Why is my WD drive so slow?

[siscorskiy]

Hey guys, I have a WD Caviar SE running off EIDE that I bought a few years ago, and one problem ive always had is that the drive is so damn slow.

I've been doing some research about DMA modes, and in the Device manager that drive is currently running on Ultra DMA Mode 2, and my drive appears to me maxing out the speed of that particular mode, here: http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5053/320gig.png

My question is, how do I get my drive to use a higher DMA mode? Is my cable limiting me, and if so, what is the best cable to buy for maximum speed?

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
XP Home

 

[house70]

From a theoretical standpoint, I believe you need to make sure first the drive is supporting higher DMA modes. I don't think the cable is a limitation, but the standard might be.
Practically speaking... that drive is a few years old anyways, and approaching it's end-of-life. I would just get a new one.

 

[siscorskiy]

In the FAQ for this drive it says :

Data Transfer Rate (maximum)
-Buffer to host
100 MB/s (Mode 5 Ultra ATA)
66.6 MB/s (Mode 4 Ultra ATA)
33.3 MB/s (Mode 2 Ultra ATA)
16.6 MB/s (Mode 4 PIO)
16.6 MB/s (Mode 2 Multi-word DMA)


Doesn't this mean my drive an support up to higher mode transfer speeds?
I am frustrated and lost on what to do about this drives transfer speed