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[bakwoods21]

Sorry guys. stupid question. Z87-G45 mobo- Wich is the msata port? Top left or bottom left? I know bottom left is the number 1 port, but the sticker suggests that the msata port is the top left. I looked everywhere for this info before I came here, with no luck.

 

[lehtv]

This is a more polite version of RTFM.

Manual (English): http://dl.msi.com/download_files/mnu_exe/E7821v1.0.zip

Page "1-7"

Page "1-29"

Page "2-10"

 

[bakwoods21]

Cool thanks! I was way off!

 

[bakwoods21]

I guess what I really needed to know is where do I hook up my ssd for the best performance. Crucial 120 GB. I also have a 1TB WD HDD.

 

[lehtv]

Obviously, you can only hook up an mSATA form factor SSD to the mSATA slot. It's not compatible with standard SATA data cables or power connectors.

Performance should be practically identical between mSATA and SATA 6gb/s.

As for the 1TB WD HDD, it doesn't matter whether you install it to a SATA 6gb/s or SATA 3gb/s port.

 

[bakwoods21]

ok thanks.I watched some old you tube videos. They had me all confused. serial ata revision 2 and 3? and I saw msata and got confused more. then I saw a sticker on top of the sata ports where one of them was highlighted white. Basically, I don't know what I'm doing. Thanks for your help and patience.

 

[bakwoods21]

I think they put the sticker on backwards. The one Highlighted white represents the port that would be disabled if the msata port was in use. The way the sticker is on now it represents port 2, top left. I THINK.

 

[bakwoods21]

Right now my BIOS shows my ssd in port 2, top left.

 

[lehtv]

Ah I see what you mean by "top left" now

It's the top right one, SATA6, that would be disabled if the mSATA port was in use.

Since all of these are 6gb/s ports native to the Intel Z87 chipset, i.e. none of them are 3gb/s and none of them are provided with a third party SATA controller, it makes absolutely no difference which port you install the SSD in. It will have the exact same performance

 

[bakwoods21]

Thanks man. That's a relief. Other then that the build went great. Thanks for all you guys help.
Phantom 410
i5 4670k
gtx 770
corsair 600w
msi z87 g45
Samsung dvd burner
8 GB ram
120 GB ssd
1 TB hdd

 

[bakwoods21]

By the way. Going by what you said, the sticker on top of my sata ports is upside down.

 

[lehtv]

I don't know what you mean. I'd probably just remove the sticker if possible