Apacer Introduces Lineup of PATA SSDs

[RedundantInk]

For those still using an IDE / PATA interface, Apacer's new range of SSDs may offer a viable upgrade.

Apacer Introduces Lineup of PATA SSDs : Read more

 

[danwat1234]

MWDMA?? ;;
ATA/ATAPI - version numbers of ATA/ATAPI standards supported by your HDD. Most modern HDD supports 4 version of standard.

Maximum PIO supported mode - PIO is the faster mode of transfer operation when default, but it uses the CPU for transferring data. Maximum mode always supports lower modes - for example, if your HDD supports PIO mode 4 - it also supports PIO 3, PIO 2-1

Maximum Multi Word DMA (MWDMA) mode - multi word DMA mode is the mode of transfer operations that use DMA - so it doesn't use the CPU while transferring data - so you can do make anything else while your HDD is working. MWDMA mode-2 = 16.6MB/s

Ultra DMA mode - new mode supported mostly in Pentium and other high-end systems. In this mode it also keeps the CPU free while the system transfers data, but it can work faster than MWDMA mode.

 

[Thunderfox]

PATA is limited to 133 MB/s. There are mechanical drives which are faster than this. The only benefit of a PATA SSD would be the lack of seek latency, but it still seems like a very niche market.

 

[bgunner]

Due to the slow transfer speeds of IDE it doesn"t seem to be cost effective even for a business to spend this kind of cash on.

 

[ipwn3r456]

I don't think it's a good idea to introduce this, if anyone still owns a computer with PATA connectivity, the hardwares itself aren't good enough for modern applications. Even with a PATA SSD, it won't improve as much. Better off buying a new computer.

 

[ianj14]

I still use a laptop from 2006 with a PATA interface, running Win7 respectably. It could benefit from better seek times though. No prices are in the article, but given the specs of the drives, it wouldn't surprise me if they were more expensive than simply buying a new laptop with a SATA interface. So I suspect these drives are aimed at enterprise-level use where for whatever reason, upgrading isn't a viable option.

 

[dark_knight33]

[citation][nom]Thunderfox[/nom]PATA is limited to 133 MB/s. There are mechanical drives which are faster than this. The only benefit of a PATA SSD would be the lack of seek latency, but it still seems like a very niche market.[/citation]

The benefit you'd get from SSD on PATA is primarily in the enormous Random IOPS, and not usually in max seq R/W speed. You'd still see incredibly reduced boot times, and significantly lower power usage.

As to the cost, if it were any more than a small PATA/SATA conversion board & a SATA SSD, I'd have to take a hard look at benchmarks to justify the added amount.

 

[Soda-88]

PC without SATA controller shouldn't be bottlenecked by (newer) mechanical HDD in the first place.

 

[Geekster99]

Seems traditional 2.5-inch PATA drives are close to extinction - NewEgg and ProVantage each only carry one, the 80GB 5400RPM WD800BEVE. So if these new drives offer additional options.

 

[Usersname]

Would be nice to know prices and availability as these may well fit the iPod Classic. I'd be very keen to try one out if the price is right.

 

[randomstar]

I think the best market for these is industrial settings where reliability, and the ability to keep a piece of equipment running that may be expensive to replace, and survivability in harsh enviroments are important.
I know many plants that have very expensive process controllers where the manages are stressing every day about the possability of drive failure taking the plant out of service - this would fix that.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]Thunderfox[/nom]PATA is limited to 133 MB/s. There are mechanical drives which are faster than this. The only benefit of a PATA SSD would be the lack of seek latency, but it still seems like a very niche market.[/citation]

personally i would take 20mbps read write and no seek time, than maxing an ide and haveing 16+ms seek times.

[citation][nom]bgunner[/nom]Due to the slow transfer speeds of IDE it doesn"t seem to be cost effective even for a business to spend this kind of cash on.[/citation]

its not about transfer speed, if you ever used a hdd as a boot, and than moved to a ssd boot, you will see the difference it makes in seconds, everything is responsive almost 100% of the time, where as a harddrive can take a few seconds to minutes to fully open folders.

