Difference between IDE and IDE100?

[Hikusaak]

I'm looking into getting a new harddrive, but I was wondering what the difference is between IDE and IDE100.
I don't want to get one that isn't compatible with my PC. My motherboard can't use SATA btw. So I need to get an IDE, but I see there's IDE and IDE100, so I'm wondering what the difference is?

And if anyone knows, what is cache good for when it comes to harddrives?

[Thrax]

1. They're the same, though "IDE100" isn't, er, a real phrase that's used. It's ATA66/100/133 on the IDE interface.

2. Cache helps speed up disk access.

[mas0n]

If you are seeing drives that are ATA 100 and some that are ATA 133, the 133 interface is technically faster, however real life performance shows the difference to be minimal at best. The ATA 133 will get higher burst speeds when reading from cache, but sustained read & write will be about the same.

Cache is where frequently accessed data and read ahead data is temporarily stored. This is very important on a drive where your OS & programs will be located and less important on a pure storage drive. 8MB is pretty standard, more is obviously better.

IMO probably the most important spec to look for is a low average seek latency. Get as close to or below 8ms as possible.

Hope that helps.

[Hikusaak]

So, if my motherboard supports IDE then there's no risk that ATA 100/133 harddrives won't work at all on my PC?

[edcentric]

No risk. The ATA standards are all backward compatible.

[Hikusaak]

Ok thanks! Then I'll go ahead and order one. =)