80 wire IDE drive cable?

[Andrew Hamilton]

Just bought a new DVD writer (got a good price). Manual says you need
an 80 wire cable for optimal performance. At my local computer store,
which is pretty big (but the clerks are clueless), all they had were
regular 40 wire IDE cables. Clerks couldn't help me.

What should I be looking for?

Thanks
Andy

 

[Arno Wagner]

Just bought a new DVD writer (got a good price). Manual says you need
an 80 wire cable for optimal performance. At my local computer store,
which is pretty big (but the clerks are clueless), all they had were
regular 40 wire IDE cables. Clerks couldn't help me.

What should I be looking for?

A computer store with competent clerks. 40 wire cables are by now
historic artefacts. No current HDD works well with them. If no
other source, then mail-order one.

Arno

 

[CJT]

Just bought a new DVD writer (got a good price). Manual says you need
an 80 wire cable for optimal performance. At my local computer store,
which is pretty big (but the clerks are clueless), all they had were
regular 40 wire IDE cables. Clerks couldn't help me.

What should I be looking for?

Thanks
Andy

As the other poster said, it's unlikely any computer store even stocks
40 wire cables any more. The 80 wire cables still have forty pin
connectors, so your clerks are probably confused.

 

[Rod Speed]

Just bought a new DVD writer (got a good price). Manual says
you need an 80 wire cable for optimal performance. At my local
computer store, which is pretty big (but the clerks are clueless),
all they had were regular 40 wire IDE cables. Clerks couldn't help me.

What should I be looking for?

A cattle prod to goose those ****wits with. Just buy what they sell and
check that its got 80 wires before paying for it. Its obvious to look at.

Dont buy the round ones, they are harder to
check by eye and flout the standard anyway.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

A computer store with competent clerks. 40 wire cables are by now
historic artefacts.

 

[Eric Gisin]

The 40 wire cable gives you UDMA 33, which is good enough for any DVD drive.

 

[Rod Speed]

The 40 wire cable gives you UDMA 33, which is good enough for any DVD drive.

Wrong with the fastest write speeds.

 

[Frodo]

The 80 wire and 40 wire look almost the same.
The 80 wire cables are 40 wire ribbon cables with 40 extra grounding wires.
Should be able to find an "80 wire" at www.pricewatch.com or www.EBay.com
or try www.surpluscomputers.com

The 80 wire can be referred to as ATA100 or ATA133 ribbon cable.

As current ATA/EIDE hard drive work at ATA100 or ATA133, any place that
sells hard drives
should stock the ATA100 ATA133 cables.

 

[Eric Gisin]

Wrong with the fastest write speeds.

16X * 1.5MB/s = 24MB/s. Well under 33MB/s.

 

[Frodo]

16X * 1.5MB/s = 24MB/s. Well under 33MB/s.

20X* 1.5MB/s=30MB/s, it's getting closer

 

[Rod Speed]

16X * 1.5MB/s = 24MB/s. Well under 33MB/s.

Try telling Panasonic that says you need an 80 wire cable for the fastest write modes.

I'll take what they say over those numbers you have plucked out of your arse, thanks.

 

[Eric Gisin]

Try telling Panasonic that says you need an 80 wire cable for the fastest write modes.

I'll take what they say over those numbers you have plucked out of your arse, thanks.

It's called math, you blithering cretin.
Australia seems to be lacking higher life forms.

 

[Rod Speed]

It's called math, you blithering cretin.

Go tell Panasonic, ****wit child.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Try telling Panasonic that says you need an 80 wire cable for the fastest write modes.

But not for the fastest read modes. Yeah, makes such a lot of sense.

I'll take what they say over those numbers you have plucked out of your arse, thanks.

Good for you, Idjut.

 

[Aidan Karley]

As the other poster said, it's unlikely any computer store even stocks
40 wire cables any more.

When I had friends running computer stores (several years ago
now, it must be said), they would have such things in the shop, for
"goodwill" to regular customers, but they wouldn't for a second consider
holding them as stock items. The sales rate is too low, and the price so
low that you can't make a decent return on them. Selling 2 a week at £5
each, profit £2 isn't worth the effort. (NB - this doesn't mean that
on-line shops can't make a profit at it if they're selling 2000 a week.
The context is computer stores here.)
Whenever the shop had them in, it was as spares from when they'd
been building a machine for a customer, doing repairs or upgrades. So
what they'd have would be a more or less random selection from the last
few years. I bet if I walked into either Chez Alok or Chez Martin
(neighbours, no names but easily identifiable locally) this afternoon, I
could walk away with a 40-wire IDE cable from each in a couple of
minutes. Needless to say, I've got at least 2 in the bits box behind me.

 

[Andrew Hamilton]

The 80 wire and 40 wire look almost the same.
The 80 wire cables are 40 wire ribbon cables with 40 extra grounding wires.
Should be able to find an "80 wire" at www.pricewatch.com or www.EBay.com
or try www.surpluscomputers.com

The 80 wire can be referred to as ATA100 or ATA133 ribbon cable.

As current ATA/EIDE hard drive work at ATA100 or ATA133, any place that
sells hard drives
should stock the ATA100 ATA133 cables.

Finally, I got the answer I was looking for. The stupid clerks
couldn't tell me this, but Frodo said all I needed to know: Just look
for an ATA 100 or 133 cable. There were lots of these in the store,
they just didn't say "80 wire" and the clerks, most of them didn't
even understand what I was asking for.

Despite the fact that this is a big store, I try not to give them much
business. They don't deserve it.

Andy