Performance issues in a cheap HD?

[RyanW2050]

What is going to effect me if I try to save money by going with a non SATA HD?

I mostly play MMORPGs and some BF2/CS:S



Is a IDE ULTRA ATA 100 or 133 un-acceptable?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Performance is almost the same, so a big map loading may take 24 seconds instead of 23.

A newer IDE with denser platter like a Samsung Spinpoint SP120 series could even out-performn an older SATA drive with a lower density platter.

 

[NateSLC]

You shouldn't notice any difference from a current generation IDE versus SATA hard drive with the same specs. Hard drives can't max out ATA 100 at this point.

One exception might be an NCQ enabled SATA drive, but from what I've read there isn't any tangible performance increase for regular desktop use.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Just spend like $5 more and get a SATA version, not because it increases performance, but because the cables are SO much nicer and easier to work with. Unless you find some huge in store bargain where you can get like a 200GB IDE drive for $30, stick with SATA.