Mayi, so if me were to get an external casing for a 120Gb PATA harddisk, me just lokk for those normal IDE type instead of those for SATA and PATA types?Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:PATA is IDE, SATA is SATA.
The difference between them is minor or major, depending on how you see it.
For PATA hard disks, you will need to set the jumpers accordingly if you are using more than 2. For SATA, that isn't an issue.
Also, there's a speed difference. SATA is faster than PATA...
PATA disks also have more pins, more specifically, 40 pins, in 2 rows, 20 pins each.
Usually PATA aligns with ATA100 speed. Parallel ATA 133 are classified under Ultra ATA. Read more about then below:-Originally posted by dork3d:What's the difference between Parallel ATA 133 and Serial ATA 133 harddisk?
You can mod an external hard disk with IDE drives (i.e PATA drives) or SATA drives. However when you can the mod case, look out for the interface card description. Most in retails now are for IDE drives, however there are some for SATA drives modding and they usually costs more over the IDE compatitor.Originally posted by dork3d:Mayi, so if me were to get an external casing for a 120Gb PATA harddisk, me just lokk for those normal IDE type instead of those for SATA and PATA types?