[citation][nom]ipwn3r456[/nom]I don't think it's a good idea to introduce this, if anyone still owns a computer with PATA connectivity, the hardwares itself aren't good enough for modern applications. Even with a PATA SSD, it won't improve as much. Better off buying a new computer.[/citation]

lets think of this in terms of a system critical machine and a program that is no longer delveloped.
lets say that seek time is a factor to system responsive ness,

you get more productivity out of it because of the seek time, without needing to replace full infrostructures because of it.

now im sure there are things in a factory that can benefit from this, that would cost multiple millions to replace

remember computers are in everything.

[citation][nom]Usersname[/nom]Would be nice to know prices and availability as these may well fit the iPod Classic. I'd be very keen to try one out if the price is right.[/citation]

well, lets see here... its a bare minimum of 250$ for the ssd, than they are aiming at enterprise, so lets times that by 4, and now useing an un used interface... ok... lets just say that the price will be very VERY high, but also may be wroth it for the enterprise market.

 

[dimar]

[citation][nom]Thunderfox[/nom]PATA is limited to 133 MB/s. There are mechanical drives which are faster than this. The only benefit of a PATA SSD would be the lack of seek latency, but it still seems like a very niche market.[/citation]

There still should be huge benefit for 512k/4k transfers. You are talking about sequential speed. Wouldn't this also have benefits on noise, battery life, and shake/drop resistance?

 

[digitalrazoe]

aaah .. My P4 will still live!!!

 

[COLGeek]

Show me the actual benchmarks! Seems like overkill.

 

[Branden]

i'd be curious what one of these PATA SSDs would do in my 2004 era XP laptop.
if one could be had for

 

[belardo]

These are aimed at non-consumer markets, simple as that. There is various heavy equipment that runs a computer that is old (5+) that are running PATA... some of these devices may costs $20,000~100,000. When the HD dies, a small capacity SSD Drive will do.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]belardo[/nom]These are aimed at non-consumer markets, simple as that. There is various heavy equipment that runs a computer that is old (5+) that are running PATA... some of these devices may costs $20,000~100,000. When the HD dies, a small capacity SSD Drive will do.[/citation]

think larger, i could see something that cost multiple millions and functionally has no reason to be replaced, needs a new drive...

so something built before sata that hangs because a hdd was the best they could do at the time

 

[bgunner]

[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]its not about transfer speed, if you ever used a hdd as a boot, and than moved to a ssd boot, you will see the difference it makes in seconds, everything is responsive almost 100% of the time, where as a harddrive can take a few seconds to minutes to fully open folders.[/citation]

I do have an SSD OCZ Vertex 3 to be exact so I am well aware of the upsides to them. My original comment still stands.

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]bgunner[/nom]I do have an SSD OCZ Vertex 3 to be exact so I am well aware of the upsides to them. My original comment still stands.[/citation]

Not really. Any system that could use drives such as these isn't one that needs huge total performance. These could be very useful for greatly reducing potential down times on older systems.

 

[belardo]

Yep, Blazorthorn.

There are computerized machine shop equipment that NEED storage space... that are not easy to simply replace the whole motherboard, just because of HDD failure. On many of these, a 20GB HD would be more than enough storage space.

 

[stoatwblr]

As others have said - these are for industrial computers and have operational specs reflecting this.

Integral Z-series PATA (among others) are available for domestic use. No idea how they perform but I've ordered one to try out in an old laptop. It can't be much worse than the 8 year old 5400rpm drive already in there.

 

[bgunner]

As others have said - these are for industrial computers and have operational specs reflecting this.

Integral Z-series PATA (among others) are available for domestic use. No idea how they perform but I've ordered one to try out in an old laptop. It can't be much worse than the 8 year old 5400rpm drive already in there.

as seeing your post this seems to be the most common use of these drives. as industry goes " why spend 2-3 times as much on a hadrdrive than what you have to? Why spend more than you have to to make money? the point is to make money not spend it on a non return.

 

[stoatwblr]

as seeing your post this seems to be the most common use of these drives. as industry goes " why spend 2-3 times as much on a hadrdrive than what you have to? Why spend more than you have to to make money? the point is to make money not spend it on a non return.

The higher price comes with a longer warranty and a greater level of confidence.

FWIW the PATA Z-series drive is still chugging along happily but I've lost a couple of 64Gb SATA Z-series drives used on busier machines. (lesson, they have low write endurance)

(Lesson 2: SSDs are far more robust than Spinning media. I don't even bother putting spinning drives in laptops anymore, especially if they've come in from the field with a drive busted because the machine got dropped.)

Backups are your best friend. That way a dead drive is a nuisance not a disaster.