32-Bit File Transfers??

[PRELUDiCON]

CPU: 2.6c
MOBO: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe
HDD1: MAXTOR 120GB w/8MB Cache @ 7200RPM
HDD2: MAXTOR 300GB w/16MB Cache @ 7200RPM

Question:

In my BIOS setup, when I choose any of the above Hard Drives... I get taken to another page full of options... all are selected as AUTO... except the last one "32-Bit File Transfers" is set to DISABLED... with the only other option being ENABLED...

What does this mean?
What would ENABLING it do in terms of performance?

 

[Nodsu]

The ATA interface transfers data 16 bits at a time (we had 16-bit PCs when the standard came out). Since modern PCs are 32-bit then it is more worthwhile to take two of those 16-bit chunks and transfer them to the CPU or memory together.

It will give you a small performance boost if you enable that option.

 

[PRELUDiCON]

The ATA interface transfers data 16 bits at a time (we had 16-bit PCs when the standard came out). Since modern PCs are 32-bit then it is more worthwhile to take two of those 16-bit chunks and transfer them to the CPU or memory together.

It will give you a small performance boost if you enable that option.

Thanks for reply.

Forgot to mention [doubt it changes anything] that the drives are S-ATA.

If it will give me a 'small' perfomance boost to enable this option... just curious as to why it is disabled by default?? :suspiciou

 

[Nodsu]

No idea.. Maybe just a precaution to make sure everything works - SATA is a relatively new technology and may have glitches.

It will not be two times faster or anything close. You will probably not even notice the difference.