Seagate 160 GB SATA (ST3160023AS)

Reviews: Storage

Author:
Editor:
Sponsor:
Published:

Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Seagate
May. 15, 2004

<< Previous

Next >>

A Closer Look

In addition to the lack of cable select jumpers, the most noticeable difference between SATA and PATA hard drives are the size and shape of the cables and connections. SATA cables, unlike the extremely bulky and hard-to-manage flat IDE cables (or even rounded IDE cables), take up much less space and are easier to route within a computer. The connections for SATA drives are also much easier to work with compared to the bulky PATA cables. SATA cables can also be up to a meter in length, twice as long as the maximum length of PATA cables. Most power supplies currently ship with SATA power connectors. However, many people with older power supplies will have to use inexpensive adapters. SATA drives are also backwards compatible with PATA drives via an adapter. The SATA standard also allows for much higher transfer rates; 150 MB/s for first generation drives, 300 MB/s for second generation and 600 MB/s for third generation drives.

Seagate's SATA drives, like any other SATA drives, are hot swappable. This means that you can connect and disconnect SATA drives while your computer is running (as long as it isn't your boot disk).

Seagate also sent us a PCI Silicon Image SATA RAID controller which comes with all the necessary cables and drivers to install the drives. However, during our testing, we will be using the onboard SI SATA RAID controller included on the ABIT IC7-MAX3 motherboard.

<< Previous

Page 2 of 7

Next >>

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: A Closer Look
Page 3: Test System / Benchmarks
Page 4: Benchmarks: HD Tach 2.7
Page 5: Benchmarks: Disk Bench 2.2
Page 6: Benchmarks: WinBench 99
Page 7: Conclusion

Subscribe to Internal Hard Drives [more info]

Add Comment

3 User Comments

1 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on May 16, 2004 - 12:44 pm

i have the seagate 120 gig version of that drive and absolutely love it. it doesnt perform any better than my 160 PATA master drive, but it is extremely quiet and doesn't emit enough heat to worry about. i really can't wait for the 2nd and 3rd generation drives to come out though.
*insert greedy laugh here*

2 - Posted by greymatter on July 19, 2004 - 9:50 am

I too own the 120GB Seagate drive and it's without a doubt the best drive I have ever owned. The performance jump, while small, has it where it counts. Moving multiple files and defragging is noticeably faster with this SATA over my other IDE still installed. I have previously run with quite a few IBM Deskstars which I also consider to be a rock solid drive and this Seagate has it beat. Great product.

I definitely second Emo though and can't wait for the next generation drives to start my HTPC project. :wink:

3 - Posted by Guest on July 12, 2005 - 11:25 am

Your board is limiting the performance. Why didn't you use the raid card that was sent?

Add Comment

To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields.