Is there a different between PATA and ATA HD?

[beyonddc]

I've a very generic e-machine, and I saw a Maxtor 300GB L01R300 16MB Buffer Ultra ATA/133 specifically mention that it uses PATA interface.

Can I use it?

Is there any differences between PATA and ATA or are they the same?

 

[corkyg]

They are the same. PATA was coined to be more relational to SATA. PATA = IDE.

 

[beyonddc]

That's all I need, thanks!

 

[Zepper]

Actually the alphabet soup is getting confusing since both serial ATA (SATA) drives and parallel ATA (the ones that use 40/80 wire cables) drives are really both ATA and IDE drives. So to make for absolute and easy differentiation, PATA was coined to ease communication.

.bh.

 

[corkyg]

A SATA drive may be designed as IDE, but does it use the IDE controller? On my mobo it uises the RAID/SATA controller.

 

[Zepper]

IDE (integrated device, or drive, electronics) simply means that most of the controlling logic is on the drive thus requiring just a simple adapter to connect it to the PCI or other bus. Whereas prior to that the common storage equipment on PCs was MFM or RLL which placed most of the controlling logic on the "controller" card.

It is the same for both PATA and SATA and they both requre under $20. adapter cards to attach them to some bus or another. As at the time there was no competing technology to the parallel IDE interface, IDE came to be larded down with lots of baggage unrelated to the primary definition, such as connector and cable types etc. IDE originally applied to the drive only.

.bh.

 

[Madwand1]

Retailers around here tend to say "IDE" for PATA, and "SATA" for "SATA" of course. "PATA" seems more clear to me, but when I say that, they ask "IDE?" and I say "yes".

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Retailers around here tend to say "IDE" for PATA, and "SATA" for "SATA" of course. "PATA" seems more clear to me, but when I say that, they ask "IDE?" and I say "yes".

Yeah, lots of folks do that. But SATA are also EIDE drives, and can run as them over SATA, even, making it less accurate than the retcon, PATA.