SATA Optical Drives

[Jonny]

^ ^ Do they exist? And if not, why not? It would mean motherboards would no longer need IDE connections, even if the optical drives didn't make the most of the SATA technology.

[satan]

They're probably going to come out sooner or later, just to eliminate the need for IDE I think. After all, there's not going to be a use for them in the future.

[DavidM]

There is the Plextor PX-716SA

[GFiSH]

I'm looking at getting that Plextor drive when I upgrade my PC, but by the time I get around tro it and can afford it I expect otherf manufacturers would've followed suit. Surprised they haven't been around longer. I think I saw a Lite-On one a few months ago, but not sure now.

[DavidM]

Check your motherboard will support an SATA optical.. I'm not so certain that all will tbh.

[SilentDeath]

Not all do but I think most do.

I know SI311x controlers support ATAPI from drives on IDE converters, so I assume they would support native SATA drives too....

No idea if nf4 onboard sata does.. or where I could find out..? I hope it does.

[OmarSantiago]

Most new motherboards will support SATA optical drives off the bat but you may want to read the motherboard BIOS update notes to see if any support booting from one of these drives. I know the Asus SLi Premium doesn't support booting from one despite the new BIOS updates and that's a pretty new board.

[GFiSH]

Thats one thing I didn't consider, I'll have to be careful when I'm getting my new board then. It's a bummer that the Asus dont support it as I was looking at that board.

[SilentDeath]

I would assume if any sata controler supports atapi then it will support booting from atapi also...

[Tak]

Could try these converters. That way you can use any IDE drive.

I use this on one of my hard disks - I prefer to keep all my devices IDE for flexibility.

[playz28]

Does the DFI Nf4 Ultra-D support sata optical drives?