I have a  Sata HD in my computer.I want to add another hD it. Comp usa has  a 200g hd for cheap after rebate but is not sata. I looked in my comp and it only has sata plugs. Can i use a reg hD in there?Is yes what do i need to install it?

BTW what advatages does Sata have over iDE HD

Thanks

Your motherboard should still have an extra plug for an IDE cable so that you can use that extra HD that you want.

However, SATA is much faster than IDE.

Quoted: ...However, SATA is much faster than IDE.

and SATA II is much faster than SATA.

you would need a PCI card with an IDE interface to use if you are sure you don't have IDE ports on your motherboard.

there are very few motherboards that i've seen without IDE's on the motherboard.

You should still have IDE available.  I have not seen a machine that has SATA exclusively.

If you want SATA though, try newegg.com - they can probably get you one cheaper than the CompUSA sale.


The only thing you will need to install the IDE hard drive is an extra IDE cable (maybe), and an open molex power plug.

Advantages of SATA -

Yes there are mother boards without ide. However they make adapters for either direction, they run around 12 bucks. So if that still makes it cheaper, you should be able to pick one up at the same place that sells the hd.

It doesn't really matter which you buy, from any speed point of view.
The burst speed of SATA is 150Mb/sec, but the sustained speed is far more significant in actual use, and it is limited by the physical drive. And SATA drives are still just IDE drives with a different interface on them.

Normal 7400-RPM hard-drives can only transfer at around 55 Mb/sec, even the Raptor 10K RPM drives can only transfer around 74 Mb/sec. An "old" IDE ATA/133 interface can transfer 133Mb/sec.

On the other hand, SATA drives don't cost much more than IDE, so you can just get whichever your hardware has room for. Most PC's have room for at least one hard-drive because they have one IDE cable for the CD/DVD drive, and usually it is a two-channel cable (with two attachment points on it). SATA drives cost ~$5 more than IDE's the same specs, and SATA cables cost maybe ~$10.

(If your computer only has SATA connectors, what is the CD/DVD drive cable type? Are they shipping SATA optical drives yet? What brand PC is it?.... ?:| )

Normally I only shop online for PC parts though. Walk-in stores tend to overcharge too much for this stuff, or sell junk. ...Like,,, -when they put big rebates on items that won't otherwise sell. I like Seagate drives for 7400 RPM's, I have heard way too many noisy Maxtors and WD's to bother anymore. The good drives now all have 5-yr warranties.
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Quoted: It doesn't really matter which you buy, from any speed point of view. The burst speed of SATA is 150Mb/sec, but the sustained speed is far more significant in actual use, and it is limited by the physical drive. And SATA drives are still just IDE drives with a different interface on them. Normal 7400-RPM hard-drives can only transfer at around 55 Mb/sec, even the Raptor 10K RPM drives can only transfer around 74 Mb/sec. An "old" IDE ATA/133 interface can transfer 133Mb/sec. On the other hand, SATA drives don't cost much more than IDE, so you can just get whichever your hardware has room for. Most PC's have room for at least one hard-drive because they have one IDE cable for the CD/DVD drive, and usually it is a two-channel cable (with two attachment points on it). SATA drives cost ~$5 more than IDE's the same specs, and SATA cables cost maybe ~$10. (If your computer only has SATA connectors, what is the CD/DVD drive cable type? Are they shipping SATA optical drives yet? What brand PC is it?.... ?:| ) Normally I only shop online for PC parts though. Walk-in stores tend to overcharge too much for this stuff, or sell junk. ...Like,,, -when they put big rebates on items that won't otherwise sell. I like Seagate drives for 7400 RPM's, I have heard way too many noisy Maxtors and WD's to bother anymore. The good drives now all have 5-yr warranties. ~~~~~

They have SATA optical drives out - I have two of them in my LAN party machine (Plextors).