Whats the difference between IDE and SATA?

[topaimz]

I know that SATA is faster then IDE on transfer rates...

But somewhere I heard that for storage uses, IDE is better or preferable,
and SATA is preferable for OS uses or Gaming.

Is this true?
(I just got 2 x 250GB Maxtor DM10s SATAII/SATA-300...)

Im thinking of buying Raptors for my OS and my Gaming needs,
but I already bought the Maxtor thinking of using em for storage uses...

Should I buy two Raptors (Each for gaming and OS) and trade in the
Maxtors for an IDE Maxtor or Western drives?

[BlueWonder]

The difference is a bandwidth bottleneck. IDE can deliver upto 40bits each send where as SATA (of coarse being a serial device) sends 1 bit each send. It's a weird exeption to the "serial is slower" concept. IDE can't support transfer rates any faster than 130MB/s or it farts and dies (the recieving controller can't deal with the shear amount of data being forced into it all at once). Where as SATA can send that jizz as fast as the technologies will allow it because there's no bandwidth bottleneck to deal with.

In regard to your general "what should I do" plight, I'd suggest you do whatever suits your situation. SATA / SATAII is good for gaming it'll probably decrease your load times (Especially if you RAID 0). If your doing some serious OC'ing you might wanna consider getting a benching IDE drive for PCI-E freq considerations. But hey watever suits mate.

[nn_step]

Honestly there at this time is no difference between PATA(IDE) and SATA..
THe Drives currently in use do not max out the Bandwidth of the connections..
The reason for SATA is cleaner case layout and more connections..
But currently if you don't use alot of drives it is just plain cheaper to use PATA(IDE)..
Ultimately it has to do entirely with your personal tastes...

[topaimz]

Additional question:

SATAI or SATAII both work on a motherboard that supports SATA right?

I have a A8n32-SLi Asus motherboard...

P.S.
SATAI (SATA-150) has slower transfer rates right?
In comparison to SATAII (SATA-300) that is...

But when I look em up, sometime SATAI is more expensive then SATAII,
why is that? (same maker, same storage amount and cache...)

In addition, which harddrives make more noise/vibration and heat?
SATAs or IDEs? Plus do the raptors make alot of noise/vibration and heat?
(Im in process of purchasing the new 150GB raptor, black with seethru top)

Also, sorry for all the questions but, is EIDE, PIDE, ATA-133, ATA-100 all the same?
Pretty confusing @.@

[nn_step]

SATAI or SATAII both work on a motherboard that supports SATA PERiod!
SATAI (SATA-150) has slower transfer rate but right now There is no Drive that even remotely maxes it out..
Hence the difference between SATAI and SATAII is moot

and SATAI is more expensive because they are harder to come by.. Just buy what is Cheaper/Better

If you want Cool/Quiet Drives I strongly suggest Seagate 7200.8/7200.9 series
SATAs or IDEs? Which every is more convient for you

yes the raptors make alot of noise/vibration and heat

NO EIDE, PIDE, ATA-133, ATA-100 are not all the same
They all work but they are different transfer rates.. mixing them really does notthing except make the Max bandwidth limited a little bit..

I'll make is really simple for you
Until SATA 2.5 comes out.. ALL IDE, SATA I and SATA II drives with the Same Capacity, Cache and speed are the same
PCI Raid Cards are Bull:banana::banana::banana::banana: and you shouldn't buy them..
PCIe Raid Cards are Very good..
Any thing else you need to understand?

[BlueWonder]

There is a SLIGHT difference between HDs Give this a look over http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/06/wd1500ad_raptor_xtends_performance_lead/page8.html should help you with your choices.