Optical Drives, SATA or IDE?

Baer · Feb 14, 2009, 10:01 PM

What do you guys recommend? I have 6 SATA slots on my Mobo and I will be installing three HDDs initially. I may install a SSD drive later so that would be 4. I am trying to decide if I want to use IDE and save my two additional SATA slots. I am going to install two optical drives. I am not very concerned about a little more burn speed for the optical drives as they are not used that often.
Comments and Suggestions?
Tnx

Kursah · Feb 14, 2009, 10:02 PM

I use SATA anymore, the last two Samsung SATA DVD burners I got performed flawlessly, quickly and with the smaller, thinner cables, the cable management was a lot easier. PATA/IDE burners still get the job done just fine though, it depends on what you find for how much, I use Lite-On and Samsung mostly. The SATA burners I got were around 25 shipped on newegg.

oli_ramsay · Feb 14, 2009, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursah

I use SATA anymore, the last two Samsung SATA DVD burners I got performed flawlessly, quickly and with the smaller, thinner cables, the cable management was a lot easier. PATA/IDE burners still get the job done just fine though, it depends on what you find for how much, I use Lite-On and Samsung mostly. The SATA burners I got were around 25 shipped on newegg.

What he said. Most newer boards, like x58 don't even have IDE connectors on them any more so it would be wise to go SATA to be more futureproof.

FordGT90Concept · Feb 14, 2009, 10:07 PM

If I plan to use RAID on a SATA controller, I put PATA optical drives in. If I don't intend to use RAID, I go all SATA.

The only real difference is PATA will be on the chopping block sooner or later. A SATA drive therefore may have a longer useful life but considering they're pretty cheap, it's really not something to ponder for long.

Kursah · Feb 14, 2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

If I plan to use RAID on a SATA controller, I put PATA optical drives in. If I don't intend to use RAID, I go all SATA.

The only real difference is PATA will be on the chopping block sooner or later. A SATA drive therefore may have a longer useful life but considering they're pretty cheap, it's really not something to ponder for long.

I'm running RAID 0 on my current setup with SATA DVDR. I have 2 WD400 SATA II drives in Raid 0, a WD6400AAKS SE16 SATA II and one Samsung S203 DVD SATA and have had no issues at all. This is on my P5Q Deluxe, which I believe has ICH10R iirc. Though I do have the JMicron SATA/IDE if need-be.

So far ALL SATA + SATA RAID on the Intel chipset has been solid, this has been my first all-sata + raid setup and I gotta say it's worked amazingly!

Baer · Feb 15, 2009, 02:02 AM

Thanks, when I did my last build a few years back SATA burners were not playing nice all the time. I think I will go SATA if for no other reason than the smaller cables and being able to set IDE seaqrch time in the BIOS to 0.
Thanks again.

J-Man · Feb 15, 2009, 02:06 AM

IDE is old now, SATA you want. Like Kursah stated, SATA data cables are thinner and the power cables are also so much easier to hide away behind the tray and looks a lot tidy.

Baer · Feb 15, 2009, 04:35 PM

Yes, that was my decision factor. My reluctance was that I did not want to use all six of my SATA ports right away but that is the way it is I guess.

ArmoredCavalry · Feb 15, 2009, 04:50 PM

Definitely go with SATA. I got an IDE optical drive with my original rig, before I knew about the existence of SATA optical drives.

IDE cables, even the rounded one I picked up are horrible for cable management. I would just buy a SATA drive now, but I'm too cheap for that.

Jizzler · Feb 15, 2009, 05:40 PM

SATA!

