Buffered IDE interface

[Piru]

Does a buffered interface give any performance increase over the standard IDE interface on an A1200?

No. (This is my experience, ymmv)

The transfer rate of A1200 IDE interface is capped by the 16-bit register all data must go thru. This register is as slow as any other custom registers. Actual IDE devices could transfers a lot more, even in PIO mode.

Thus buffering can't really improve the peak performance, nor free any CPU time.

It works fine, but I am wondering if a buffered interface with two separate cables would work any better.

No.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

[Piru]

@keropi

I wouldn't trust SysInfo for any benchmarking.

Anyway, you had absolutely the same environment, HDD, drivers etc except non-buffered / buffered interface? If there was any other changes, the results are useless for comparision.

[Piru]

@keropi

So you used IDEFix software even when the interface wasn't installed?

It's funny if you get different speed, as the buffering has nothing to do with data transfer...

[Piru]

@motorollin

No problems whatsoever.

I even built my own IDEFix hardware for 4 devices, without any buffering. Worked just fine for years, until I retired the system.