ATA5 vs ATA6

[crowbraid]

Hi. I was reading about the new 7200rpm Hitachi hard drive for laptops. I was comparing the specs to the 4200rpm hard drive that is in my Alienware laptop, and they both have the same physical size and the same power requirements. However, the older one is ATA5 and the newer one is ATA6. Does that matter as far as compatibility goes? I'm just looking to be able to take advantage of the 7200rpm speed. Thanks for any and all replies.

 

[PCcashCow]

ATA Specifications - ATA-5 (circa 1999)

This cable adds 40 additional ground lines between each of the original 40 ground and signal lines. The additional 40 lines help shield the signal from EMI. The ATA-5 specification adds Ultra DMA modes 3 (44.4 Mbytes/sec) and 4 (66.6 Mbytes/sec) to the previous PIO modes 0-4, DMA modes 0-2, and Ultra DMA mode 2.

ATA Specifications - ATA-6 (draft specification circa 2000)

The ATA-6 draft specification is the latest generation of the ATA interface, boosting the Ultra ATA burst transfer rate to 100 Mbyte/sec. Ultra ATA/100 includes some enhancements to error checking. In addition, these new drives include an enhanced command set to ensure compatibility with future interface additions.

Came off the Seagate web site. Little help i know, but the lagist of it is that ata6 was created for improved transfer at ata 100 Mbytes per sec, and use udma 3-4.

It seems that every time I reboot my wallet gets smaller. I append: No longer interested in speed, just the mere idea that everything should perform at its full potential.

 

[scottkli]

Finally someone else that is looking to spice up their laptop. Why their at it, why not make 10,000rpm drives. Almost every other laptop part is catching up with desktops. Laptops are getting so heavy anyway why not add a little extra speed on top of it. Yea you might loose some power but, for me I have mine hooked to the outlet most of the time anyway.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Are you serious?
Laptop drives are especially designed to be low profile, quiet, cool to run, able to handle high G force shocks and USE AS LITTLE POWER AS POSSIBLE.

A 10k drive will run hot, loud, and suck the juice.

Some people like to use their laptop away from the wall you know!

<b>My CPU is so powerful its faster than Melb_Angel's Laptop!</b> 😱 <i>(Plus it's not pink)</i>

 

[scottkli]

I agree, and thats why they came out with 1.6M processors with 40gb 4200 drives in a 1" or less design. Limited graphic capability, but extremely easy to carry around and use. But my point was for those laptops like Dell's 8000 series that already weigh in the 8pound range and carry everything from 2 optical drives 2 extra batteries 2 pcmcia cards etc. why not go one step further and add faster HD's.
When the newer ATI and Nvidia GO chips come out laptops will be closing the gap on Desktop's as a replacement. Not to say they will be exactly as fast etc. But for me I use my laptop at home and away from home sometimes connected and sometimes not. For Gaming and Lan parties a easy to transport laptop with great specs like a 10,000rpm hot watt sucking hard drive would work great for me.