hard drive ATA question

[scooterr]

I want to install a second hd to my system.
I have a HP Pavillion 8693C Walmart special. hey, it works........

How do I find out what ATA is in my machine?
(can't find any info, and HP's site sucks the big one)
Do I need to match the ATA #'s of my current drive to that of my new drive, or does it make a damn?
I'm looking for a 30-40 gig 7200 rpm $80-100 model.
Thanks for any input.
Scooter

 

[Emeric]

You don't need to match ATA's. It will default to what the motherboard is capable of. You may want to see what hard drive capacities your HP can handle though.

 

[elevate]

The ATA# does not matter. Your computer will simply transfer at the max speed it can (probably ATA33 or 66). I'd recommend Western Digital or Seagate drives, just don't get a Fujitsu. Check out Storage Review for reviews and benchmarks of tons of hard drives. If you want to get max throughput possible, I'd head over to newegg and get a Promise Ultra100TX2 Controller Card for $22.

 

[Stealthtech]

Check your motherboard specs. to see what the maximum size drive can be. Some mobo's will only allow up to 8.4gb, 10gb, etc...
Although you can partition if need be.

 

[gilwe]

and you will have to use a different IDE cable to implement the ATA capabilities. It looks like the regular IDE cable except for the Black/Grey/Blue connectors and 80 wires instead of 40 (the connectors are the same). Plug the blue to the motherboard, the Black to master and grey to slave.