how long can the IDE cable be?

[10GHZ]

i'm up to the near final stage for my case mod. and i need 2 get some round IDE cable for my moddded hardisk. since it sits way up at the top of the server case, i think it's a fare way from the IDE slots on the mobo, i'm thinking about getting the 75mm round IDE cable, but i know there's a length limit for the IDE cable, i can't remember exactly how long, anyone know?

 

[khha4113]

24inches or 610mm.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[HammerBot]

Remember that round cables are not as 'effective' as 80 wires flatcables when it comes to suppressing wire crosstalk. So if you get problems with a long round cable, try an equal length flat 80pin cable.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

The maximum length specified for ata specifications is 18 inches (45cm).
however, longer cables of 24, 30 and even 36 inches in length exist!
beware though, the longer the cable the greater the risk of data corruption due to transmission errors.

example. i used 24 inch (60cm) rounded cables for a while and they were error free at stock speeds (133fsb, 33pci). however as soon as i raised the fsb with overclocking i got a bucketload of data corruption. when i switched to shorter cables, the problem dissapeared.

NOTE: some places sell <b>shielded</b> rounded IDE cables. these supposedly reduce EMI interference and reduce noise on the cable, thus allowing you to use longer cables than normal.
how effective they are is somewhat debatable.

<b>Before visiting THG i was a clueless noob. Now im still clueless, but look at my nice title!<b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by lhgpoobaa on 08/13/02 03:00 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[jihiggs]

ive seen a scsi cable at a shop before, seriously 6 feet long, with 7 connectors, whats the deal with that? there was nothing special, just simple grey ribon.

how do you shoot the devil in the back? what happens if you miss? -verbal

 

[Scotty35]

Yep. SCSI is way different to IDE man.
Dont even try to compare that cable to IDE.

Generally a IDE cable is best at 45CM or 18". With SCSI it is a whole different ball game.

<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/index.php" target="_new">A better place to be</A>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

well thats scsi. very different from IDE. from ememory scsi cables can have up to 15 devices on them and be meters long.

<b>P4 'Wilty' Celleron 1.7, 128Mb PC100 Cas3 SDRAM, 5400rpm HDD, Integrated everything. YUM!<b>

 

[ejsmith2]

Yeah.

What the H3ll is the point of buying an external scsi device?

Hello, with a hotrack, everything is external.

And scr3w that case cooling; a nice house fan and a hotrack ()wNz IDE.

My Kingdom ('cause that's what it'll cost) for a 4 channel scsi controller...

 

[10GHZ]

i think i need a 75cm long cable...if i can get the shielded ones, will that be ok?

 

[lhgpoobaa]

yikes! 75cm! honestly i dont know. make sure u get a good warantee on it if u do, and thouroughtly test it for ide errors.

<b>P4 'Wilty' Celleron 1.7, 128Mb PC100 Cas3 SDRAM, 5400rpm HDD, Integrated everything. YUM!<b>

 

[10GHZ]

yep, they 75cm alrite, at least that's what's listed on the price list. well i'll never know if they'll work or not if i dont try.. but dosn't manufacturers suppose to test the cable before they destribute them?

 

[lhgpoobaa]

all depends on the system u have, what drives your using, and the mobo/signal quality and any other sources of interferance.

as far as signal quality goes, slow drives are able to run on longer cables better, i.e. ata33 and 66 are inherently less noise prone due to slower speeds.
FSB (PCI) speeds also play an important part. i would strongly advise against any FSB overclocking with those cables.

anyway, the best way ive found to detect any corruption problems is to use a compression program that supports error detection. you make a monster archive Gb in size, then test/extract it over and over, looking for any file corruption.

<b>P4 'Wilty' Celleron 1.7, 128Mb PC100 Cas3 SDRAM, 5400rpm HDD, Integrated everything. YUM!<b>

 

[10GHZ]

thanx very much for your help, ye i 'll probably get a ATA 66 driver, are most 1-4 gig hdisk ATA 66? and guess what, plp are also selling 100cm normal ribbon ide cable as well.

 

[EvilHammie]

hmmm. ata33 seemed to range from around 2Gb up to 20-30. after that came ata66, and the smallest ata66 drive ive seen is 15Gb.

but why do u want a drive so small??? (and slow)

<b>Small. Cute. Fluffy. Evil.</b>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

100cm ata cables are just plain nuts. thats OVER twice the specified length.

gotta be brave or nuts to use them. or do LOTS of testing beforehand.

<b>MegaHertz Matters! ... But you need a chipset with BALLS to back it up!!! </b>

 

[HammerBot]

NOTE: some places sell shielded rounded IDE cables. these supposedly reduce EMI interference and reduce noise on the cable, thus allowing you to use longer cables than normal. how effective they are is somewhat debatable.

Agreed. 1 shield around all wires does not reduce crosstalk between individual wires. The effect of the shield is that it reduces the electro magnetic radiation from the cable. This also works the other way around making the IDE transfer less succeptable to electromagnetic radiation coming from other parts of the computer. However, I seriously believe that emi only has a very small influence on the overall signal degredation caused by long wires and crosstalk. IMO shielded cables are not worth the extra money.