ATA vs. UDMA

[Agathron]

Hey,

yet another question for you http://www.sharkyforums.com/ubb/smile.gif What's the difference between ATA66 and UDMA66 or ATA100 and UDMA100? thanks,

Agathron

[chrisangelini]

These terms are often used interchangably. ATA is the specification, and DMA just specifies Direct Memory Access. The 66 means that a drive and/or controller is rated for operation at the 66MB/s burst transfer rate - same goes for the 100 (although none of the drives available today reach these specifications yet). Most importantly - get a 7200 RPM drive http://www.sharkyforums.com/ubb/smile.gif

Ciao!

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Chris Angelini
Editor
chris@sharkyextreme.com

[Agathron]

I just saw a couple of drives on pricewatch that claim to be ATA-100. Is this just marketing bs or do they actually meet the specifications?

Agathron

[chrisangelini]

If they are advertised as ATA/100, then chances are they are legit - just don't expect to notice the performance increase (provided you have the controller card and the 80-conductor cable).

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Chris Angelini
Editor
chris@sharkyextreme.com

[Agathron]

Thanks again http://www.sharkyforums.com/ubb/smile.gif

Agathron