New Mobo R Confusing!

[teknikull]

Hey I just got an ASUS A8N-E mobo and Im noticing new things (seeings how i havent messed with new stuff cuz im poor and finally got a job). what is SATA? Ive heard its for HD's. do hard drives still use ribbon cables and plug in to the long rectangle ports ned to the main power connector? explain SATA.

 

[Willeh]

SATA is a newer type of cable that connects the HD to the mobo. It's much slimmer in size than the old IDE cables, and is much faster with data transferring and stuff than the old IDE cables.
Here's a guide that should explain mostly everything to you [first paragraph should do it]. The connector for SATA cables is also much smaller, not those massive IDE rectangle connectors

Anyway, guide:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA

 

[teknikull]

thanks