HD cables, round or flat??? Simple question...

[Greenwald]

Well, I'm going to order my system parts pretty soon (P4 2.53 533 & Epox 4g4a+). Thanks guys for all your help and advice! Now, I need to know what kind of HD cable to get with my HD. I plan to get a WD 120GB "special edition". So, do I need a round cable or flat 80 wire cable? Is one better than the other as far as performance goes? I'd like to take advantage of the fastest speed possible. Also, I'm going to take my 80G and 30G hds out of my current PC. Will I need round cables for them too if I go with a round cable for the new HD? What about my CDRW? I know it's a dumb question but I want to be sure I get everything I need.

Thanks

M Greenwald

 

[minendo]

The rounded cables just provide for more airflow through the case. Other than that their specs are the same as long as you get a comparable cable.

 

[kherman]

Rounded cables are for two things actually:

1) better cooling
2) MUCH easier to route cables.

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: kherman
Rounded cables are for two things actually:

1) better cooling
2) MUCH easier to route cables.

u forgot #3.... it's prettier

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: kherman
Rounded cables are for two things actually:

1) better cooling
2) MUCH easier to route cables.

I disagree. Like many others, I went nutso and spend a lot of money on pretty, machine-rounded cables. If you only have two or three rounded cables in your case, they do provide marginally better airflow.

But, when you have two CDRs, three HDs and a floppy, things tend to get croweded in the case in short order.

In addition, it's common practice to neatly fold/bundle excess cable length out of the way, as to not impeded airflow. Even three rounded cables, bundled and folded together make one big lump of plastic...not exactly aerodynamic.

Also, rounded cables are not the easiest things to fold/bundle and move out of the way, whereas the common flat IDE cable is very easy to fold on top of itself and zip-tie out of the way.

When I went from IDE to rounded cables, my case temp dropped by 1C, which is negligible and well within "a margin of error" taking into account ambient room temp etc.

Last time I cleaned out my my main rig (I open it up every few months to vacuum the dust out) I went back to IDE cables. My case is neater, cleaner-looking and my case temp stayed the same.

So, I have $60 worth of pretty rounded IDE cables sitting in my storage box.

If you're building a rig with a window and you want it to look pretty, get rounded cables in matching/contrasting colors.

If you're like most folks that have the case sitting under the desk, with no window, don't waste your money.