SATA v. IDE

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

I'm doing an upgrade (K8 Triton GA-K8NS, AMD 64 3000+, 2 gig Kingston
dual-channel, ATI 9800 Pro, dual monitors) and picked up a 60g Maxtor
SATA drive ($40 -- couldn't resist the price) to go along with the 80g
WD IDE HD from the old system. Was planning to use the Maxtor as the
main as I thought SATA was faster than IDE. However, the builder dude
said the Maxtor wasn't any faster (both are 7200 rpm) and I should keep
the WD as the main HD. He also said since the MB has two SATA
connectors and only one SATA drive, everytime the system boots I'll
have to hit a key when "only one SATA drive present," or something
similar, came up.

Was he right about the HDs?

SG
--
Failure is not an option; it's bundled with your software.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Nonymous wrote:

> I bet you'll get more and better answers in comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
> and alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt.

Thanks.

SG

 

[Nonymous]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"shegeek72" <taragem72@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1121420452.389857.86150@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I'm doing an upgrade (K8 Triton GA-K8NS, AMD 64 3000+, 2 gig Kingston
> dual-channel, ATI 9800 Pro, dual monitors) and picked up a 60g Maxtor
> SATA drive ($40 -- couldn't resist the price) to go along with the 80g
> WD IDE HD from the old system. Was planning to use the Maxtor as the
> main as I thought SATA was faster than IDE. However, the builder dude
> said the Maxtor wasn't any faster (both are 7200 rpm) and I should keep
> the WD as the main HD. He also said since the MB has two SATA
> connectors and only one SATA drive, everytime the system boots I'll
> have to hit a key when "only one SATA drive present," or something
> similar, came up.
>
> Was he right about the HDs?

I bet you'll get more and better answers in comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
and alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt.

 

[CCCC]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On 15 Jul 2005 02:40:52 -0700, "shegeek72" <taragem72@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I'm doing an upgrade (K8 Triton GA-K8NS, AMD 64 3000+, 2 gig Kingston
>dual-channel, ATI 9800 Pro, dual monitors) and picked up a 60g Maxtor
>SATA drive ($40 -- couldn't resist the price) to go along with the 80g
>WD IDE HD from the old system. Was planning to use the Maxtor as the
>main as I thought SATA was faster than IDE. However, the builder dude
>said the Maxtor wasn't any faster (both are 7200 rpm) and I should keep
>the WD as the main HD. He also said since the MB has two SATA
>connectors and only one SATA drive, everytime the system boots I'll
>have to hit a key when "only one SATA drive present," or something
>similar, came up.
>
>Was he right about the HDs?

Not sure about the speed but if he sets it up right you don't have to
hit any keys to continue. Which leads me to think you might need a new
"builder dude."
>
>SG

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"shegeek72" <taragem72@yahoo.com> writes:

> I'm doing an upgrade (K8 Triton GA-K8NS, AMD 64 3000+, 2 gig Kingston
> dual-channel, ATI 9800 Pro, dual monitors) and picked up a 60g Maxtor
> SATA drive ($40 -- couldn't resist the price) to go along with the 80g
> WD IDE HD from the old system. Was planning to use the Maxtor as the
> main as I thought SATA was faster than IDE.

Sure it's a faster interface. But the speed the data actually gets
from disk to the cable depends mostly on rotational speed and data
density.

> He also said since the MB has two SATA
> connectors and only one SATA drive, everytime the system boots I'll
> have to hit a key when "only one SATA drive present," or something
> similar, came up.

I suppose this might happen on some motherboards. It's a BIOS issue. I
don't have it mine, for example (Aopen AK77-600 Max) with only one
SATA drive and four connectors on the board.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Research the drive in question. SATA really is not faster in itself, but
some SATA drives have more memory and better onboard controllers. For
instance, most HD's look for the data in the order requested, but some of
the newer Maxtor SATA drives have a feature that will look for the data in
the logical order (think of a grocery list re-organized for a fast trip,
rather than in alphabetical order- the cheese would be located next to the
milk, not next to the corn). This can speed up HD access times a little.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Magnulus wrote:
> Research the drive in question. SATA really is not faster in itself, but
> some SATA drives have more memory and better onboard controllers. For
> instance, most HD's look for the data in the order requested, but some of
> the newer Maxtor SATA drives have a feature that will look for the data in
> the logical order (think of a grocery list re-organized for a fast trip,
> rather than in alphabetical order- the cheese would be located next to the
> milk, not next to the corn). This can speed up HD access times a little.

Yep, the only real advantage of SATA drives in itself is the thinner
cabling which can improve airflow. And you can hotswap the drives,
which might be useful for some people I suppose.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

One thing that will make IDE hard drives faster, disabling the acoustic
management. If you are interested, look for a Maxtor utility on the web
called "amset.exe". Of course, the drive gets a little louder, but I don't
find hard drives all that annoying (compared to loud fans, and I don't have
any of those).

 

[CCCC]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 23:23:36 -0400, "Magnulus"
<magnulus@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> One thing that will make IDE hard drives faster, disabling the acoustic
>management. If you are interested, look for a Maxtor utility on the web
>called "amset.exe". Of course, the drive gets a little louder, but I don't
>find hard drives all that annoying (compared to loud fans, and I don't have
>any of those).
This utility says it will run slower .

