hard drive question
 

should i buy a SATA HD?? what the difference between this and the "older" type of HD??

Make sure your motherboard/computer can take a SATA HD! SATA has faster transfer rates, but I'd get whatever is cheaper..

the main differences between PATA and SATA are the narrow data cable and the power connector... changes in their design allow for better airflow in addition to hotswap support...
the underlying architecture is quite different as well, but does not give either technology a distinct advantage at the moment.... SATA2 will bring some new things to SATA's feature list, such as the ability for the controller and drive to reorder commands in order to optimize performance...

really..... i thought there was some sort of advantage to the SATA so is a good idea to get one then??

never knew there was a SATA2 geez computer parts are just advancing out of my reach

thanks for the heads up bitrunner...faster transfer rates as in hot swaping support??

Transfer rates and hot swapping are no where near the same thing. Transfer rates are the speed at which data is processed from the drive to the motherboard. Hot swap is being able to take one drive that has gone bad and replacing it with a hot spare for data replication.

PATA drive transfer rates peak at about 133mb/s (hence ATA133). SATA drive transfer rates start around 150mb/s. SATA is faster and the cables are much less menacing.

SATA drives can be hot-swapped, assuming you have the right back- or mid- plane to support hotswapping. If you are needing hot swap ability for your machine with SATA drives, I would look for 3Ware or Adaptec hardware.

At the moment, there isnt any pressing reason to go SATA--except for the ultra fast Raptor drives. Other than that, buy whatever you can get cheaper.

ah ok
thanks for the info guys