eSata cables vs. Regular SATA cables for internal use

[wwswimming]

i bought a system to run Vista Ultimate 32 and
the motherboard came with all eSata cables,
that have a metal clip on them, presumbaly for
ground termination.

being an engineer, which means i can be detail
oriented and even anal-retentive, i wanted to get
the RIGHT cable for internal use, which is the
plastic cable, not the external eSata cable.

then i needed to do something with a hard drive,
couldn't find a SATA cable easily, so i just grabbed
the eSata cable. works fine.

i don't know if that my Intel 975 XBX2 has all eSata
cables is a mistake, or a sign that they're AOK for
internal and external use.

has anybody measured a difference between the
2 cables ?

 

[Zap]

Those aren't real eSATA cables. Yes, I've noticed some SATA cables have a metal clip on them, probably to keep it attached better. Seems like they're compatible with all SATA drives, though some "enclosed" SATA ports on some motherboards aren't compatible with the clips. Don't worry, they work fine.

"Real" eSATA connectors are straight, while internal SATA connectors are "L" shaped.

 

[Maverick2002]

They're not the same cable. Some regular internal SATA cables have the metal part, others don't. eSATA cables have a slightly different shape though. The two are not interchangeable (they won't fit).

Like what Zap said.

 

[Maverick2002]

I was curious so I looked it up and here's an article that shows/describes the differences in the cables: http://www.sata-io.org/esata.asp