MB/s) even older than yours and working great with 2x250Gb Seagates atm.
[/b]
well that's quite some info. and am reading and re-reading it to understand it ALL BETTER.
thanx for the info.
BTW I think the 845 thing is quite old system , and 99% it does not support SATA .
Just buy a Seagate Hard Disk, 160GB , Pata (or IDE as its known) . Will come for around 3400 bux.
[/b]
ya current disk is pata!
wat speeds shud i be gettin rite now( in this config: p4 2.4ghz, 4*133mhz fsb,etc)
am gettin only 25MB/s transfer rate.
QUOTE(blr_p @ May 24 2006, 11:33 AM) [snapback]52153[/snapback]
Go for a seagate 250GB Barracuda.............................
..................................... , not worth getting a new PC just for that i think.
My comp only has max UDMA4 (66MB/s) even older than yours and working great with 2x250Gb Seagates atm.
[/b]
well that's quite some info. and am reading and re-reading it to understand it ALL BETTER.
thanx for the info.
Well with a p4 i can say you dont have to worry about HD's > 120GBs working in your machine.
..where did u get the 25MB/s figure from ?
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
my first guess would be to check the IDE cables are 80conductor as opposed to 40 conductor as they will restict your speeds to UDMA-2 or 33MB/s (sounds close to your figure)
if you dont know the diff, look at yours first then go to a shop and ask them to show you the 2 cables. 80 conductor cables have twice the amt of wires compared to 40 and are very closely spaced. Another way is to see the colour of the two ends, usually the end that plugs into the mobo is blue. 40 wil be black on both ends.
Standard (40-Conductor) IDE/ATA Cables
Ultra DMA (80-Conductor) IDE/ATA Cables
..where did u get the 25MB/s figure from ?
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
my first guess would be to check the IDE cables are 80conductor as opposed to 40 conductor as they will restict your speeds to UDMA-2 or 33MB/s (sounds close to your figure)
if you dont know the diff, look at yours first then go to a shop and ask them to show you the 2 cables. 80 conductor cables have twice the amt of wires compared to 40 and are very closely spaced. Another way is to see the colour of the two ends, usually the end that plugs into the mobo is blue. 40 wil be black on both ends.
Standard (40-Conductor) IDE/ATA Cables
Ultra DMA (80-Conductor) IDE/ATA Cables
QUOTE(blr_p @ May 25 2006, 12:46 AM) [snapback]52230[/snapback]
..where did u get the 25MB/s figure from ?
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
[/b]
well the figure was from pcpitstop.com
used sandra 2007 LITE to check again after reading your post and the result was:
test conducted: physical disks benchmark
drive: samsung SV4012H (ATA)
test: Read performance
values returned--> drive index=32MB/s and Random access time= 15ms
test: write performance
values: perhaps later as the disk is full
QUOTE(blr_p @ May 25 2006, 12:46 AM) [snapback]52230[/snapback]
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
[/b]
intel application accele. shows support till UDMA-5.
can updating the drivers (of motherboard) help???? how to tell which drivers to install(i.e. where can i get the updated drivers!)
..where did u get the 25MB/s figure from ?
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
[/b]
well the figure was from pcpitstop.com
used sandra 2007 LITE to check again after reading your post and the result was:
test conducted: physical disks benchmark
drive: samsung SV4012H (ATA)
test: Read performance
values returned--> drive index=32MB/s and Random access time= 15ms
test: write performance
values: perhaps later as the disk is full
QUOTE(blr_p @ May 25 2006, 12:46 AM) [snapback]52230[/snapback]
with your setup it should be much faster, 5 times faster, i think ur machine can support UDMA-6 or 133MB/s HDs.
[/b]
intel application accele. shows support till UDMA-5.
can updating the drivers (of motherboard) help???? how to tell which drivers to install(i.e. where can i get the updated drivers!)