Old HDD compatible w/ a new system?

[JuanTabonia]

Hi, I have an older hard drive (ATA/33 i think) that I would like to put into a new computer (I'm still shopping). I have not kept up with computer technology so I'm a little confused.

Will a computer with a master SATA drive support the addition of this older HDD?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Any brief explanations on HDD transfer protocols would be appreciated too. Thanks!

 

[Bozo Galora]

yep. just install O/s first on SATA then add IDE ata33 or drive letters will start on old drive

 

[montag451]

also, any other drives on the same channel will work at ata33 speed

 

[batmanuel]

Just watch out for the newer Intel 915-based motherboards. Some of them just have a single IDE port on the mobo for your optical drive. The only ports available for your hard drives are SATA.

 

[JuanTabonia]

Thanks for your help. I am going to order a Dell 8400 soon and it comes with the Intel 925 Express chipset. I'm not sure how many IDE channels are available on that one. Even if there are 2 IDE channels, with 2 drives on each, I may get screwed because I'll have a DVD burner and DVD-ROM connected on one channel and the master HDD on the other. I would have to unplug the DVD-ROM drive to plug in the slow HDD. is that correct?

 

[Hurricane Andrew]

Originally posted by: montag451
also, any other drives on the same channel will work at ata33 speed

Not necessarily. Most new Mobo's support independant device timing on the IDE channels. Even so, if he only has one older HD, the only other things he's likely to put on the IDE channels would be optical drives, which run at slower speeds anyway.

 

[twitchee2]

same type of question.. i have a utlra ata100 80gb hdd. i will use that as my master on a8n board for a while untill funds permit for new hdd. will this hdd work?

 

[SunSamurai]

it will work fine. make sure youhave it as master in the jumpers on the back of the drive.

 

[twitchee2]

ok cool thanks