On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: > kashani wrote: >> Dale wrote: >>> kashani wrote: >>>> Dale wrote: >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> I recently got DSL and youtube is growing on me. LOL I been >>>>> trying to >>>>> find a really good hard drive that is around 400 to 500Gb and pretty >>>>> fast. It has to be a IDE drive, you know, the big wide cables. I >>>>> don't >>>>> have SATA on this rig. >>>>> >>>>> I have a Maxtor that I like and is pretty fast but it appears they >>>>> are a >>>>> little hard to find nowadays. In matter of importance: size, price, >>>>> speed. Newegg is great but will consider others as well. >>>>> >>>>> Thanks for any pointers. Open to ideas. >>>> SATA PCI card should be < $20. I'd then go with a SATA II drive. >>>> >>>> kashani >>>> >>> I been looking at these cards on newegg. I haven't had a SATA drive >>> before and confess I don't know a lot about them. They are faster and >>> have little bitty cables. I'm looking at this one: >>> >>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124003 >>> >>> I notice that it has two internal and two external connectors. Can I >>> assume that the "eSATA" means external or is that something else? >>> >>> Also while I have the link and you are most likely looking at it, is >>> this a good fast card? It appears to be a pretty recent revision since >>> it also says SATA II. >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATA >> esata is different sort of connection, but a number of new >> external drives are starting to support it. >> >> This looks to be your best choice. >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815102102&cm_re=pci_sata_II-_-15-102-102-_-Product >> >> >> I assume that any motherboard that does not support SATA also does not >> support PCI-E or PCI-X, but you should make sure that you have a free >> slot and verify that slot type before buying something. >> >> kashani >> >> > > OK. Lets see if my muddy water has cleared up any. I can use the same > drives on either a "SATA" or a "eSATA" its just that the cable is > different? The "eSATA" cable is shielded where the internal one is > not. No difference in speed or anything, just the cable? Correct? > That's how I read the link. > > Your link to newegg is a good one. It only has two ports which may work > if I don't have to buy any more drives before my new build. It is > cheaper too. Jeez, they fill up fast on DSL. LOL
I think eSATA and SATA physically have different connectors, but they are the technically same (you can buy simple adapters...). Also, another "Gotcha" to watch out for is that sometimes motherboard or controller cards with both internal SATA and external eSATA ports don't support using both types at the same time. My last two motherboard were this way. 4 internal SATA and 2 eSATA but only 4 devices in total can be used at any time. Caveat emptor. :)
