Whats the difference between Ultra DMA and a normal IDE hard

This is a discussion about Whats the difference between Ultra DMA and a normal IDE hard in the Windows Hardware category; Dear reader, I am wondering what the difference is. Is it faster using a Ultra DMA hard drive than a normal IDE hard drive? I have a western digital IDE hard drive. . . which is slow. What about those 5200 RPM and 7200 RPM hard drives? Which are Ultra DMA? What hard drive is a really good value hard drive that give ...

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Dear reader,
 
I am wondering what the difference is. Is it faster using a Ultra DMA hard drive than a normal IDE hard drive? I have a western digital IDE hard drive...which is slow. What about those 5200 RPM and 7200 RPM hard drives? Which are Ultra DMA? What hard drive is a really good value hard drive that gives good performance and works quietly? I am going to buy a second PC, which I hope will have these features:
 
Pentium 3 600 Mhz
128 SDRAM (133 mhz)
CD-Writer
Slow Windows 98
30 Gig Ultra DMA hard drive
Vortex 2 sound card
No monitor, because I have two already.
 
Thank you very much for your replies, and I hope that we get some good information about some other hardware that work in Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Professional as well.
 
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Windows 2000 Pro owns!

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Mar 11
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data/avatar/default/avatar07.webp

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Ultra DMA has a faster transfer rate. 7200 rpm drives have faster access rate. You should look for one that is 7200 rpm and UDMA66 for the best performance if you have a controller card that supports UDMA66 like HPT 366 or a Promise. I have heard that IBM actually makes the best 7200 drives. I don't think any company out there make drives that are not UDMA 33 at least.

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I have just got an IBM 34GXP 20.5 gb also available in 34GB version. It is fast, 7200rpm and has a good bench mark and review at www.storagereview.com.
 
For the fastest drive, u have to get a Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 40, but some peeps have been moaning about them in the forum on Storage review.

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Dear reader,
 
Thanks for your reply. I see now. I also need a controller...how interesting.
 
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Windows 2000 Pro owns!

data/avatar/default/avatar08.webp

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Regular IDE drives use CPU clock cicles to transfer data from memory and back, this ofcorse is the old way. DMA is a method of moving a data from ram to HD without CPU involvment. This is why if u enable DMA in the bios for ya HD it will seem to work faster.
DMA --> Direct Memory Access
 
[This message has been edited by Igor (edited 13 March 2000).]

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Dear Igor,
 
Thanks for that helpful information. I will not forget it.
 
Regards,
 
Xetenor
 
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Windows 2000 Pro owns!