Quick Question on which SATA port to use

rcoops72

Member
May 24, 2012
72
7
71
Hey everyone. I just finished my new build and the PC is running well! But I want to make sure I am using the right SATA data ports for my setup.

I have a Asus H170
i5-6600
Samsung 850 EVO (OS Win 10 and recovery)
WD Black HDD (Music, photos, data, games, etc..)
16 GIGs RAM
BR/DVD Drive

I read through the manual and I honestly do not really understand SATA express etc... So right now I have the SSD data cable plugged into SATA port 3 and the HDD cable plugged into SATA 4.
I have the BR/DVD plugged into SATA 5

Is this correct for best performance for my new setup?

OR does it not matter since all ports are Sata 6 gbit so they will all perform the same???

Link to MB Manual (English)

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...only.pdf?_ga=1.113658624.646831937.1481067151
 
Last edited:

Valantar

Golden Member
Aug 26, 2014
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508
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OR does it not matter since all ports are Sata 6 gbit so they will all perform the same???
Correct.

Also, SATA Express is a whole different interface, which effectively transfers PCIe x2 over a cable. There isn't a single drive on the market supporting it, nor will there probably ever be. It was dethroned and replaced by m.2 even before it was launched.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
16,333
1,890
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Is the 850 EVO an M.2 NVMe card, or is it an SATA SSD? I would think that model would only come in SATA, and the M.2 would still be SATA with SATA performance.

Some boards -- mine for starters -- share bandwidth between an installed M.2 NVMe drive and the SSD connected to the first enumerated SATA port on the motherboard (either Port 0 or Port 1, however designated.)

If I use an M.2 together with an SATA SSD, I'll cable the SSD to the next unshared port (#2, whatever) and configure the M.2 under the M.2 selection in the BIOS.
 

rcoops72

Member
May 24, 2012
72
7
71
Thank you both! Mine is the "SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 500GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-75E500B/AM" not the M.2

So based on what I read above I am good to go with where they are plugged in now. Thank you again!