Rounded Cables slower than ribbon?

[s2kpacifist]

I heard that rounded cables affect performance in a negative way (AKA slower than a regular IDE ribbon cable). I'm not a specs fanatic, so I don't really care if it's going to to be .01 milliseconds slower than a regular ribbon, but just for curiousity's sake, how much slower is it?

Thanks.

 

[S0me1X]

I noticed no difference between rounded cables and normal ide cables with my hard drive (western digital 100gb 7200rpm). However, you might want to read this.

 

[everman]

Rounded cables are ribbon cables, you simply make them rounded

 

[Bookie]

There have been arguements that by having all the lines close together, that you will experience "noise" that could impede the flow of data. Personally, I also notice no difference when using rounded cables and highly recommend doing so.

 

[s2kpacifist]

Yeah it seems like that noise interference is overrated in rounded IDE cables. Might as well get some U.V. reactive ones

 

[godmare]

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I noticed no difference between rounded cables and normal ide cables with my hard drive (western digital 100gb 7200rpm). However, you might want to read this.

That article definitely causes one pause... is the author just being fanatical, or is there a real problem? Thoughts, anyone?

 

[VVarwick]

In theory the article is dead on. But real world experience is the test. I have only read one negative reply about rounded cables and that was because they were poorly made and a wire was loose.

If you don't have a window case, you can actually make a case with ribbon cables less airflow restrictive than using rounded cable. It just takes a while and its not as "purdy"


Warwick <FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>

 

[RalfHutter]

I had data integrity trouble with two different Coolermaster silver braided rounded cables early last year. Because of that I switched back to flat ribbon cables and learned how to fold them flat out of the way.

My 2¢.

 

[corkyg]

I was given specific characteristics of certain, high quality ribbons - silver wires and teflon coated - that are definitely better performers. And there are also silver-wire, teflon coated round cables which are faster than tin wire regular rounds. The difference in price is significant.

IDE

 

[DimZiE]

any decent quality round IDE cables shouldn't give any problems at all...

anyway, with a bit of skill on a cutter and some tape u could make u'r flat cable go round...
careful though ! you might cut yerself

 

[dxkj]

I bought like 20 IDE cables once for pretty cheap and rounded them all. If your careful they work great. I was overclocking and benching and paid attention to hard drive scores... I havnt noticed any problems

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: s2kpacifist
I heard that rounded cables affect performance in a negative way (AKA slower than a regular IDE ribbon cable). I'm not a specs fanatic, so I don't really care if it's going to to be .01 milliseconds slower than a regular ribbon, but just for curiousity's sake, how much slower is it?

Thanks.

I read the article and it makes sense to me, especially the part about reflections. I am using rounded cables now and have not noticed any problems but I haven't benchmarked them against flat ones either. I ordered these from Newegg this morning before reading this thread. After reading the review above I can certainly agree with the part regarding reflections over x length of cable. I ordered these because they are shielded and I know shielding helps. I probably won't notice a difference but at least I know they will provide shielding that my current ones don't have.

 

[Slickone]

What about the new Antec Cobra rounded cables? Would they eliminate any possible data integrity or speed problem that could occur w/ standard rounded cables?

Are these about the same as the IOSS RD3XP Gladiator Super Shielded cable?
Review here. Sold here. Manufacturer's site

QVS used to make some Rounded Internal High Performance Cables, but I don't see em' on their site anymore. I think Cooler Master makes some shielded/grounded rounded cables too.

What happens if problems do occur w/ rounded cables, just slower xfers because of having to re-read or write bad data, or permanent data corruption?

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: Slickone
What about the new Antec Cobra rounded cables? Would they eliminate any possible data integrity or speed problem that could occur w/ standard rounded cables?

Lol, I'm using generic rounded 32 in cables (twice the recommended max length) with no problems at all. But if it makes you sleep better at night, I'm sure these expensive cables will decrease chances of error.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: Slickone


What happens if problems do occur w/ rounded cables, just slower xfers because of having to re-read or write bad data, or permanent data corruption?

In the case of WinXP if the OS detects bad data integrity (CRC check, I assume) it bumps the transfer speed down a notch, i.e. DMA5 to DMA4. And it drops it again if it detects more errors. In essence it slows down the transfer rate to protect the data.

I first noticed it because things seemed a little slow so I checked my DMA settings and they were at "PIO" on the Primary channel:Q. I looked in Event Viewer and found a series of error messages that talked about something being wrong with IDE device (0) or something (I don't remember the exact message, it was a year ago). I did some MSKB research and some trouble shooting and decided to replace my rounded IDE cable on that channel with a flat ribbon cable. I got no more errors. I put the rounded cable back in and started to get Event Viewer errors again. RMA'd the cable (it was a Coolermaster silver braided 18" two device cable) and tried the new one. Got errors with it too. Put back the flat IDE cable and have been running fine with zero IDE Device errors ever since.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: godmare

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I noticed no difference between rounded cables and normal ide cables with my hard drive (western digital 100gb 7200rpm). However, you might want to read this.

That article definitely causes one pause... is the author just being fanatical, or is there a real problem? Thoughts, anyone?

He didn't seem to mention the twisted pair IDE cables - that's the same technique that CAT5 cable uses to reduce signal noise - or else I just missed it. The cables he showed looked like they just stuck all the wire together into the sheeth in no particular order.
I've used SVC's cheap rounded cables with no problems yet.