is there a difference between HD/Optical drive Ribbon Cables?

[gilga]

I apologize in advance for what i feel is a stupid question. I recently found a box where i stored tons of ribbon cables. I wanted to replace the cables in my dads computer with new ones but im unsure if HDs/optical drives take specific ribbon cables. hes got two optical drives and one HD. Any help would be greatly apperciated.

[Rofl-Mic-Lofl]

Doesn't matter.

[gilga]

thank you very much, sorry for the dumb question.

[ScotteusMaximus]

short answer: in practice, there's really no difference.

long answer: if your cables are older, they might be the 40 pin kind. newer hard drives need the 80 pin cables. the connectors look the same, the wires inside are just thinner to fit more in the same space. i think optical drives can get away with using either, but hard drives need the 80 pin cables to run at their maximum speed.

[gilga]

is there anyway to tell which ones i have? i realyl dont want to limit HD performance. I can post pics of the ones i was thinking of using, if that would be helpful

[uzor]

here ya go:

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t259674.html

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/1771.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=1771)