SATA in IDE mode

[Nora]

I've noticed both in my bios and in the product reviews for hdd's and cd/dvd burners as being in IDE mode. Is this to say that the data transfer rate is running slower than it would if it was to be in sata mode?

[nitrobass24]

They are completely different interfaces

[Nora]

Yes I understand that they are different interfaces. The IDE is (usualy) the white ribbon, and the SATA is the smaller red wire. What I'm asking is what does it mean when a SATA device is in IDE mode???

[Grimmda]

From here:
http://www.powerdonkey.net/windows/xp/sata_driver_update.php

SATA drives are better only when they use SATA native mode. SATA native mode has Native Command Queuing (NCQ) that allows the hard drive to manage read and write commands, queue them, and make decisions on rearranging that queue so that it reads and writes things from locations close to each other. PATA (the wide ribbon originally) does not have this feature, and neither does SATA when it is operating in PATA emulated mode.