SATA to IDE converter card

[fizzlepop]

Hey, just a quick question... I recently bought a 250gb EIDE hard drive and they mistakenly sent me a 250gb SATA hard drive instead. Now I know they have SATA to IDE converter cards that will allow my current system to use this hard drive (as I have an older AMD Athlon).

Should I go that route instead of sending it back for the original EIDE that I ordered?

I was only thinking this because I eventually plan to upgrade my system with a barebones unit later this year, so why get rid of an SATA drive when I could just use a converter for now and then use it without one in my new system?

My only question is that would this converter slow down the access times any? Is it worth it to have an SATA drive that I could use in the very near future?

Thanks!

 

[macdude425]

You could get a cheap converter on Newegg, but I have the feeling you might run into compatibility and speed issues. If I were you, I'd just pick up a cheap SATA PCI controller card, drop it in an open PCI slot, and that way, if you ever decide to get another SATA drive, you can.

 

[JohnnyX]

I have not used one of these "converter cards" yet but I can't see it making your IDE slower, I would keep the SATA drive though.

 

[macdude425]

When I said "speed issues", I didn't mean slowing down the IDE channel, I meant slowing down the drive. Since SATA has a greater data transfer rate than PATA, the drive might not be running at full potential.