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Uzbekistan, Tashkent
1 Level
789 Review
28 Karma

Review on Enhance Storage Efficiency with StarTech.com 1 Port PCI Express IDE Controller Adapter Card - ATA - 133 MBps - PCIe x1 (PEX2IDE) by Stephen Chowdary

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Simplicity - almost plug and play

When plugged in, Win XP recognized a new IDE controller. Plugged into a new PATA drive (SATA on this machine), XP requested the manufacturer's driver (the CD came with the card) and installed it. I formatted the drive and then - in about 25 minutes - cloned over 20GB of data from the SATA drive. I'd say it offers ample speed and was certainly easy enough to walk on. (Running the same clone on a pure PATA machine with both drives on the same controller took almost an hour.) There is so much empty space on it. This IDE controller slot board I used for the db 9 serial port coming from the spare 2 USB header on the MOBO by using the (one) Star Tech USB-to-Serial adapter from its own board into a new hole in this one. But there's more room, the 9-pin MOBO USB connector actually supports two USB ports, and I could use one more of those, so I can add that as well. These Star Tech adapters are amazingly flexible and pack features into one (if you have one that requires a PCI slot and that half-height card on a full-height board like this), saving space on today's more compact machines and avoid what might be nasty metal on your computer case. For example iron filings on your MOBO. Before disassembling, just mark a free space on the slotted board and don't forget to connect any cables etc that need to be connected. serial ports, etc. If you have one, this is probably the easiest way. Why, yes, the back of my computer is something of a jungle. Why do you ask?

Pros
  • High marks for support and durability from testers
Cons
  • Not as thick as other options