PATA - Enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE), also called Parallel ATA (PATA), hard drives have been the standard in the computer industry for more than 10 years.
SATA - Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives are quickly becoming the new standard. Motherboard manufacturers now include SATA inputs on their boards. Because of their considerably narrower cables, SATA hard drives provide increased airflow and less clutter and in the computer system compared to PATA drives.
The performance difference - PATA drives support data transfer rates up to 100MB/sec, and all WD Caviar Blue SATA drive support 3 Gb/s transfer rates.
How to choose - Our handy
Interface Guide can help you make your selection.