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Need a new C drive, IDE only computer, can I use SATA?

T

theanimala

Senior member
I have a 3 year old Dell 4550 with a 30GB IDE C drive, and a 250GB D drive. I need more space and want to replace my 30GB C drive. I don't want to do a major system upgrade right now, and I plan on using this computer as it is for at least another year (most likely 2). I was wondering if I should just buy an IDE drive to replace the old one, or if I should buy some sort of IDE to SATA card or adapter, so then my system will be future proofed.

Do these cards make sense? Does it make sense to do this if I plan on using this system as is for the next year or 2?

Thanks!
 
You can get cheap SATA cards for $12. Just don't bother paying premium for a SATAII card as the PCI bus is a bottleneck. Drives are backwards compatible though, so get the SATAII drive for when you move to a new system.
 
But what is the point in getting a SATA hdd/card? For future use? Well, if you do not plan on doing a major upgrade in 2 years, then just stick with PATA. There is really no performance improvement, except for the fact that SATA is the "fashion" right now. And the grilling question is if this fashion will still be the same in two years.
 
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