We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Using a older ATA/IDE drive on a modern motherboard?

ClarkeKent
Posts: 336 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
I am building a mini PC and wish to use a old ATA100 7200rpm 320gb drive I have to save on money.
Do ribbon style cables exist for IDE to SATA? I have only seen cumbersome adapters so far that with space at a premium may present a problem in this case
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-Mini-ITX-Case-300W-x/dp/B0064KZ5O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452342519&sr=8-1&keywords=mini+atx+case+psu+300w
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001H3CW00/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-2&pf_rd_r=081GKBP6K0PY8HFRM2C4&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577048787&pf_rd_i=desktop
With the price of some of these adapters it might even be worth getting a £30 SATA drive.
Do ribbon style cables exist for IDE to SATA? I have only seen cumbersome adapters so far that with space at a premium may present a problem in this case
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-Mini-ITX-Case-300W-x/dp/B0064KZ5O6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452342519&sr=8-1&keywords=mini+atx+case+psu+300w
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001H3CW00/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-2&pf_rd_r=081GKBP6K0PY8HFRM2C4&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577048787&pf_rd_i=desktop
With the price of some of these adapters it might even be worth getting a £30 SATA drive.
0
Comments
-
I got one of these from ebay, after fitting into the IDE socket it only adds about an inch to the drive. It looks smaller than this and was £2.50 inc postage. Also came with a short SATA cable.0
-
ClarkeKent wrote: »With the price of some of these adapters it might even be worth getting a £30 SATA drive.
In short, yes as you will take a performance hit.Science isn't exact, it's only confidence within limits.0 -
I think that the difference in speeds between the older ide , plus the fact that the drive will be over 10 yrs old and the cost of a "adaptor" would make me think about a new or even second hand sata unitSave a Rachael
buy a share in crapita0 -
With the cost of an adapter you could sell the old drive and buy a larger and newer SATA one.
An extra inch in an ITX case is a lot space.
Sticking something low spec in that case? The cooling aspect seems rather poor.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
As others say, look at a new drive. The hard drive is one of the few remaining mechanical moving parts in a modern computer, and as such an old one will be top of the list of "expected failure" items.
The price of SSDs is coming down a lot now too. The performance benefit those give has to be seen to be believed...I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the In My Home MoneySaving, Energy and Techie Stuff boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
0 -
You can get much shorter adapters like this (I haven't tested either)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40-Pin-IDE-Female-To-SATA-7-15Pin-22-Pin-Male-Adapter-PATA-TO-SATA-Card-/311454907736?hash=item488428bd58:g:E1AAAOSwiLdWCkP~
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-IDE-Hard-Drive-44pin-Female-to-SATA-HDD-Male-Controller-Adapter-Converter-/161712168672?hash=item25a6cbdee0:g:NAsAAOSwBahVXkUoChanging the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
Do any modern motherboards come with a IDE ATA socket or are they all long gone?0
-
dunno , I have not seen one recently , have you? .
I am more worried about the age of the old drive , and feel that its a waste of time , unless you need to retrieve data from itSave a Rachael
buy a share in crapita0 -
ClarkeKent wrote: »Do any modern motherboards come with a IDE ATA socket or are they all long gone?
Long, long gone - it's not impossible they still exist but I suspect it unlikely and if they did they'd be pricey and you'd likely compromise other parts. I'm guessing you don't have space for a PCI card although even then you'd be able to get a sata hard drive for the same price anyway.
John0 -
AM2NF3-VSTA
http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/AM2NF3-VSTA/
still on amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000I0RLBS?keywords=ide%20motherboard&qid=1452365758&ref_=sr_1_12&sr=8-12Save a Rachael
buy a share in crapita0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.8K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454K Spending & Discounts
- 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.3K Life & Family
- 258.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards