SATA backwards compatibility and cabling

[Turbonium]

This question has been asked many times before, but I just had to ask...

Can you use SATA3 drives on a SATA2 motherboard? I'm assuming yes. The reason I ask is that SATA3 drives have certain features that I'm not sure are able to be "disabled" when running in SATA2 mode.

Also a related question: are all SATA cables the same (SATA1, SATA2, SATA3)? Like can I use SATA1 cables with SATA3 drives setups? Again, I'm assuming yes.

 

[Hellhammer]

Yes and yes.

 

[Auric]

Compatibility (both forwards and backwards) only fails with the dodgiest controllers. The cable spec is unchanged but tolerances have tightened meaning that there is less leeway for dodgy setups such as overly long lengths or running internal ones externally. Better to refer to standard 1.5/3/6 Gbps to avoid confusion (i.e. erroneous SATA3 or 3.0 or III being confused with SATA 3G).

 

[Kodongo]

A Sata 3 SSD will pretty much be limited to maximum read/write speeds of 270-280MB/s on a SATA 2 Interface.

There is no difference between any generation of SATA cables.

This is the best video which serves as an introduction to SATA.

 

[tweakboy]

That is what Im doing. No difference in speed btw. only difference is mb transfer rate to 500mbps on sata 3 and yours 270mbps ,, you just lose that. But app launching booting up working on files,, everything is super fast. Same as sata 3 ,,, just its got a 500mbps transfer for big transfers that is where the slow down occurs other then that. Your getting the best speed you can get possible with your SSD so don't sweat it or upgrade just for sata 3. gl

 

[tweakboy]

buy a cable now they have clicks,,, so it goes in you here a click its secure... get a nice blue sata cable from www.amazon.com u can use same cable once you go to sata 3 motherboard. gl

 

[pauldun170]

I have Samsung 830 drives on all 3 specs.
1 on a Z77+2700K
1 on a P45+Q9550
1 on a cheapo AM3 + Athlon II 240 Compaq
1 HP DV9207us Core duo 1.7 based laptop (circa 2007) with Sata 1.5

All work fine and all benefit from the SSD.
there isn't any noticable difference between the Sata2 and Sata3 going between the 2700K and Q9550.
Going from the q9550 to the AthlonII 240 based rig the slower processor impacts responsiveness.
Going from the Sata 2 + Athlon to the sata 1.5 + Core duo (released in 2006-2007..not the Core2duo) there is very slight difference.

 

[blastingcap]

Here, read this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe..._down_your_data_transfers_max_pc_investigates

That said, do not think all SATA cables are created equal. I recently had bad experiences with some SATA cables. One header just simply fell apart. I think it was a cheaper one I bought online some time ago. The other bad experience pissed me off as it was marked 6 Gbps and came bundled with my Biostar TZ77B motherboard. I had my OS drive disappear but after swapping SATA cables with another SSD I rarely use, I forgot about the problem. Then I gave the SSD to my gf and connected the SATA cable to a HDD and tried to write a large file to my NAS... at that point the stuttering was undeniable. CPU usage went way up and my transfer speed was like 8 MB/s or worse.

 

[Turbonium]

That said, do not think all SATA cables are created equal.

Wasn't there problems with early gen SATA cables where they would become dislodged or disconnected, simply by moving a computer case around?

But yea, I never had problems like yours. The cables I've used were the red ones that come with Intel boards btw. Not sure who makes them. Probably Foxconn.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

That said, do not think all SATA cables are created equal. I recently had bad experiences with some SATA cables.

You can say that again. Do not try and run SATA3 on SATA1/2 cables. I have had some "fun" experiences with that. The quality of the cable certainly matters...

BTW, ever seen what a 2m ESATA cable looks like?. Its got more shielding on it then the Death Star...

 

[blastingcap]

Apologies to Biostar. The hard disk itself was faulty though only intermittently so which is why I thought switching to a new SATA cable fixed it... it seemed to fix it but the drive acted up again soon after.