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General discussion

pata = ultra ata?

Mar 28, 2005 9:01AM PST

was hard drive shopping today and came across a good deal for a parallel ata drive. i was originally looking for an ultra ata 100 drive. is the parallel ata the same thing?

Discussion is locked

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Basically, yes
Mar 28, 2005 11:39PM PST

The "ultra" just refers to some enhancements in burst speed over older drives. PATA only exists to distinguish itself from SATA. Parallel ATA comes generally in two flavors; 100 and 133 designations. The numbers are deceiving as far as sustained transfer speeds and the 133s are only marginally better than the equivalant 100s. PATAs all use the same type cable which uses 80 conductors. SATAs are much smaller.

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thanks Steven!
Mar 29, 2005 12:33AM PST

just what i needed.