"Maxtor has made a smart little program that manages to lower
seektime, what also reduces the noise made by the hard drive. The
exact adjustment is lowering the hard drive's seektime, making it run
slower, though more silent!".
>

 

[nostromo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Thus spake cccc@home.net, Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:13:38 -0400, Anno Domini:

>On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 23:23:36 -0400, "Magnulus"
><magnulus@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> One thing that will make IDE hard drives faster, disabling the acoustic
>>management. If you are interested, look for a Maxtor utility on the web
>>called "amset.exe". Of course, the drive gets a little louder, but I don't
>>find hard drives all that annoying (compared to loud fans, and I don't have
>>any of those).
>This utility says it will run slower .
>
>"Maxtor has made a smart little program that manages to lower
>seektime, what also reduces the noise made by the hard drive. The
>exact adjustment is lowering the hard drive's seektime, making it run
>slower, though more silent!".

LOL! Lowering seek times *increases* a drive's speed. Do those yahoos at
Maxtor know wtf they're talking about? Or was that a misquote?

--
A killfile is a friend for life.

Replace 'spamfree' with the other word for 'maze' to reply via email.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Thusly Nostromo <nostromo@spamfree.net.au> Spake Unto All:

>>> One thing that will make IDE hard drives faster, disabling the acoustic
>>>management. If you are interested, look for a Maxtor utility on the web
>>>called "amset.exe". Of course, the drive gets a little louder, but I don't
>>>find hard drives all that annoying (compared to loud fans, and I don't have
>>>any of those).
>>This utility says it will run slower .
>>
>>"Maxtor has made a smart little program that manages to lower
>>seektime, what also reduces the noise made by the hard drive. The
>>exact adjustment is lowering the hard drive's seektime, making it run
>>slower, though more silent!".
>
>LOL! Lowering seek times *increases* a drive's speed. Do those yahoos at
>Maxtor know wtf they're talking about? Or was that a misquote?

Uh... Acoustic management is enabled by default. Turning it off makes
the drive slightly faster and slightly louder. That is exactly what
you both AND the documentation say. You're all in agreement. These are
not the droids you are looking for. Move along.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

I disabled acoustic management and noticed a small dropoff in seek time
benchmarks with my Maxtor Diamondmax drives (got no idea of the model
numbers, though they all have 2-8 MB caches, 5000 RPM). And the drives
really did not get that much louder. Levels load really fast, but that
could be due to the 800 MHz FSB, too.

 

[nostromo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Thus spake Mean_Chlorine <mike_noren2002@NOSPAMyahoo.co.uk>, Sat, 16 Jul
2005 12:04:49 +0200, Anno Domini:

>Thusly Nostromo <nostromo@spamfree.net.au> Spake Unto All:
>
>>>> One thing that will make IDE hard drives faster, disabling the acoustic
>>>>management. If you are interested, look for a Maxtor utility on the web
>>>>called "amset.exe". Of course, the drive gets a little louder, but I don't
>>>>find hard drives all that annoying (compared to loud fans, and I don't have
>>>>any of those).
>>>This utility says it will run slower .
>>>
>>>"Maxtor has made a smart little program that manages to lower
>>>seektime, what also reduces the noise made by the hard drive. The
>>>exact adjustment is lowering the hard drive's seektime, making it run
>>>slower, though more silent!".
>>
>>LOL! Lowering seek times *increases* a drive's speed. Do those yahoos at
>>Maxtor know wtf they're talking about? Or was that a misquote?
>
>Uh... Acoustic management is enabled by default. Turning it off makes
>the drive slightly faster and slightly louder. That is exactly what
>you both AND the documentation say. You're all in agreement. These are
>not the droids you are looking for. Move along.

He, he. I'll bite :

"The exact adjustment is lowering the hard drive's seektime, making it run
slower"

Ummm...this is a direct contradiction last I checked the English language.
Unless there's something they're not saying, like "we also reduce the
drive's rpm at the same time which is *really* what lowers the speed, in
order the reduce the avg seek time", but that doesn't gel with me either.
How does on their planet lowering seektime equal making a drive run
slower??? The Force is strong with this one. ;-p

--
A killfile is a friend for life.

Replace 'spamfree' with the other word for 'maze' to reply via email.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

I just did some benchmarks with a new SATA 200 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10
drive I bought, and some old Maxtor 8-9 IDE drives (most have fluid
bearings). The default drives apparrently ship with acoustic management set
to "fast" and have seek times of 12-14 ms. Disabling acoustic management
has minimal effect on the old drives in terms of seek time. Setting
acoustic management to "quiet" significantly increases seek times to around
20 ms, but makse them darn near silent. I haven't found a way to disable
acoustic management for the SATA, but I can only assume it's set to "fast"
because I can hear the driver fairly well, though it's hardly as loud as old
hard drives.

NONE of the drives, though, get the rated 9ms seek times. From what I've
seen on other benchmarks, this is common. The SATA drive has a seek time of
about 13 1/2 ms, and is actually slower to seek than my older 80 GB drive
(12 1/2 ms), but the burst transfer speed is about 30 MB/S more, and the
average is a little higher. Based on this, I plan on running my 80 GB
drive as a downolad and virtual memory drive, and the SATA drive will be
used for newer games that need to load faster.