HighPoint RocketHead100 PATA to SATA Converter Review
Everyone has heard about SATA. Serial ATA is the new standard in hard drive interface technology and is already taking over for PATA. SATA has many benefits such as a faster theoretical transfer rate of 150Mbps as opposed to PATA at 133Mbps, smaller connection cable that provides better airflow of air circulation and minimizes cable clutter. However PATA is widely available and will be here for a while. What about if you want to utilize your SATA ports on your new motherboard or SATA but don’t want to shell out money for a SATA designed hard drive? HighPoint realizes this and introduces their RocketHead 100 PATA to SATA Converter so you can you utilize the new ports on your motherboard and enjoy the benefits. Today we will be reviewing the RocketHead 100 and seeing if there is any benefits with your existing PATA hard drive.
The RocketHead 100 is a small package with a nice box design and quality
The following items you receive with the purchase of the RocketHead 100 are:
- RocketHead 100 Converter
- 3-pin to 4-pin power connector
- Instructions
The converter is a pretty straightforward design. The unit has the PATA connection, power connection and the SATA connection port. The casing is hard plastic and is very good to prevent any shortage, damage, or interference inside the case.
Installation
If you already have SATA ports onboard your motherboard then you are ready to go. We will be using the HighPoint RocketRAID 1520 SATA PCI adaptor for demonstration purposes. Please look for the RocketRAID 1520 SATA PCI Adaptor review a bit later.
All you really have to do is what is in front of you. First off, it is vital to set the jumper of your hard drive into MASTER position. Now connect the 3-pin end to the RocketHead 100 unit along with the SATA connected as well. Connect the power to your PSU’s Molex cable, and connect the other end of the SATA cable into your SATA port. Once you have done that, continue by connecting the PATA end into your PATA hard drive. Assuming you already have the SATA controller on your motherboard installed, you should be able to start the computer no problem.
When I started the computer, it took a bit longer to find the hard drive but when I was in the XP loading screen, it was a bit faster than before. Thus it could make startup a bit slower due to finding the hard drive in your SATA port.
Testing
Testing will consist of running HDD Tach, PCMark Hard Drive test and measuring the end result score in AquaMark 3 benchmark with the defaults on. My Maxtor drive is this one.
Results
Without |
With
RocketHead |
PCMark
2002 HDD: 824 |
PCMark
2002 HDD: 821 |
AquaMark
Score: 32, 652 |
AquaMark
Score: 32, 679 |
Maxtor PATA HDD Tach Test
Maxtor PATA using RocketHead HDD Tach Test
Conclusion
As I would expect, you don’t gain much benefit in performance with SATA with a PATA hard drive. The PATA doesn’t pump out any further than it was made for. This was also using a SATA card, which was not onboard. You may get better results if you used an onboard SATA port as well and in general these are only my results. No two systems are the same and you may get better or worse than me. However, you do enjoy the other benefits of SATA and that is mostly inside the case. You minimize cable clutter with a smaller cable, and it looks good as well.
I rate the HighPoint RocketHead 100 a…
8/10!
Pros and Cons
+
Minimize cable clutter
+ Construction of adaptor
+ Adaptor is in a hard casing
- You don’t really benefit much performance wise from this from
these sets of tests
