SATA vs IDE

[neraken]

Like the topic says what is the difference between sata and ide optical drives? what are the pros and cons of each of them ty

 

[englandr753]

SATA is supposed to be faster but to me the best benefit with going SATA is a thinner data cable and better airflow and cable management.

 

[photonboy]

There's no difference in the drive itself or in the speed it operates. If there was a DVD drive which had both PATA and SATA versions they would operate EXACTLY the same. SATA is just a different type of connection but it doesn't affect DVD drives because they can't max out the connection speed. IDE/PATA is being fazed out slowly.

Hard drives are slightly different. While they are ALMOST identical the main difference is NCQ which IDE/PATA does not have.

You should get a SATA unless you are short on connections. Always read reviews and get as new as possible.

*Optical burner info:
You should always update to the latest firmware. This ensures the greatest compatibility with newer CD's and DVD's (they have codes embedded which are compared in the firmware to look up the specs such as maximum burn speed).

Optical burners begin to produce more and more coasters as time goes on because of out-of-date firmware and NOT because they are failing. I think this is a ridiculous state of affairs. The "firmware" would be better served being a part of Windows with CD/DVD manufacturers providing the crucial data in Microsoft Updates.

 

[neraken]

thanks for the info i was wondering if i should recycle my old ide dvd burner that i almost never use into a new computer im planning out (slowly) or buy a new one but if they have no real difference i think ill just stick to the old one

 

[englandr753]

The only reason not to use the IDE drive is if you don't want to use the larger cabling required to connect it to you motherboard. You can get round cabling for your IDE drive instead of the standard ribbon cable and it will improve the airflow and look neater in your case.

 

[photonboy]

Just remember that you'll have burning problems if your drive is too old due to the firmware not being updated.

I wouldn't worry until you get a few coasters, but I bought $60 worth of dual-layer DVD's and got three coasters immediately. I then replaced my previously great drive with a new Philips for $30 and the rest burned fine.

Be careful about what DVD's you purchase, especially dual layer. If you go to Futureshop or NCIX you can often see people complaining about burn errors. Futureshop is known to have DVD's on sale that are causing problems with many people.

If in doubt, Verbatim has been a good bet but things change.

 

[photonboy]

Errors:
I use Nero 8 and often "verify" for errors (reads the DVD/CD back and compares to origianal data on the hard drive).

If I get any errors for software, I throw the disc away. If I get any errors for VIDEO I test the disc. Often VIDEO discs will work just fine with a few errors.

 

[sminlal]

I use Nero 8 and often "verify" for errors (reads the DVD/CD back and compares to origianal data on the hard drive).

A much better way to check for burn quality is to use a drive (such as a Liteon) which can report the raw PIE/PIF error rates. You can have a disc with pretty bad error rates which the ECC codes are still able to correct - the drive will be able to recover the data and the verify will succeed. But such a disk is much more likely to cause problems down the road than one which has very low error rates.

 

[photonboy]

Most people don't care about "burn quality" (nor do they understand it). Verifying confirms that the data was written correctly.

People seem to think that because burn programs report a successful burn that everything went okay. The basic "okay" indicates that the disc was opened, files were burned and it was closed etc, but do NOT verify the actual data.

 

[sminlal]

Most people don't care about "burn quality" (nor do they understand it).

True. And most people are very surprised when the data they burned can't be read a few months or years later. They complain bitterly about how unreliable DVDs are, yet in most cases I suspect the burn was pretty marginal to begin with.

It just seems to me that if you care enough about the data to verify it and ensure it was written correctly, then you probably want to know if that disk is just peachy keen or just barely readable. Only an error scan can tell you that.

 

[uh_no]

to those saying transfer is the same....this is partially correct

Sata as a connection is MUCH faster than pata/ide.....which is <1Gb/s

sata is 3Gb/s......

also the way data is transmitted is obviously much different

 

[geofelt]

thanks for the info i was wondering if i should recycle my old ide dvd burner that i almost never use into a new computer im planning out (slowly) or buy a new one but if they have no real difference i think ill just stick to the old one

IDE may also restrict your choice of motherboard. Newer motherboards may omit the IDE capabilities which are being used less frequently. A good SATA burner is only about $25.

 

[wuzy]

The only reason I was forced to give up my good'ol BenQ DW1640 was because the new motherboard didn't have PATA/IDE, otherwise I would've reused it for sure. So I bought a cheap Optiarc AD-7200S (flashed to latest Liggy&Dee firmware) to replace it.

If your motherboard has PATA/IDE and you're happy with the burn quality (assuming latest firmware used) using your current drive, keep it.

 

[photonboy]

SPEED:

SATA is NOT quicker when talking about optical drives. The PATA interface is more than adequate for the requirements of the optical drive. The type of connection does not affect the speed in any way.

This reminds me of USB which is also confusing. A new 3.5" drive can have reads of up to 120MB/second (not counting the cache which is 200+). However, the USB interface is only 60MB/second. On top of this, the current fastest SATA or PATA->USB chip is 32MB/second. This means your max speed is limited to 32MB/second. At first glance this sucks but if you transfer small files with a hard drive (like pictures) you'll drop below this anyway (I'm definitely getting an SSD for Windows soon after reading how much speeds can drop using mechanical drives with small files). Most people don't care either but it is confusing when devices simply print the standard USB->60MB/second on the package as if that was the actual device speed.