[itim100]

Sorry if this has already been run flat, but when do we get SATA? I thought it was out in Japan, and I needa replace my IDE 20gig 5400 rpm drive.

Also, how on earth can SATA be faster than IDE if it only uses 7 wires? Will performance dramatically drop if you use more than one drive on each channel? And how many drives can you have on one channel? Are there adapters out for IDE->SATA that give the functionality but not the speed? I have SATA on my ASUS board and am quite eager to use it. Thanx for any help and sorry bout the rambling.

[ninthebin]

atm it isnt really faster as it only comes in ata133/150 - but it has the potential to be alot faster like ata300 ata600 and so on...it also requires less voltage to run.

[Top Hat Theater]

Sorry if this has already been run flat, but when do we get SATA?

They've been launched on paper. When we end users see it is anyone's guess.

Also, how on earth can SATA be faster than IDE if it only uses 7 wires?

Serial ATA transfers more data per cycle than parallel ATA (IDE)

Will performance dramatically drop if you use more than one drive on each channel? And how many drives can you have on one channel?

ATM, you can only have one drive per channel.

Are there adapters out for IDE->SATA that give the functionality but not the speed?

I have not seen any yet however SATA to IDE adapters are available.

~THT

[JabberWok]

If you are looking for hardware, Seagate already has an 80 Gb HD out and Directron.com has several adapters to refit an IDE drive to use SATA. (Just search for sata):

If you have a SATA drive:

Change your power supply molex connectors to SATA--
IDE to SATA Power Adapter, 4Pin IDE to 15Pin SATA $7.99

SATA cable--
Serial ATA Cable, 20", 7Pin Male to Male $7.99

-----------------------------------------------------------

If you have an IDE drive:

SATA adapter, change IDE to SATA--
SOYO Serial ATA Cable & Riser Card $34.00

This package comes with 1 SATA cable and you need 2 of these riser cards, one for the drive and one for the motherboard if it does not have SATA build onto it.

There are also several SATA RAID controllers out, Promise and Adaptec are two that I am aware of.

I have an Adaptec developers kit and a Soyo riser card, but haven't had time to play with it yet. I will post some results when I get a chance.

Check out these links--
Promise Serial ATA Raid Controller

Adaptec Serial ATA Raid Controller

Directron.com

Seagate Serial ATA 80Gb Hard Drive

[BaldHeadedDork]

The Seagate has been launched on their website, but that's as far as its gone. It is listed as not-in-stock in their online store and I'm not aware of any retailer listing it in stock.



BHD