Need Advise on a pc parts

[guyver2077]

IM building a pc for the first time with a sata hardrive. I want to know if its worth it over a regular ide hd. Id be getting a 7200 rpm sata hd. 10,000 to expensive.

Do sata hardrives require a special power connector? I was looking online and someone posted that they dont take the regular 4 pin power cables.

Also will i need to have a floppy drive to install the hd? i notice almost everyone says to have a floppy drive to install. Is this a tedious process?

Bottom line is it worth it? Any good deals ?

[RAMSTORIA]

well, you more than likely will never need a floppy, i always put them in my computers anyway because you can find them dirt cheap, and you never know (although you pretty much know i havent used mine in probably 2 years)

[hasaki_cb]

None of my systems have SATA so I can't comment on whether it is better than IDE from experience - (2 laptops, an old desktop, and a newer desktop just for pc games).

Whether a SATA drive requires a special power connector is drive dependant. Some will take the standard 4 pin cables used on IDE drives, but they should all at least have a connector for the SATA power cable as well. The connector for it looks just like the data connector but wider.

You will need a floppy drive if you want to make the SATA drive your boot drive, unless your OS has the drivers for your SATA card/chipset already available (Linux distros are the only thing I can think of that could even possibly include it).

For Windows 2000/XP installs:
Check your SATA card or motherboard manufacturer's manual for how to make the driver diskette. Once you have the driver diskette made pop your 2000/XP CD in and watch the text at the bottom for it say to press a key to load additional SCSI drivers....press it a couple times then wait until you're prompted for the driver, IIRC you have to hit enter to load a new driver; you put the disk in it loads it then you press Esc to continue the install.

Linux:
You're on your own with this

Win 98SE/ME:
You might not be able to use a SATA drive as your boot device; not positive about that though. Check your SATA card/mobo manual to find out.

[guyver2077]

None of my systems have SATA so I can't comment on whether it is better than IDE from experience - (2 laptops, an old desktop, and a newer desktop just for pc games).

Whether a SATA drive requires a special power connector is drive dependant. Some will take the standard 4 pin cables used on IDE drives, but they should all at least have a connector for the SATA power cable as well. The connector for it looks just like the data connector but wider.

You will need a floppy drive if you want to make the SATA drive your boot drive, unless your OS has the drivers for your SATA card/chipset already available (Linux distros are the only thing I can think of that could even possibly include it).

For Windows 2000/XP installs:
Check your SATA card or motherboard manufacturer's manual for how to make the driver diskette. Once you have the driver diskette made pop your 2000/XP CD in and watch the text at the bottom for it say to press a key to load additional SCSI drivers....press it a couple times then wait until you're prompted for the driver, IIRC you have to hit enter to load a new driver; you put the disk in it loads it then you press Esc to continue the install.

Linux:
You're on your own with this

Win 98SE/ME:
You might not be able to use a SATA drive as your boot device; not positive about that though. Check your SATA card/mobo manual to find out.


thanks for the info..

so are seagate the fastest hd's..ive heard nothing of good things from them. ive always used maxtor and havent had a prob with them but it seems they are a tad slower than others in seek time

[guyver2077]

damn i ordered a case but i dont know if it has a sata power connector. the seagates that im looking at all use that cable.

[jam3582]

I built my pc back in december and I have one western digital raptor Serial ata HDD. Its a 74 gb 10,000 rpm drive. You will need the floppy to install the drivers for the HDD . To me serial ata is much faster windows boots up in a few seconds .

whenever im on my regular HDDs I can acess my files much quicker on the serial ata HDD. and yeah they do require a special connector but I think the Harddrives come with it because mine came with one. If your not to sure you could always order one they are I think about 3 dollars.

Another reason why its good to go with serial ata is because you can conect more than 2 and its cheaper than SCSI drives .

[guyver2077]

I built my pc back in december and I have one western digital raptor Serial ata HDD. Its a 74 gb 10,000 rpm drive. You will need the floppy to install the drivers for the HDD . To me serial ata is much faster windows boots up in a few seconds .

whenever im on my regular HDDs I can acess my files much quicker on the serial ata HDD. and yeah they do require a special connector but I think the Harddrives come with it because mine came with one. If your not to sure you could always order one they are I think about 3 dollars.

Another reason why its good to go with serial ata is because you can conect more than 2 and its cheaper than SCSI drives .

is there a link to one of these adapters?

EDIT FOUND IT....but damn shipping kinda kills it

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812105409


EDIT AGAIN.. actually noticed my motherboard already brings this adapter...awesome!!

[guyver2077]

might as well post this in here as well...

what is a good site to buy cosmetic things like illuminated keyboards?

[opportunity777]

I didn't need a floppy to install a SATA HDD on a newer nForce board. The speed increase imo is significant over standard IDE drives. Not quite as fast as an Atlas 10 or 15K though.

[crickett003]

might as well post this in here as well...

what is a good site to buy cosmetic things like illuminated keyboards?

www.geeks.com is a good place to get parts & acces.

here's a couple of illuminated keyboards from them:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SIL-USBPS2-2160-WB&cat=MOU

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-USBPS2-2160-WB&cat=MOU

[guyver2077]

www.geeks.com is a good place to get parts & acces.

here's a couple of illuminated keyboards from them:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SIL-USBPS2-2160-WB&cat=MOU

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-USBPS2-2160-WB&cat=MOU


awesome thanks...


anyone know anything about nvidias turbo cache pci-e cards....

like this one is 32mb

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321932

or this one which is 128mb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150097

[RedvsBlue]

I used a SATA HDD with my computer I built and I never needed a floppy disc to install it. Also another reason a SATA drive is better than IDE is because the cable is a hell of a lot smaller.

[guyver2077]

awesome thanks...


anyone know anything about nvidias turbo cache pci-e cards....

like this one is 32mb

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321932

or this one which is 128mb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150097

bump