ata or sata hard drive?

[Qianlong]

Hello

I was planning to upgrade my PM G4 800 QS (2002) with either a sata or ata 200 GB HD.
The G4 is now equipped with an ata Western Digital 120 GB HD.

Does it make sense to upgrade the comp with a sata card and buy a sata HD?
I would use the new sata drive as the main boot drive and the old ata drives for storage and backup. Would this "mixing" be ideal, or would the motherboard still be working at the slower ata drive speed?

Just wondering if the sata speed bump is that great compared to ata.

The sata drive is only marginally more expensive than an ide drive, but is a better option if I were to upgrade to a G5 comp.

Any advice is welcome.

 

[ChrisFromCanada]

You discuss the points well there, but how much will an sata PCI card cost you?

$50+

So I would say save your money and just get an ata Hard Drive. The performance difference will be marginal and when you get your G5, you can just put this Hard Drive in an external case for $20.