I just bought a brand new 120 gb 7200rpm Samsung SATA Hard drive to replace my 80gb Maxtor 5400rpm ATA Hard drive because it was acting up and i decided to get a new one. Anyways, i just got it in the mail and to my dissapointment i have IDE connections and a ATA interface/motherboard. I looked online to find an adapter and i did find a few but dont know which one/kind to get. I dont want to buy a new motherboard or a 80$ SATA card or anything. I have Ultra ATA and want to connect my Serial ATA hardrive to it..but these adapters im looking at i think work for Serial ATA motherboards to hook to Ultra ATA hardrives. Or can it work the other way around? I think i got the jist of it and can hook it up if i did get one. Can i use my IDE cable to hook onto the 40 pin adapter slot then the other end into my motherboard or does it have to go somewhere else. Im just a little confused thats all from a picture i saw on a website that hooked one up. Can anyone help me here? Thanks alot :cheesy:

Yes, you can obtain an adapter for plugging a SATA drive into old PATA-only motherboards. Have a talk to the supplier and make sure you get the right adapter for what you want!

For example, in Australia, you can buy this.

Also, if your motherboard supports ATA66 or above, you'll want to obtain an 80 conductor IDE cable (if you haven't already) to be able to transfer at decent speeds (rather than be limited to ATA33). Here's a helpful comparison with an older 40 conductor cable:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/id...4wires4080.jpg

Yeah, my IDE cable looks like the top one. Iv only got one cable for both my hardrives to hook into the motherboard which has one slot. It looks like this []------[]--[] (where the [] are the 40 pin connecters to the mother board and to the 2 hard drives and the --- is the cable). If it looks like the one above, with the small wires, do i need to upgrade to something else? Also, which adapter do you recomend i get. Thanks again



--- EDIT ---

Also, are there any power reductions when adding the adapter? Like, since im going from old technology to newer technology with the adapter will my drive become slower and lack its potential?

If it's the top cable (80 conductor), then that's the best you can get.
Not a clue sorry. I imagine they're all pretty much the same in terms of performance, so I probably wouldn't worry about which one.
SATA drives, when plugged into a proper SATA controller, have a max transfer speed of 150Mb/s. Old PATA technology maxed out at 133Mb/s, with 100Mb/s interfaces more common. However, most drives never come close to the max transfer rate in every day usage, so you won't really be "crippling" your drive too much.

Depending on what brand you bought, you might also need a convertor for the molex power connector from your power supply unit. Seagate SATA drives only use the new standard, but others such as Western Digital have plugs for both. Convertors don't cost much though.

Personally, if I were going to get an SATA drive, I'd go ahead and get an SATA card.

Where'd you find one for $80? I've seen them on pricewatch for as little as $40. To get that thing running at SATA150 speeds, I'd be okay with that price.

I have the money to buy a card but i dont know where to start to find one. Or should i just buy the adapter?

This is a Ultra ATA to SATA converter, $22, shipped.

This is an actual PCI SATA controller card, $32, shipped (tax is extra if you live in CA, NJ, or TN)

...I'm sure you could probably find them cheaper, but Newegg is a SUPER site to shop from-- I think I've racked up nearly $500 in purchases from them in the last 3 months! :o

Note: I'm not affiliated with, or being paid by Newegg.com to give this endorsement. However, if anyone at the staff of Newegg.com sees this, and feels compelled to send me a pair of Maxtor 80GB serial ATA drives with an 8MB buffer, I'm not going to complain!

Im looking at cards and i look into my slots where i can put it but the bottom part is different..where it fits in. My mobo slots have one long slot then a small one..these cards have 2 small slots and a middle one. I dont get it..which one do i get for my computer? Sorry the wording is so..stupid

Yeah, i mean my PCI BUS slots..i found out what they were. Haha sorry. None of the SATA cards will fit in mine and iv only found one and ordered it. Going to try it and will let you know how it goes.