Rikintosh wrote on 2023-03-23, 00:47:

I have a small MSI Mega PC computer, which has a single PCI slot, and only IDE connections, I want to use a 1TB HDD on it, and I can't use a sata pci controller card, as that would use the only pci slot it has , I want to use the pci for a sound blaster, so the solution I found was the sata ide adapter. All are Chinese, they don't have a brand or model, I believe they can only be recognized/differentiated through photos or the model of the controller chip. I want to use the best I can find, unfortunately I don't have enough money to buy all the models I found in my country, and test them to find the model with the best performance.

Any suggestion?

I've had luck with the ones that use the JM20330 chip.
I also have a StarTech.com one that uses a Marvell chip; I'm not sure if that one is made anymore.
Whatever you do, avoid the "bidirectional" ones that can go in either direction as they are less reliable.
With a later era IDE system you should have fewer compatibility problems. I've had issues with them on 486 and pre-UltraDMA Pentium systems. Sometimes they work fine. Sometimes they work but with quirks such as the secondary IDE CD-ROM failing to work if the SATA converter is connected to the primary IDE. And sometimes they don't work at all. They do work better with HDDs than SSDs for me.

why sb when it already has onboard sound?

https://www.amazon.com/sata-ide-cable/s?k=sata+to+ide+cable

https://www.aliexpress.com/af/sata-to-ide-ada … tlist.1000002.0

best to use hdd that has same series on ide also (better compatibility) - use overlay app for partitioning previous to attach to old vintage machine (pre P3).

IDE to SATA adapters don't exist. It's IDE to SATA converter. A converter contains active circuitry. 😀

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-03-23, 02:48:

why sb when it already has onboard sound?

Good question. I've checked the specs for the MSI MS-7640 mainboards and it seems to have an Realtek ALC892 CODEC.
So it's an AC97 chip, but it's Direct Sound 3D compatible, too.
https://www.realtek.com/en/products/computer- … ics/item/alc892

Maybe SBEMU can make things work ?
SBEMU: Sound Blaster emulation on AC97

Mainboard: https://www.ixbt.com/mainboard/msi/mega-pc/mainboard.jpg

Over time I've tried used a random bunch from cheap to mid-high prince range and as far as I can remember I've never had an issue even with the cheapest adapters available. They all got the job done just fine. So there's that at least... I'll have to admit I didn't do any performance comparisons though, if it's speed I want then I go with an m.2 mSATA SSD and an adapter to match instead (and of course one could always install both too).

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-03-23, 02:48:

why sb when it already has onboard sound?

the onboard sound is not very good quality (weak bass, sounds like cheap sound)

I found a dual-track adapter here at home, I had to completely resolder it to work because the solders are terrible. It worked ok, but it took up space inside the case, I didn't get to do benchmarks because it definitely couldn't stay there. Then I found one that I had bought to use on my ps2 phat, but it didn't fit in the space, I'm using it, and I haven't had many problems. The problems I had I believe are due to the PSU not being very good. From what I've read, there was a recall by MSI, but my computer still has the problematic psu. It is impossible to use it, and recently the fan stopped and it started to smell burnt.

I'll have to buy a small ATX power supply, and try to convert it to the standards he requires. I believe it uses a 5vsb line that connects a part of the 12v line destined for cdplayer and radio.

Regarding this model FSP250-60MS […]
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Regarding this model FSP250-60MS

This model is not a standard model of our product line.
This is a special proprietairy modeification on output contector PD & PE

The output voltage on PD & PE is +12Vstandby instead of +12V, +5V standby instead of +5V