EIDE vs IDE - What's compatible with my board?

[llg]

According to my service tag on the back of my Dell Dimension XPS R450
(Pentium II) the Dell 'upgrade' site recommends a EIDE Ultra ATA-100 80
GB upgrade. Its 5 years old and is running XP home (upgraded from 98).

I'm not going to buy from Dell. Just wanted to know if these Maxtor and
Seagate's we see available for 50 bucks (after rebate) are compatible.
Can an IDE device run on a box that calls for EIDE? If it calls for
ATA-100 can you install an ATA-133 with problems?

I'm planning on going with 80 GB to stay under the disk size limit that
would call for an interface card on older machines.

I'm no hardware tech guy so any plain simple guidance would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

~len

 

[Mike Walsh]

The EIDE nomenclature is not generally used anymore, and all IDE drives now sold far exceed the original EIDE specs. ATA133 drives will run at ATA100, which is plenty fast enough for any drive made now. If you put two drives on the same cable one must be master and the other one slave. DMA should be enable for all drives.

 

[kony]

According to my service tag on the back of my Dell Dimension XPS R450
(Pentium II) the Dell 'upgrade' site recommends a EIDE Ultra ATA-100 80
GB upgrade. Its 5 years old and is running XP home (upgraded from 98).

I'm not going to buy from Dell. Just wanted to know if these Maxtor and
Seagate's we see available for 50 bucks (after rebate) are compatible.
Can an IDE device run on a box that calls for EIDE? If it calls for
ATA-100 can you install an ATA-133 with problems?

I'm planning on going with 80 GB to stay under the disk size limit that
would call for an interface card on older machines.

I'm no hardware tech guy so any plain simple guidance would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

~len

Yes, the Maxtors, Seagates, etc, are compatible with your system. The
primary issue would've been whether your system supported over 32GB sized
drives, but apparently it does. ATA mode is backwards compatible, it will
run at the fastest speed the motherboard chipset supports, most likely
with no effort on your part but be sure to use an 80-conductor cable,
which is included with retail packaged drives. It is unlikely but
possible that the drive would have a problem falling back to a slower ATA
rate, if that happens you can run the manufacturer's diagnostics or
literature which will provide relief, but for the most part that's not an
issue anymore.

 

[llg]

Many thanks Mike!!

The EIDE nomenclature is not generally used anymore, and all IDE drives now sold far exceed the original EIDE specs. ATA133 drives will run at ATA100, which is plenty fast enough for any drive made now. If you put two drives on the same cable one must be master and the other one slave. DMA should be enable for all drives.

 

[llg]

Many thanks Kony!

Yes, the Maxtors, Seagates, etc, are compatible with your system. The
primary issue would've been whether your system supported over 32GB sized
drives, but apparently it does. ATA mode is backwards compatible, it will
run at the fastest speed the motherboard chipset supports, most likely
with no effort on your part but be sure to use an 80-conductor cable,
which is included with retail packaged drives. It is unlikely but
possible that the drive would have a problem falling back to a slower ATA
rate, if that happens you can run the manufacturer's diagnostics or
literature which will provide relief, but for the most part that's not an
issue anymore.

 

[Trent©]

The EIDE nomenclature is not generally used anymore, and all IDE drives now sold far exceed the original EIDE specs. ATA133 drives will run at ATA100, which is plenty fast enough for any drive made now. If you put two drives on the same cable one must be master and the other one slave. DMA should be enable for all drives.

You've got it exactly backwards, Mike.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Casey Tompkins]

You've got it exactly backwards, Mike.

Have a nice week...
Trent

(scratching head) Ok, Trent, which part is backwards? An ATA-133 drive
will run at ATA-100 when plugged into a -100 interface, yes?

Also (just to expand on Mike's comment) wasn't the term Enhanced-IDE
introduced when they came out with the Ultra-DMA (aka ATA-33)
interface?

 

[Trent©]

(scratching head) Ok, Trent, which part is backwards? An ATA-133 drive
will run at ATA-100 when plugged into a -100 interface, yes?

Yes...so that's not the part.

Also (just to expand on Mike's comment) wasn't the term Enhanced-IDE
introduced when they came out with the Ultra-DMA (aka ATA-33)
interface?

Yes. But that's not what Mike said...at least that's not what I read.

We started out with IDE...actually, pre-IDE. Then we went to EIDE.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Casey Tompkins]

Yes...so that's not the part.


Yes. But that's not what Mike said...at least that's not what I read.

We started out with IDE...actually, pre-IDE. Then we went to EIDE.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

(reads reply)
(reads original)

Ok, I get it now; he refers to "IDE drives now sold," then "original
"EIDE specs." Durrrh.

Cheers!

 

[Trent©]

(reads reply)
(reads original)

Ok, I get it now; he refers to "IDE drives now sold," then "original
"EIDE specs." Durrrh.

Cheers!

My Durrrh, too. I probably sounded like a smart ass. Sorry.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!