A quick, stupid question...

[Kaman]

Are HDs of diff speeds and interfaces compatible?
Or more directly:
Could one add an old IBM 1.6 EIDE 5400rpm to an Abit AN8 ultra mobo running a couple SATA II 7200 rpm HDs(don't ask)? And if so, any reason it's a bad idea?

[DanceMan]

No, it's a good question: If you mix a very old and a current hard drive, will the OS or the bios default from say ATA 100 back to PIO 4? But in your case since the new drives are SATA rather than IDE, I don't think there would be any issues.

[Kaman]

Appreciate the quick reply.
Have that old drive lyin around; thought I might hook it up - not sure what I'd use it for though (1.6GB).
Anyone have any suggestions, or should I just trash the old puppy?

[DanceMan]

You could use it to back up critical files, or give it to someone. There are a lot of old computers out there (Pentium 1 and II vintage), completely usable for basic apps, with a dead hard drive. That drive would rescue one.