2006-07-03 13:22:23 · 4 answers · asked by robertc_tas 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
ATA is for older IDE hard drives and DVD/CD drives. It has a max transfer of 133 kbits/sec. and has been around far longer than SATA. The cable is flat and wide. You can connect 2 drives per cable but one must be set to master (usually your main hard drive) or slave (or both to cable select to auto detect the order).
SATA is the newer, thinner, faster wire-like cables that connects to the latest hard drives and some DVD drives. All SATA devices connect as master so no need to set jumpers. There are two types.
SATA 150 can transfer at max 150kbits/sec
SATA 300 can transfer at max 300kbits/sec
2006-07-03 13:28:04 · answer #1 · answered by anonfuture 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ATA cables are typically gray, flat and wide. SATA cables are colored (red is one of the more common colors, but they come in other colors as well), flat and thin.
While ATA cables can support two devices (providing a total of three connectors on the cable), this is not always the case. SATA cables will always have only two connectors.
2006-07-03 20:26:18 · answer #2 · answered by Eric 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ATA cables are very wide cables, with many little cables, while SATA is a smaller simpler cable.
ATA supports two drives per cable, Master and Slave. SATA normally only supports one.
2006-07-03 20:25:38 · answer #3 · answered by Tim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One has a big wide 40-pin end, and the other has a little cute black nub, no bigger than a USB end.
2006-07-03 20:26:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