Simviation Forum - Hard Drive Question

Jan 11^th, 2008 at 1:54pm

Mike.. Offline
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I am not overly concerned with how big the HD is, just want to know which way should I go as far as connection. Conventional ATA or SATA? Is there a difference in speed? Is it just a cable vs ribbon deal? Any advice on this would be great as I am trying to pick one up this weekend to finalize my build and get the wireing all trimed up and neat before I start installing software. Thanks guys!

Mike

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Reply #1 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 2:30pm

ozzy72 Offline
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SATA is the future, the drives are and will be faster than ATA. However whilst they tend to need a little less power they also have a different power connection but most come with a 4-point adaptor for legacy reasons as not many PSUs come with the 15 pin SATA connection yet. Make sure your MOBO can handle a SATA drive and the connecting ribbon Wink

There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!

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Reply #2 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 2:47pm

Mike.. Offline
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From what I have seen on my new motherboard it has 6 SATA connections. So if I go SATA, I can eliminate the big flat ATA ribbon correct?

Mike

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Reply #3 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 2:50pm

ozzy72 Offline
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Yup as long as your optical drives can use the same cable Wink

There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!

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Reply #4 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 2:58pm

Mike.. Offline
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Thats another problem. I got a DVD/Burner and it is a PATA connection and I didn't see a SATA connection on it. So the DVD has to ba a SATA like the HD? If so, Why?

And if worse comes to worse and I have to go with an ATA HD to match my DVD, aren't there connectors out there that do the job of the ribbon, but in a "wire like" form? If that's the case the DVD didn't come with any connectors and the 2 ribbons that came with my mobo don't fill the entire connector space although I am sure one of the ribbons is for the ATA style HD's.

So, I guess I need 1 ATA "wire style" connector and 1 PATA "wire style" connector. I can't return the DVD now.

Mike

« Last Edit: Jan 11^th, 2008 at 5:08pm by Mike.. »

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Reply #5 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 5:25pm

Mike.. Offline
Colonel
Beer is the answer, I
can't remember the question.
Fayetteville NC

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Guess Ozzy went to sleep on me Sad

. Kinda need an answer so I know what to get tomarrow. Don't want to get the wrong stuff.....

Mike

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Reply #6 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 6:01pm

CharlottesDad Ex Member

Your mobo WILL have a PATA connection along with your SATAs, so your DVD will be good to go.
You can use both together, it won't matter, but DEFINITELY go for SATA for your HDD.

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Reply #7 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 7:40pm

Mike.. Offline
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Ok, just so I am clear. All I need to get is a PATA connector for my DVD. The MOBO already came with SATA wires, and get a SATA HDD, and I will be good to go......Correct?? Huh

Mike

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Reply #8 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 7:53pm

NickN Offline
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FSX runs fine... the problem
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yes

either a WD Raptor 150GB
or a SATA 300 250-500GB drive

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Reply #9 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 8:11pm

Mike.. Offline
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NickN wrote on Jan 11^th, 2008 at 7:53pm:

yes

either a WD Raptor 150GB
or a SATA 300 250-500GB drive

SATA 300? Thanks for your input Nick. I was thinking Seagate at one point in time Western Digital better?

Mike

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Reply #10 - Jan 11^th, 2008 at 9:20pm

NickN Offline
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FSX runs fine... the problem
is you or your system

Posts: 6317

Mike.. wrote on Jan 11^th, 2008 at 8:11pm:

NickN wrote on Jan 11^th, 2008 at 7:53pm:

yes

either a WD Raptor 150GB
or a SATA 300 250-500GB drive

SATA 300? Thanks for your input Nick. I was thinking Seagate at one point in time Western Digital better?

Mike

It’s really not the brand, it’s the specs for the drive. I like both Seagate and WD. WD tends to be cheaper on the larger drives.

A WD 250-500 will work fine, just do not partition it. Leave it as one drive.

