Question about IDE 100/133 performance

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

I recently purchased a new HDD.Its Ultra ATA/100 7200 RPM w/8mb. I also have a Maxtor ATA 133 7200 RPM 8mb.The Maxtor has some feature,I forget the name...Smartdick perhaps? Anyway,when I boot my computer it tells me the Smartdisk feature failed and to backup my data.I can buy another HDD which is ATA 133 if there is a significant performance boost ovr ATA100...or I can install the Ultra ATA 100 as my master if the performance is similar.What exactly is the performance difference? I use my computer mainly for gaming and burning DVD's.

EDIT: I just bought a new CPU and mobo...is the S.M.A.R.T. a mobo feature or HDD feature? I am just wondering if my hard drive is the problem,or if its the motherboard,which I am about to replace?

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

What feature does it have?

There is no performance boost with ATA133 over ATA100. Perhaps look into some drive benchmarks to observe this.

SMART is a hard drive feature.
http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/smart-technology.html

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

Please look at where I made the edit note I.M.O.G.

This is my new drive: http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,578,00.html

this is the drive that I get the SMART capability error: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-315&depa=0

To be honest,I thought that the new drive was better because its seek time is 8.5 compared to 9.3 for the Maxtor...but I wasnt sure if the fact that the Seagate was ATA 100 would manipulate the end results. Please offer any advice or comments,as I am still a noob trying to learn as much as I can.

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

Did I answer your question completely now - I editted my initial response so I think I might have?

When exactly do you receive the smart failure message, and what is the exact text that it contains, as I'd like to look into it further just out of curiousity.

The improved seek time will be an improvement, and the slower ATA100 interface will not have any effect as the drive will not be able to saturate the ATA100 bandwidth... if you look at drive benchmark's even at burst transfer (short peaks) drives do not typically attain close to ATA100 bandwidth.

Both those drives have equal buffer size (8MB) which is important. They also both have equal spindle speed which is also important. I will give you a link in one moment that will lead you to a lot of very good information about hard drives.

http://www.storagereview.com/php/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=LeaderBoard
http://www.storagereview.com/comparison.html

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

Yes,you answered my question.I'll reboot and enable the SMART feature in the BIOS to see the error message so I can post it here.I'd like to know your findings,as well, so that I can offer assistance to someone else in the future with a similar problem.

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

I added some links above, and you might also find this link helpful:

http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.php?page=PerformanceFactors

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

here is the error message as it is shown on the monitor exactly:

Pri Master Hard Disk: S.M.A.R.T. status BAD, backup and replace
Press F1 to continue

Then it boots to Windows when I hit F1.Yes,those links were very informative!

Edit: I did a HDD comparison with the one link you gave me.It didnt have my exact Maxtor.I chose which one I thought was the closest match,though.Here is the comparison link: http://www.storagereview.com/php/be...&numDrives=1&devID_0=242&devID_1=226&devCnt=2
Does it look like I made the closest comparison? If so,the results look pretty good for the new Seagate versus the Maxtor that gives me the error message.

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

From what I gather, that could mean a variety of things, but it definetly means you should backup anything important to you pronto.

Basically, SMART has a range of values for the drive that it finds acceptable and it monitors those. If any of those values become out of range, it will tell you the status is bad. For one, I believe SMART monitors temperature - now this is conjecture on my part, but in a best case scenario you might be getting that message simply because the drive is getting to warm and it needs some cooling. I would consider that unlikely, especially if you get the message from cold boots, but that might be an example of a message that seems bad, but really isn't too terrible. I would say in most cases though a smart failure message spells bad news.

I would recommend that you download the drive diagnostic tool from the manufacturer, which I will link you to shortly, and see if it returns any errors.

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

The drive is fairly new--about 8 months old--if even that old.What do you suggest I do with it if I download the diagnostic tool and it tells me I have a problem?

PS--if the diagnostic tool is Called Maxblast 3.6--I just found it and downloaded it.

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

Powermax is the one you want:

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/M...tware Downloads/ATA Hard Drives&downloadID=22

SMART is telling you that something is wrong with the drive, but this utility will tell you if something is wrong with the reading and writing of data to the disk, which can be interfered with for various reasons/failures.

If the drive is that old it should be under warranty from Maxtor, and I would contact them with the error code and message that the diagnostic tool gives you. They will ask you for a part number or some information off the drive probably, and then let you know what your options are as far as getting it replaced.

glock19owner · Feb 19, 2005

One thing that I havent seen I.M.O.G mention...or maybe he did and I just missed it...

A bad IDE cable or loose molex connection can cuase a smart drive error...this is one of the most comman problems that people tend to forget about...

If you have known working IDE cables around...try the ones that work and reset the molex plug in...

Also...while in the BIOS...check to see what your +12 rail is...if they rails drop too far below specs...this can also cause the smart error...

I.M.O.G. · Feb 19, 2005

Good advice Glock, I didn't think to mention any of that.

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

glock19owner said:
One thing that I havent seen I.M.O.G mention...or maybe he did and I just missed it...

A bad IDE cable or loose molex connection can cuase a smart drive error...this is one of the most comman problems that people tend to forget about...

If you have known working IDE cables around...try the ones that work and reset the molex plug in...

Also...while in the BIOS...check to see what your +12 rail is...if they rails drop too far below specs...this can also cause the smart error...

Interesting.I'll set up my new system with the new SEagate as the master.My mobo came with a set of rounded IDE cables that I will use instead of what I am using now.I'll make the Maxtor the slave,and see if it was the cables.The connections are solid right now...but you might have something there with the bad cable suggestion.They were,after all, a pair of inexpensive cables I picked up.Glock...you seem very knowledgeable about AMD's...maybe you can also look at my question in the AMD section about the burn-in process I justposted a few minutes ago,or maybe I.M.O.G. knows a bit about AMD's and can answer.

I appreciate you guys offering your help,and being so darn fast about it! You rock! :attn:

glock19owner · Feb 19, 2005

Well unfortunetly...I just went through a similar issue a few weeks ago and forgot about the IDE cable until it was too late...corrupted both HD's will backing up the main...guess what...it was the rounded IDE cable that came with my MSI that was bad...

I hope its just this issue and was able to help you catch it before you get into the mess I was into a few weeks ago...its not fun loosing 100+G of backup and countless years of data that can never be recovered now

...

I will check your other link out here soon also...

HeatM1ser2k4 · Feb 19, 2005

No...I didnt lose anything at all.I suppose I have been lucky,since I have been getting this error for about 2 months.Thanks for looking into my other question.As for right now---I am too excited to peruze the forums anymore--GOTTA SET UP MY NEW RIG!!! :attn:

glock19owner · Feb 19, 2005

HeatM1ser2k4 said:
No...I didnt lose anything at all.I suppose I have been lucky,since I have been getting this error for about 2 months.Thanks for looking into my other question.As for right now---I am too excited to peruze the forums anymore--GOTTA SET UP MY NEW RIG!!!

I reallize you havent lost anything yet...this is why I meantioned that I hope this solves the issue(s) before a corruption happens

...

Good luck...and hope it is just a simple IDE cable swap for you

Question about IDE 100/133 performance

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