SATA vs. ATAPI/E-IDE DVD ROM

[JPS35]

I realize that this is a stupid question and I should be more up to date, but which is the better technology for a CD/DVD ROM: SATA or ATAPI? I believe it is SATA, but want to be sure before I purchase a new drive.

Thanks!

 

[Aluvus]

It depends on how you define "better".

SATA is newer. Most better motherboards these days have a large number of SATA controllers, often supporting 6 or more SATA devices, but may support as few as 2 ATA devices. SATA cables are smaller than ATA cables. In those regards SATA is better.

But ATA drives are much more widely available, and cheaper. In those regards ATA is better.

Performance is identical. SATA is arguably a superior technology, but in practical terms the differences above are all that matter. If you can find an SATA drive that suits you, go for it.

 

[Lord Evermore]

As far as speed, optical drives still don't even beat out the ATA-33 spec. A 52X CDROM drive is only 7.8MBps when it's running at full 52X speed, which only happens when it's reading the very last bits of the edge of the disc, IF the disc is stable enough that the drive can actually reach that speed.

16X DVD-ROM is only 21.13MBps. 25X is equal to the ATA-33 spec. Around the 20X to 24X speeds will start to make it necessary to move to ATA-66, which some drives already support but most systems only use an old 40-wire cable, in order to actually be able to support full read speed maximums, since the ATA-33 spec is a theoretical maximum as well and real throughput may not be quite that high.

For optical devices, the big draw with SATA is simply the better cabling. A thin cable, not having to worry about fitting things into the case in such a way to allow you to put drives into the master and slave positions. The majority of drives shipped today though still go into OEM systems, so the majority of users aren't demanding different cabling. Once SATA optical drives are available at a reasonable price point though, the purchases of enthusiasts will likely immediately and almost totally shift to those, and more and more of them will come with SATA.

 

[JPS35]

Thank you both for the help! Given that I am using it to build my first system, I would like it to be as easy as possible working with the cables, space, etc. without sacrificing too much in terms of quality and speed. I will give it some more thought and continue to do a little research.