Rounded vs Flat IDE Cables

[CoW]8(0)]

I've been searching around and the info I've found so far is somewhat inconclusive as far as performance of the two go? I've heard talk of more data corruption and possible drops in performance with rounded cables. Is there any truth to this? I haven't found anyone who has experience any problems, but there is some interesting explanations as to why rounded cables would cause problems. Especially as the length of the rounded cable increases.

 

[tdg]

Rounded cables can lead to corruption, though many times they work fine. The IDE spec was never intended for certain wires in the cable to be next to each other so crosstalk can become an issue.

Also the max spec for IDE is 18" for the cable, though many controllers and drives can work with longer cables. The reason is that the signal degrades over distance which can lead to comminication problems.

 

[jebo_4jc]

My recommendation: if you are worried about airflow, get 18" IDE cables and route them behind your drive cages. Pushing them completely out of the way is much easier than round cables.