HOT? Round IDE cables $5

MoMoney

Member
Mar 1, 2001
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They may look cool, but they are actually very bulky. I have 5 hard drives in my Antec 1030 case. When I tried to use these cables, the vinyl boots surrounding the IDE plugs were too bulky for me to fit them nicely in the case. Not only that, but the IDE plugs come undone very easily because the vinyl boots put additional stress on the cable. Also, the round cables actually get in the way of everything.

I took these round IDE cables off and installed my old trusty ATA100 cables. With those, I use a 90-degree bend to achieve much better airflow and gives me more room to work with inside the case.
 

roboninja

Senior member
Dec 7, 2000
268
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I think you are referring to Serial ATA. It is supposedly stil coming, but not for a little while yet. It is going to be a major shift for the PC industry, so the first boards are probably going to need to support both it and the older ATA100/133 spec (if that is feasible, I'm not sure). I am looking forward to it though; down with flat ribbon cables :) From what I have heard, Serial ATA wires will be like Firewire and USB cables, very thin and flexible.
 

ScrapSilicon

Lifer
Apr 14, 2001
13,625
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thanks thought that's what is/was called by ...like you said seems to be a long time in coming, roboninja.
 

darkjester

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2001
1,424
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<< what is the technical difference between ata/100 and ata/133 cables? >>


One ATA/33 cable. j/k :D

It all has to do with speed. Nowadays there's not even a concrete metric for 2.0GHz vs. 1.8GHz, because they could mean different things. But rest assured, ATA/133 is faster. Also, for drives greater than 120GB, you need ATA/133 cables to use them. At least, that's the story on the new 160GB behemoths.

Hope that helps. :)
 

thejammy

Member
Oct 12, 2001
117
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THANKS! I got 2 eide cables, 1 floppy cable and ram sinks for 6 dollars shipped.

Subtotal 30.00
Shipping 6.06
Tax 0.00
Total 36.06

Not Bad at all. :)
 

exisle

Golden Member
Mar 31, 2001
1,282
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<< It all has to do with speed. Nowadays there's not even a concrete metric for 2.0GHz vs. 1.8GHz, because they could mean different things. But rest assured, ATA/133 is faster. Also, for drives greater than 120GB, you need ATA/133 cables to use them. At least, that's the story on the new 160GB behemoths. >>



ack, I put the word technical in my question was in technical differences to try and avoid a response like that:)... what i'm wondering is what is the physical difference in the cables? can one get away with using a ata/100 cable on ata/133?
 

LawBeefaroni

Member
Nov 2, 2001
119
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76
The cables from Directron are ok. I have a pair. They're not the standard round cables in the thick plastic/rubber covering. They are cut IDE ribbon cables wrapped in thinner covering. They're not bad, but you can't compare them to the $12+ cables sold elsewhere.
 

BlackAspic

Member
Oct 24, 2001
52
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<<

<< It all has to do with speed. Nowadays there's not even a concrete metric for 2.0GHz vs. 1.8GHz, because they could mean different things. But rest assured, ATA/133 is faster. Also, for drives greater than 120GB, you need ATA/133 cables to use them. At least, that's the story on the new 160GB behemoths. >>



ack, I put the word technical in my question was in technical differences to try and avoid a response like that:)... what i'm wondering is what is the physical difference in the cables? can one get away with using a ata/100 cable on ata/133?
>>



the cables are essentially the same...an ATA133 cable has either greater shielding or has passed some sort of vendor-specific quality test for operation at ATA133 speeds. i am willing to bet that 95% of all ATA100 cables will work at ATA133 without a hitch.
 

katka

Senior member
Jun 19, 2001
708
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buy.com

If OOS then wait until instock, for 5.95 worth it, only grey though.

SVC for colors other than grey.
 

Luden

Platinum Member
Jul 15, 2001
2,269
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hmm very few vendors even have round ata133 cables, and the only ones i can find are the silver ones (which of course cost a few bucks more)

edit: if you know where i can get a few cheap 18'-24' inch ata133 cables pm me. Thanks