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Thread ID: 48471	2004-08-24 03:49:00	ata and dma	yingxuan (3330)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
264901	2004-08-24 03:49:00	Some magazine call it as ata and some call it Dma.Ata is a hardware device that increases the output of data transfer of a hardrive. Ata/33/66/100mhz and I see that in other places they call it dma 33/66/100 Are they the same thing?	yingxuan (3330)
264902	2004-08-24 05:06:00	Which magazines? Women's weekly? ATA refers to the interface standard . DMA (Direct memory access) refers to a way of transferring data between peripherals (such as disks) and the computer's memory, without involving the CPU, apart from setting up the transfer and being notified after it is done . The other transfer mode PIO (Programmed I/O) involves the CPU intimately . The CPU often has better things to do . The hardware in a DMA interface can do it . But speed isn't necessarily because of DMA . Floppy disks use DMA and transfer at 500 kB/sec . PIO for MFM drives ran at 5MB/sec . The numbers, 33,66,100 , refer to the speed of the bus in the computer . This indiocates how fast the memory buffer can accept data . A DMA can't run faster than PIO on the same computer . It will cause the CPU less "busyness", so might increase the "efficiency" of the system .	Graham L (2)
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