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File system limitations cap you well before the hardware does. With FFS, the Amiga default file system, your limited to 2gB. This is true regardless of how you hook it to the Amiga. Both IDEFix, and FastATA does lift the limits of the hardware, but you'd still have to tinker with the filesystem, or run a heap of 2gB partitions. I think. Pretty sure. Someone else should probably confirm this tho.
There are good guides around here, and quite a few fountains of knowledge is around, so getting it all to work isn't THAT hard. But for me, it's still a bit much. I've got a 4gB CF i'm preparing as system / games drive right now, and it's split in to two 2gB partitions, simply coz i find the task of setting up SFS or PFS. Ideally i would have a much smaller systems partition, and a single quite large partition for games and other fun.
When it comes to selecting one over the other, for the ATA interfaces. I'd go with the cheap option, simply due to not really seeing the main advantage of the second as a real advantage. Speed. It's faster. Quite a bit. But even without the interface upgrades, loading to the desktop takes only seconds, and launching softwares, games or otherways, is more about CPU, then disc access from what i see with my usage, and i think my ACA1230/56 is faster then your Blizzard 1230MKIV. (No disrespect intended.) Big stuff does launch faster from the ramdrive, but not that much really. The lack of noticeable searchtime from the CF is a lot more of an advantage then the higher bandwidth.
But all in all, that depends on what you intend to DO with the system once it's up and running. If speed turns out to be an issue, find a fast SCSI-II drive, and you should get performance right in the middle of the two ATA interfaces. And to me, that would suggest go with the cheap one, as your getting the fast SCSI-II either way.
But then again, your build is pretty far out there compared to mine, so for all bells and whistles, get the fast one. (That would be FastATA MKIV, but you knew this)
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