The production of hard drives does not stand still. Technologies are actively developing: the speed of writing and reading is increasing, the operating life is increasing, new standards and form factors are appearing, which is why many old devices become incompatible with modern computers. Using IDE SATA adapters, you can even make the old machine work with new drives.
Differences between SATA and IDE
IDE (ATA) - a parallel interface for connecting drives or optical drives to the motherboard. Old standard of the 1990s. IDE technology uses a 40 pin connector to connect to the motherboard and separately 4 power pins. Currently, an almost obsolete class. An exception is the old equipment, which is still in operation for unknown reasons.
SATA is a serial communication interface. Now applied to all new devices. It has several advantages over the old system.
The main advantages of SATA:
- high speed of reading / writing information;
- increased volume of the drive itself;
- the ability to connect devices without restarting the system.
There is also a more recent version - eSATA. The same SATA, but guarantees stable contact throughout the entire operating time. It is used for external HDD.
Why do I need an adapter?
There are several problems that can cause a desire to purchase an IDE SATA adapter. For example, an old hard drive with an IDE interface of 80 GB is at home, and you suddenly needed to “pull” a photo out of it. Connecting it to a new computer with SATA connectors does not work.
- On the computer, there was a sharp shortage of memory, and an IDE hard drive of the right size was at hand, which at first glance is useless.
- The situation may be the opposite: without upgrading the old computer on IDE interfaces, I want to get more additional memory or restore files.
All situations have one solution - use a SATA / IDE or IDE SATA adapter. It is able to convert the data stream from one system to another, thus erasing the boundaries between different standards. The complexity of the application is nothing more than the use of an adapter for microSD cards.
How to choose?
The first step is to decide which adapter is needed. There are as many as five options:
- IDE / SATA.
- SATA / IDE.
- IDE USB.
- SATA USB.
- IDE SATA USB.
The first two points are suitable for indoor installation. They will be useful if one or more hard drives, or SSDs of different standards, you want to put in the computer case. Usually these adapters do not even have a housing and are not protected in any way. They look like a regular board, where it is intuitively clear where and what to connect.
An important parameter of the adapter from IDE to SATA is the speed of reading and transmitting information. In the case of a USB adapter, it can be 2.0 or 3.0 version. The latter allows you to operate with information faster, but it depends on the version of the computer ports, as well as on the capabilities of the hard drive itself.
IDE SATA with USB output
In addition to adapters for switching between IDE SATA standards, IDE SATA USB adapters can be found on the shelves. This device allows you to connect any hard drives directly to the USB port, regardless of standards. So, it is allowed to use ordinary HDD disks as a large flash drive. This is more useful for laptops or tablets.
There are both universal (SATA IDE adapters on one board, connecting several media of the same or different types at once), and separate (only SATA or IDE) adapters. The choice depends on your specific needs and price. An important parameter when choosing will be the presence of a built-in or additional power supply. Without it, the adapter will cost a little cheaper, but will be less functional. There is the possibility of using a central computer power supply, but this is not always convenient, in addition, you will have to unscrew the cover each time.
Food
IDE Series drives are powered by a regular Molex connector with 12v and 5v pins. It is on all power supplies.
SATA drives require a connection for 12v, 5v and 3.3v boards. To do this, you can find the usual 15-pin SATA IDE power adapter with a Molex connector. The problem is that the standard Molex does not have 3.3v wire, which means that it is not able to power a certain block of the board. This feature was taken into account by the manufacturers of disks, to some extent solved.
A drive connected via a SATA interface powered by a Molex / Sata adapter will work adequately on all machines, but not everyone will be able to support hot-plug technology (removing or attaching to the system during operation). On most modern power supplies there is a separate output - a SATA connector, which is not related to Molex and includes 3.3v power. One way or another, but modern SATA devices do not require 3.3v voltage to work.
Adapter or new drive?
There is no single answer to this question. It all depends on your preferences and budget. At present, the price of memory has fallen dramatically, but it is still not encouraging at some points. Perhaps a more rational solution would be to purchase a new drive or docking station, which will allow you to quickly connect hard drives of different formats on the principle of a flash drive.
It is worth considering that buying a new hard drive can pull the upgrade of the entire system, while installing the adapter does not oblige you to do anything.
Do it yourself
Most useful electronic devices can be assembled for just a few dollars with your own hands, without any special knowledge of electronics, but the IDE SATA adapter hardly falls into the category of easily reproducible devices. Ultimately, most likely, much more time and money will be spent than in the case of buying a ready-made adapter, although it’s easy to find many working schemes on the Internet. But the "technomonsters" such a task should please.