There is also the option of going 2 drives which is what I do for max efficiency/speed. 1 for the OS and installed software, 1 for FSX and any software which must be installed into FSX such as UTX. Other add-ons like FEX, GEX, etc which do not require being installed into the FSX folder and only act as a support database to change textures get installed on the OS drive to keep the FSX drive space as fee as possible.

The more free space a drive has, the more efficient it is when defragmented properly.

Your motherboard manual will have specs for the SATA ports. The may all be SATA 300 or only 2 have that spec. Any SATAII drive will work on a SATA300 port and even a SATA 300 drive will work on a SATAII port but it will not function at SATA 300 speed.

And one more thing, the WD Raptor which is SATAII is FASTER than all but one or two special and expensive SATA 300 drives because the raptors access specs and rotation speed are much higher than just about any SATA 300 drive out there.

The larger the capacity, the faster the drive will be if it is defragged properly so you can theoretically get close to WD Raptor speed out of a 500-100GB drive until it starts to fill up past 30%, then it slows to well below Raptor speed... even so, file calls will always be faster on the Raptor even if benchmarks show the speed as the same (or faster) on the SATA300 drive. Benchmarks and real world are 2 different things.

Any dive that has 50% free space or more will run better than a drive which has 60% or more. Once you hit 75% your performance drops like a rock.

keep'em empty and at 55% and under

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Reply #11 - Jan 12^th, 2008 at 12:42pm

Mike.. Offline
Colonel
Beer is the answer, I
can't remember the question.
Fayetteville NC

Gender:
Posts: 1688

Just an after thought here. With all these new self-enclosed external HDD's out there, is there any reason at all why, If I decided, just to get one of those as they are USB connected? Does it put a strain on the USB connections because it is not directly connected to the MOBO?

I WILL be putting in an internal on this build, just wondering if it is possible to just hook up an external via USB and roll.

I'm on the hunt today guys. The Vid Card will be here 01/15/08. A GeForce 8800 GTS SSC edition w/640 GDDR3 onboard.

This is what I have so far installed

Antec 900 Gamming case
BFG Tech 650 PSU w/turbo fan switch, Life Time Warr
ASUS P5N32-E SLi MOBO
Pentium Q6600 Quad 2.4Ghz
OCZ 4 Gigs DDR2 mem
HP dvd 1040i 20X multiplatform DVD writer with lightscribe.

Just gotta get that PATA connector
HDD
Vid card on the way

Wouldn't mind putting another 120 fan on the side panel but I can't seem to find another LED blue one local. I should be alright for now though as this rig had fans a plenty on it out of the box, to include a hugh 200 exhaust fan on top. I figure when I am not flying or gamming I can practice skydiving techniques in the comfort of my own home Tongue

Thanks for all the help! Will keep you posted with more questions I am sure as I get closer to finalizing this monster.

Mike

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Reply #12 - Jan 12^th, 2008 at 1:30pm

NickN Offline
Colonel
FSX runs fine... the problem
is you or your system

Posts: 6317

USB is SLOW

The ONLY external drive that will be as fast as an internal is one that has a eSATA connection which means the motherboard has to have a eSATA port on the back and support that connection. ('e' stands for EXTERNAL)

Firewire comes in 2 flavors, 400 and 800. Firewire 400 is actually about the same speed as USB, DOG SLOW and firewire 800 is double USB/firewire 400 speed.

You can NOT even begin to consider running FSX or any other title on an external drive unless it is indeed eSATA

I happen to have a 4 drive RAID sSATA external stack I use for testing so I can connect it to different towers when I do performance test work. Very expensive setup as 1 eSATA 500GB drive runs about 250 dollars.

You can use USB/Firewaire externals for backup drives but do not expect to use the for OS or MSFS. never

And keep in mind, at USB/firewire speed they will be very slow

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Reply #13 - Jan 12^th, 2008 at 1:41pm

Mike.. Offline
Colonel
Beer is the answer, I
can't remember the question.
Fayetteville NC

Gender:
Posts: 1688

I figured as much Nick. Going internal reguardless, just wondering. Thanks again!

Mike

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