Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Other Components > Transfer rates with rounded IDEs?

Transfer rates with rounded IDEs?

Forum CPU & Components : Other Components - Transfer rates with rounded IDEs?

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
kenshi   05-07-2006 at 06:31:41 PM

Hardly an emergency, but I'm planning on cleaning up my case with some rounded cables, and just wanted to know if anyone had noticed diminished transfer rates using the round versus the flat?

If it's going to take even longer to burn a dvd with the rounded cables, well...I might change my mind.

Thanks,

Kenshi

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
bigsby   05-07-2006 at 07:39:27 PM
- 0 +

There is no difference in speed between a rounded and flat IDE cables. They both have the smae number of wires, just one is bunched together so it can fit in tighter places.

Reply to bigsby
kenshi   05-07-2006 at 08:03:27 PM
- 0 +

Yeah, is seems that would be the logical answer. But I did read somewhere that due to the cables being bunched together tightly the heat dissipation was much less than a flat cable, and it could slow things down. Can't find any tests online to confirm this, though.

It's probably a non-issue. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Reply to kenshi
nagoogin   05-07-2006 at 08:32:33 PM
- 0 +

I hope that you haven't bought the rounded IDE cables yet. My advice would be to learn how to fold the flat cables. The cables will stay flush to your case and IMO it looks a million times better than rounded ones. I hope this helps! :P

Reply to nagoogin
WolfDragon   05-09-2006 at 08:48:21 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

Yeah, is seems that would be the logical answer. But I did read somewhere that due to the cables being bunched together tightly the heat dissipation was much less than a flat cable, and it could slow things down. Can't find any tests online to confirm this, though.

It's probably a non-issue. I'm sure I'll be fine.



You won't find any tests because the amount of power flowing through any single wire of an IDE cable is at least three times more insignificant than an gnat fart.

Its a high or low digital signal, thats it. There is literally no oomph behind it, which is why you can only have an IDE cable thats abotu the length of your arm.

No power = No heat to disappate

Reply to WolfDragon
Crashman   05-16-2006 at 06:11:54 AM
- 0 +

It IS possible for a rounded cable to have quality issues not seen in a flat cable, but not for the reason you might think: An 80-conductor 40-pin cable has ground wires between all the signal wires to reduce "cross talk", while a round cable has the wires "jumbled up" inside so that two data wires could run beside each other long enough to cause cross-talk.

The corrupt data from any cross-talk would have to be re-transmitted, which could in fact slow things down.

But YOU'RE talking about burning DVD's? That could be done at ATA33. In fact, most optical devices are ATA33, and ATA33 runs at a lower frequency where cross-talk wasn't a problem.

Reply to Crashman
ZOldDude   05-16-2006 at 06:29:02 AM
- 0 +

Quote :

There is no difference in speed between a rounded and flat IDE cables. They both have the smae number of wires, just one is bunched together so it can fit in tighter places.



If you don't care how it looks and just want the reduced area for better air flow don't buy them (unless you get them on sale for $1.99 like Fry's had last week) just wrap them with duct tape.

The left over tape and some baby oil to keep from sticking to skin might come in handy with the wife. :wink:

Z

Reply to ZOldDude
JonathanDeane   05-16-2006 at 06:29:47 AM
- 0 +

Quote :

It IS possible for a rounded cable to have quality issues not seen in a flat cable, but not for the reason you might think: An 80-conductor 40-pin cable has ground wires between all the signal wires to reduce "cross talk", while a round cable has the wires "jumbled up" inside so that two data wires could run beside each other long enough to cause cross-talk.

The corrupt data from any cross-talk would have to be re-transmitted, which could in fact slow things down.

But YOU'RE talking about burning DVD's? That could be done at ATA33. In fact, most optical devices are ATA33, and ATA33 runs at a lower frequency where cross-talk wasn't a problem.



Totaly correct but even on a HD I dont think that cross talk is too much of an issue ? at least I havent heard of anyone having any problems :)

Reply to JonathanDeane
hergieburbur   05-16-2006 at 06:58:06 AM
- 0 +

Cross-talk really only becomes an issue around ATA-100 and 133, and even then its minimal, since most drives struggle to reach 100MBps. I wouldn't worry about it.

FYI, when I was still running ATA, I used rounded cables with no noticable slow down. I use flat now for my DVD drive just because it's easier to manage in my particular case.

Reply to hergieburbur
RichPLS   05-16-2006 at 08:16:18 AM
- 0 +

I use rounded on my CD rom. And I used to use 2 rounded split into two cables for my 4 hard drives, two were RAID0, and it worked fine for me.

Reply to RichPLS
Crashman   05-16-2006 at 10:15:07 AM
- 0 +

Yes, I've never had a problem with folded cables, even though there's always the small chance of breaking a conductor I've never seen it. And yes, flat cables promote better airflow than round cables, when folded out of the way.

Reply to Crashman
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Other Components > Transfer rates with rounded IDEs?
Go to:

There are 1306 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.352 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them