Are you confused about SATA and PATA? Are you trying to find out which connection, i.e. SATA or PATA is better for your hard drive? Is your mind in the war SATA vs PATA? Then I would like to say that you are in right place. Eventually, you will find the answers to all the questions you have in your mind related to SATA and PATA. After finishing the article and knowing the facts of SATA and PATA, you will be able to choose the right hard drive connection by yourself.
We know, like all other components in a computer, the CPU controls the hard drives and also the optical drives. In the process, the CPU sends the requests for the necessary information to the hard drive and usually through an interface all the communications are done. This connection can be done in two ways, named as SATA and PATA.
The ‘ATA’ part which is common in both is Advanced Technology attachment and used for hard drive communication and control.
Table of Contents
What is PATA/ATA/IDE?
PATA is the older technology of the two and has been used in all computers for many of the years. PATA is the short form of ‘Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment’ which is actually an interface for connecting the processor and the drives. It should be clear, by interface I mean the way in which your computer and the hard drive is connected. This PATA is also known as ATA or IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics). On each drive, PATA or IDE has its own controllers. So the drive can connect directly to the motherboard. They were the most common interfaces found in the hard drives of most of the IBM computers in early days.
Advantages of PATA
As I said PATA was used in most of the hard drives at early times. But frankly speaking, it’s considered as a kind of legacy connection at present time. Though PATA connections have all the usual facilities which are needed but still less effective than SATA. PATA connections are very cheaper than SATA connections.
Disadvantages of PATA
In the days when SATA connection was not there, PATA did a good job but was also a bit complaining. The PATA connections are slow. They need more power and are less effective. It means when you want to compare PATA with SATA, you will find mostly disadvantages of PATA.
The advantages and disadvantages will be discussed more elaborately in later sections.
What is SATA?
After many days of PATA connection hard drives, there came a ruler to dethrone PATA connection hard drives and became the king where hard drive connections are concerned. SATA means ‘Serial Advanced Technology Attachment’. The main characteristic which differentiates SATA from PATA is that in SATA the information moves between the hard drive and motherboard as serial one, i. e. one bit after another.
The main motivation behind the creation of SATA was the increase in the drive speed. For, SATA connection hard drives are very fast.
Advantages of SATA
SATA has all type of things and advantages that were limited in PATA. SATA connection is faster, consumes less power and is more effective. Again there is a very vital advantage. SATA connections are hot-swappable which means that without turning the computer’s power off, the hard drive can be connected and disconnected also.
Disadvantages of SATA
The SATA connections are created to keep in mind of the perfect figure. So you will find few disadvantages of SATA connections. They might be sometimes expensive though.
The advantages and disadvantages will be described elaborately in later sections.
Difference Between SATA and PATA
Like I said earlier, Serial ATA or SATA and Parallel ATA or PATA are two interfaces that are basically used for connecting to storage devices like hard drives and optical drives. And as it occurs, SATA is the successor to PATA, more likely, PATA is now mostly outdated.
I am going to tell the differences very smoothly, in structures like we used to do in our school days.
These are mainly the differences between SATA and PATA connections.
SATA vs PATA – Which One is Better for the Hard Drive
Like I said, PATA is like a living fossil now. At present times, there is no competition for PATA with SATA. SATA is a thousand times better Than PATA in drive connections. Though it has a few limitations too.
I am not going to just pressurize my realization upon you, rather I am going to talk about the points and by showing the facts am going to tell you which is better on what.
Data Transfer Rate
The data transfer rate of SATA connections is very fast compared to that of PATA connections. In fact, the main reason of SATA being used over PATA is because of the increased data transfer speeds of SATA connection hard drives. PATA has the capacity of data transfer speeds of 33/66/100/133 MB/second, whereas SATA is capable of 150/300/600 MBs/second. The differences in speed are due to the various versions and flavors of PATA and SATA.
You will find it interesting when you notice that even the slowest speed of SATA is still faster than the fastest speed of PATA. The improved speed of SATA makes the programs loading faster at a satisfactory range, and also the pictures and large documents. For those who are enthusiast gamers, faster data transfer speeds mean smoother game-play which is making better gaming experiences.
Power Consumption
The SATA drives usually need very little power than PATA drives. The SATA drive usually uses only 250 mV of power, which is even 25 percent of one volt. If you look at the PATA drives, you will see that they require a 5V power connection. The lower power consumption of SATA connection drives helps to keep the inner part of the computer case cooler and also reduces the power supply drain at a considerable range.
Cable Management and length
The maximum length of a PATA cable is 18-20 inches, whereas the SATA cables are up to 40 inches. So again it is an advantage of SATA over PATA which is the management of cables and length of the cables connecting the hard drives and motherboard. When you have extra length in cables, more flexibility of the positions of the drive can be attained.
Moreover, the SATA cable has two 0.25-inch-wide cables which are far narrower than PATA cables. So the SATA cables take up less space in the computer case than the PATA cables. It saves space in there.
Airflow
SATA cables are smaller than PATA cables in size. So if you use SATA connection, being short in size the cables allow increased airflow inside of the computer case as well as a decrease of heat buildup. This ultimately increases the longevity of computer life.
More Drives Support
Usually, there are four to six SATA connections in a normal motherboard which allow multiple SATA hard drives to hook up.
On the other hand, there are only two PATA connections in a motherboard, allowing a total of four PATA hard drives to be connected.
Drivers Management
Sometimes, SATA drivers need a special device driver to recognize the drive and use it on the computer. PATA drivers have an advantage over SATA on this, as they don’t need any kind of special device driver.
Drive per Cable
The SATA cable allows only one hard drive at a time to be connected.
Again, the PATA cable allows for two drives at a time to be connected. This is an advantage of the PATA connection.
Price
PATA connection is cheaper than the SATA connection.
If you closely examine all of the factors described above, you will see that the SATA drivers are better than PATA drivers in almost all aspects. The newer computers are made with SATA connection drives, whereas the old ones are with PATA connection drives. If you have a SATA or PATA connection and you want to move to other, you can do it by using SATA to PATA adapters.
I would strongly recommend the SATA drivers over PATA drivers.
Summing Up
I hope that the SATA vs PATA war has come to an end in your mind and you know exactly which one is better for your hard drives. As SATA drives are faster, less power consuming, hot-swappable, flexible and because of their effectiveness, they are strongly positioned over PATA drives.
Again I am saying, don’t blindly take my recommendation but analyze and realize the facts. And then decide whether SATA or PATA would be better for your hard drive.
If you feel that SATA is better for you then read this article- IDE to SATA Conversion | How to Connect and Everything You Need to Know
That will be all for now. Thank you.
