Beware, ATA and SCSI lines are completely different, even from the same manufacturer.
Maxtor SCSI line was bought from the then-dead Quantum. So Maxtor drives are dubbed 'Atlas' and the 10K unit is as good as the Seagate one. There are so few differences between the 2 that the choice would be on price only...
For 15K units Seagate is the king, by far. Things may change though, Maxtor announced a new 15K Atlas...
As for CPU load: Wrong, its kinda the opposite.
With SCSI the controller takes the load. Adaptec controllers usually keep your CPU below the 3% bar.
With ATA the mobo chipset takes the load. The problem comes from IDE - a device claims the bus for itself during a transfer, thus blocking the chipset. In use one feels the UI is kinda "freezing" during ATA transfers, thats because all other chipset-related operations (FSB transfers, peripherals I/O..) are down to a halt.
ah the cable: if you happen to buy a nude card (ie "bulk" or "OEM") try to get a rounded cable at Plycon. They are neat.
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