ATA-4 VS. ATA-6???

[Wannabetechie]

Will a hard drive with a interface listed as: IDE Ultra ATA-6, work in a computer that had a hard drive listed as: IDE Ultra ATA-4? The computer is a notebook, HP pavilion N5195. I'm not sure if these two numbers(i.e ATA-6 and ATA-4) are compatiable. Thanks for any insight.

 

[satrow]

Works fine in my notebook. Should be no problems.

Andy.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, the ATA-6 standard in backwards compatible to work with older ones such as ATA-4. Just realize that the drive's maximum bandwidth is being bottlenecked somewhat in the older interface, which may or may not affect overall performance depending on what you use your PC for.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[satrow]

Your looking to upgrade to a 7,200rpm drive, are you?
There was quite a performance increase when I moved up from a stock 30Gb 4,200! Quieter too!

Andy.

 

[Wannabetechie]

I don't think I'm upgrading to 7200 rpm. The specs for the ata-6 are 4200 rpm.

 

[cdogg]

Wannabetechie

Well, the ATA spec really has nothing to do with the speed of the hard drive. For example, an ATA-6 rating on a hard drive just means that it uses the DMA mode 5 interface which allows up to 100MB/s. The drive itself can still be either 5400RPM or 7200RPM.

So, let's just say that the ATA specification is slightly less important than the speed and overall performance of the hard drive.

See this link for more info:
www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/modes.htm



~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884