IDE cable drives

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SuperCheetah

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How do you tell the difference between IDE cables and what speeds they support? Reason I ask is because I borrowed an IDE cable from my roomate and I don't know if it supports ATA100 or not.

I suppose it'll slow drives down if the cable isn't fast enough, so I what to get all the speed I can out of my drives. Thanks for any input.
 
ATA 60/100:

twstore_1695_418838


ATA 33:

twstore_1694_2283628




The newer style cables are smoother to the touch and tend to have a blue connector on one end.
 
Interesting, only one of the IDE cables I have now has a blue connector on the end. Guess I need some new cables. I'll probably end of getting some rounded ones from Newegg.

The one I borrowed came from an old PII computer so its no surprise its not an ATA100 cable. This could be a reason I didn't see a significant improvement when I raided my two hard drives.

Well, I guess we'll see when I get some new IDE cables. On a side note, I went to Best Buy and the only cables they had were ATA66!!! I was very surprised about this, because I figured Best Buy would have at least one ATA100 cable, but nope none. Anyways, I have no problems ordering from Newegg, so I guess I'll do that.

Update: Well I just ordered 3 new ATA133 cables that are red and rounded so I should be set to go. Hopefully they'll be in by Wednesday and I'll be screaming along once again.
 
Originally posted by SuperCheetah
Well, I guess we'll see when I get some new IDE cables. On a side note, I went to Best Buy and the only cables they had were ATA66!!! I was very surprised about this, because I figured Best Buy would have at least one ATA100 cable, but nope none.
ATA66 and ATA100 Cables are the same.
 
Originally posted by SNGX1275

ATA66 and ATA100 Cables are the same.

Just curious, but could you elaborate on this. I don't understand how they could be the same if they support hard drives at different speeds. Not saying your wrong or anything, just wondering the reasoning behind it.
 
Dunno how else SN could say it - they are identical cables. 80 wire 40 pin IDE cables are ATA100 (which is backward compatible). No other secret to it.

LNCPapa
 
Basically, as far as I know, the older style cable are only good for ATA33, regardless of what the controllers or hard drives support. To get ATA66 or 100, one would require the newer style cables.
 
Where I am confused here:

In IDE, it means Intelligent Drive Electronics.

The controller (unlike in SCSI) is built into each drive.

Therefore, the master device on each channel, is the controller for both drives.

So..... Does an ATA66 drive master drive both an IDE 66 (itself) and a slave (perhaps ATA 100) at ATA66???? I think so.

Therefore, one must take care in motherboard, drive, cable and IDE master selection before configuration, IMHO.

Comments anyone???
 
if i remember correctly,
the speed is no depend on the master device.
it's depend the on slower device.
if you have a 33 and a 100 on the same IDE cable, both will run at 33.
plz correct me if i am wrong
 
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