I've been IDE free since the first SATA opticals hit the market (Plextor).

hat · Feb 15, 2009, 07:51 PM

I have all SATA drives. I didn't notice any more speed from my optical drives (because of mechanical limitations, optical drives will never be able to put out enough data to fill the IDE bus anyway), but I like having a little SATA cable tucked away somewhere instead of having some 2 inch wide IDE cable blocking my cpu heatsink's airflow

Feb 14, 2009, 10:01 PM	#1
Baer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: California, on the BEACH Posts: 86 (0.05/day) Thanks: 15 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	Optical Drives, SATA or IDE? What do you guys recommend? I have 6 SATA slots on my Mobo and I will be installing three HDDs initially. I may install a SSD drive later so that would be 4. I am trying to decide if I want to use IDE and save my two additional SATA slots. I am going to install two optical drives. I am not very concerned about a little more burn speed for the optical drives as they are not used that often. Comments and Suggestions? Tnx

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Feb 14, 2009, 10:02 PM	#2
Kursah Eligible for custom title Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Missoula, Montana, USA Posts: 6,558 (2.72/day) Thanks: 727 Thanked 1,349 Times in 1,118 Posts System Specs	I use SATA anymore, the last two Samsung SATA DVD burners I got performed flawlessly, quickly and with the smaller, thinner cables, the cable management was a lot easier. PATA/IDE burners still get the job done just fine though, it depends on what you find for how much, I use Lite-On and Samsung mostly. The SATA burners I got were around 25 shipped on newegg. __________________ Overclocking is Easy! Get Results! - GTX 260/280 Unofficial Support Thread TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread - Share your experience - My Heat -

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Feb 14, 2009, 10:07 PM	#4
FordGT90Concept "I go fast!1!11!1!" Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: IA, USA Posts: 10,574 (6.29/day) Thanks: 1,752 Thanked 2,596 Times in 1,960 Posts System Specs	If I plan to use RAID on a SATA controller, I put PATA optical drives in. If I don't intend to use RAID, I go all SATA. The only real difference is PATA will be on the chopping block sooner or later. A SATA drive therefore may have a longer useful life but considering they're pretty cheap, it's really not something to ponder for long. __________________ Golden Rule of Programming: Never assume. try { SteamDownload(); } catch (Steamception ex) { RageQuit(); }

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Feb 15, 2009, 02:02 AM	#6
Baer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: California, on the BEACH Posts: 86 (0.05/day) Thanks: 15 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	Thanks, when I did my last build a few years back SATA burners were not playing nice all the time. I think I will go SATA if for no other reason than the smaller cables and being able to set IDE seaqrch time in the BIOS to 0. Thanks again.

Feb 15, 2009, 02:06 AM	#7
J-Man Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Oakham, UK Posts: 2,035 (0.93/day) Thanks: 78 Thanked 83 Times in 81 Posts System Specs	IDE is old now, SATA you want. Like Kursah stated, SATA data cables are thinner and the power cables are also so much easier to hide away behind the tray and looks a lot tidy.

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Feb 15, 2009, 04:35 PM	#8
Baer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: California, on the BEACH Posts: 86 (0.05/day) Thanks: 15 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	Yes, that was my decision factor. My reluctance was that I did not want to use all six of my SATA ports right away but that is the way it is I guess.

Feb 15, 2009, 04:50 PM	#9
ArmoredCavalry Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 572 (0.29/day) Thanks: 72 Thanked 74 Times in 55 Posts System Specs	Definitely go with SATA. I got an IDE optical drive with my original rig, before I knew about the existence of SATA optical drives. IDE cables, even the rounded one I picked up are horrible for cable management. I would just buy a SATA drive now, but I'm too cheap for that. __________________ Buy digital games? Check out my site!

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Feb 15, 2009, 05:40 PM	#10
Jizzler Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Geneva, FL, USA Posts: 3,010 (1.43/day) Thanks: 567 Thanked 606 Times in 487 Posts System Specs	SATA! I've been IDE free since the first SATA opticals hit the market (Plextor).

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Feb 15, 2009, 07:51 PM	#11
hat Maximum Overclocker Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 12,236 (5.16/day) Thanks: 2,054 Thanked 2,039 Times in 1,549 Posts System Specs	I have all SATA drives. I didn't notice any more speed from my optical drives (because of mechanical limitations, optical drives will never be able to put out enough data to fill the IDE bus anyway), but I like having a little SATA cable tucked away somewhere instead of having some 2 inch wide IDE cable blocking my cpu heatsink's airflow __________________ My Heatware “Inb4 smartphone LN2 overclocking.” -radrok

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