Warning. Do not use a old SATA cable for your new drive.

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tweakboy

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
9,517
2
81
www.hammiestudios.com
Here is another Crystal Mark , Its weird my write as faster then my read.

crystal0.jpg
 
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Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
64
91
poohbear said:
I did read that SATA3 are a little different, any truth to that?
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

SATA Revision 2.0 (SATA 3 Gbit/s)
All SATA data cables meeting the SATA spec are rated for 3.0 Gbit/s and will handle current mechanical drives without any loss of sustained and burst data transfer performance.
Click to expand...

http://www.sata-io.org/documents/SATA-Revision-3.0-FAQ-FINAL.pdf

9: Does SATA 6Gb/s require different connectors and cables to support the higher transfer speed?

A9: The same cables and connectors used for current SATA 1.5 and SATA 3.0 Gb/s implementations can be used to connect SATA 6Gb/s devices, although SATA-IO recommends quality components be selected to ensure data integrity and robust operation at the faster SATA 6Gb/s transfer rate. Keeping the existing SATA connector form factor enables SATA 6Gb/s to be designed into the same cost-conscious hardware architectures while minimizing infrastructure changes.
Click to expand...

I read that FAQ from SATA-IO to mean that existing SATA cables will function at 6Gb/s speeds but that the "lower-quality" ones out there (the questionable ones to begin with) are probably not going to give you full-speed bandwidth as the error-correction protocol overhead will eat into the effective bandwidth.

But clearly they intend for SATA 6Gb/s to be capable on existing first-gen cables:

Q14: Were there any attenuation or jitter issues that had to be addressed with the jump to 6Gb/s?

A14: Ensuring signal integrity was the primary challenge in doubling the SATA transfer speed for a second time while using the same cables and connectors that were originally defined for the first generation 1.5Gb/s version.
Click to expand...

Basically anything that is being marketed and sold as specifically being a "SATA III" or a "SATA 6Gb/s" cable is just marketing doing what they do best to forcibly obsolete your perfectly good cables.
 
O

Old Hippie

Diamond Member
Oct 8, 2005
6,361
1
0
I read that FAQ from SATA-IO to mean that existing SATA cables will function at 6Gb/s speeds but that the "lower-quality" ones out there (the questionable ones to begin with) are probably not going to give you full-speed bandwidth as the error-correction protocol overhead will eat into the effective bandwidth.

But clearly they intend for SATA 6Gb/s to be capable on existing first-gen cables:
Click to expand...

Yep....exactly how I interpreted the whole thing.

There's exactly "0" difference between SATA1.5 & 3.0 (that's never been in question although some may find real world differences in sub-standard/faulty cables).

Seems SATA6 specs only recommend "quality components" but I can't find the exact wire gauge specs they recommend.

There's usually a difference in construction of .99 and 3.99 cables and although it probably makes no difference in electrical performance there's usually a difference that makes them superior in the real world long-run when there's bending/unbending/twisting/untwisting/insertion and removal going on.

IMHO it's just another case of you get what ya pay for.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,167
1,812
126
Soundmanred said:
There is no such thing as SATAI or SATAII cables, only ones that work right, and ones that don't. Like others have said, it's like USB 1.0 and 2.0, the cables are the same, it's just marketing to get you to buy new cables.
My mind is blown, I can't believe the OP made an erroneous discovery. He's like an anti-scientist.
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I've thrown away roughly half of my old USB cables, because they cause problems with fast USB 2 products (like hard drives and optical drives).

There are a LOT of cables out there that are not up to spec, and yes, some actually came with my (slower) USB 2 devices. It seems there was a big difference in cable QA, esp. early on.
 
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Tsavo

Tsavo

Platinum Member
Sep 29, 2009
2,645
37
91
RU482 said:
anyone else unimpressed with SATA cables in general?
seems like they all suck
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I've not been impressed with the ones that come with mainboards. I ordered a bunch of SATA cables from Monoprice and I was pleased with them. 1. They work. 2. Decently bendy so easier to route, unlike trying to bend 2x4's which are the crappy bundled ones every mainboard maker tosses in each box.
 
M

mv2devnull

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2010
1,533
163
106
tweakboy said:
All works fine,
Click to expand...
No it doesn't. In every screenshot you do have different values, yet you don't claim that you have changed anything. Therefore, you seem to re-run the benchmark and to get different values every time. That sounds more like random, than repeatable measurement. And random smells like trouble in this context. :p
 
B

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Aero is eye candy, designed to impress teens the eldery and your aunt rose.
Hardcore users run Windows stripped down to bare bones for performance.
 
S

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
Blain said:
Aero is eye candy, designed to impress teens the eldery and your aunt rose.
Hardcore users run Windows stripped down to bare bones for performance.
Click to expand...

Actually Windows runs a lot slower if you turn off aero.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,167
1,812
126
He may be confused about the cable classification, but I don't see why so people people are willing to dismiss his experience right off the bat. We already know that poor quality cables can affect transmission reliability and therefore transmission speeds.

I've had this experience with:

HDMI - Cheap 10 foot cables gave me sparklies in the image. Less cheap (but not expensive) cables worked fine at 1080p60 8-bit.
USB 2 - Old "USB 2" cables wouldn't give me max hard drive/optical drive transfer speeds.

OTOH, I was able to run GigE just fine over a short run of CAT5 (not CAT5e). However, much of the time with the old CAT5 I had lying around, GigE wouldn't work. Most of the CAT5e works fine with GigE obviously, but it's not 100% of the time. Dunno if there were previous kinks in the cable or what but the same cables worked perfectly for 100 Mbps Ethernet.

P.S. I've been buying white cables lately. :)
 
S

Soundmanred

Lifer
Oct 26, 2006
10,780
6
81
Eug said:
He may be confused about the cable classification, but I don't see why so people people are willing to dismiss his experience right off the bat.
Click to expand...

It's because his testing methods are anti-scientific and most commonly based on "it feels faster" or "check out these charts" while ignoring the many factors that can influence his "testing".
 
F

faxon

Platinum Member
May 23, 2008
2,109
1
81
tweakboy said:
Hey wat up razel, the cable was in perfect condition and I tried plugging and replugging it few times it was nice connection and I used a strong light soo I didnt do anything stupid. Nicely connected and that Crystal mark before and after. Well the before I was using it on that SATA I cable for almost a month. Soo I know if I plug it in again I will get same results.

ALSO FYI,, I tried 2 different SATA cables at first. I knew something was wrong with my Crystal Mark.. Soo I went to Fry's got 'specifically SATA II uv blue cable for 4.99 and plugged her in and went to safe mode ran that Crystal Mark.
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lmao yea those link depot cables are cheap as shit and they work just fine. i have a stack of them sitting in my spare's bin cause i get them for like 2 bucks and i replace crapped out SATA cables for people all the time (you'd be surprised how often they wear out)
 
S

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
Fair enough. I tried making a video of how the scrolling is all laggy when Aero is off, but it doesn't show up because the frame rate of my camera is lower than the frame rate of Windows, so the video looks jerky in both the before and after shots :(
 
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