What and Where are the best SATA-II cables?

[Old Hippie]

This is ridiculous. SATA cables are digital. They work, or they don't.

I don't believe any here think one will work better than the other.

It's the quality of the materials and assembly that seems to make a difference in longevity and ease of use.

I have yet to replace one of these quality cables because of an intermittent signal but can't say the same about the cables that come with a MB.

The clips, angled connectors, and flexibility are what makes these a little more expensive but if you can't afford the "incredibly expensive" 1.50 difference I guess you'll never know. 😀

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Old Hippie gets it.

You two guys are pathetically ironic. Also known as a pathetic joke. It's MY money and my decision - I'm not an idiot and the computer I built 5 years ago is working great to this day.

Telling me what to do when I specifically asked for something different is not "helping off our own backs". It's immature and counter-productive.

/teacher

 

[RebateMonger]

I'm posting this as a Moderator. Anything else I post in this thread will be as a Moderator.

Stop insulting each other.

Any more posts containig personal insults will result in locking the thread. There's no justification for name-calling over a piece of wire.


RebateMonger
AnandTech Moderator

 

[JackMDS]

Anyone can do with his personal money whatever he or she want to, and offending someone because we think that it is a waste is Not right. And it is a sign of been ?Childish?.

It is BTW a general decease among Enthusiast to throw money away on expensive components that really do not do anything that is needed.
Expensive PSUs, Cases, and RAIDs that generate noise and heat for nothing are among few of the popular ??Expensive Cables?? around here.

Creating a new make Believe electronic to justify over spending is "Silly" at best.

There is No digital cable or digital electricity per-se. Electricity is always a flow of electrons.

Digital vs. Analog is how the info. is coded into the flow of electricity.

Cable has variety of parameters. Solid vs. Stranded, the size of a single lead, the number of leads in stranded cable, the quality of the enamel coating, the shielding and cross interference protection in case of high frequency, etc.

There are many circumstances in electronic that the makeup of a cable can play a very important role in the performance and the outcome. SATA cables are Not One of these circumstances, a more expensive cable would not provide any increase in Hard Drive performance.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Well said, JackMDS. One additional point:

connectors, and the attachment of the wires to the connectors is important. The ability to position the cables (flexibility / stiffness) is something I want. I never said I thought I would gain performance. It's a build quality issue, not a performance issue. And double (or triple) the price of a $2 cable is not a concern. By the way, I would never pay for a $15 SATA cable.

 

[JackMDS]

"flexibility / stiffness" is important when there is a constant plug unplug of the cable.

Thus if the cables in question are for external use it might be an issue.

Otherwise my Case told me that it does not care how "stiff" are the cables inside. 😉

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Damn dude, where'd you get the talking case? 😉

I want a Knight Rider case DOOOOD!

 

[Old Hippie]

Thus if the cables in question are for external use it might be an issue.

I must do more than the average HD swapping.

My case didn't mention anything but some of the stock cables complained by refusing to pass a signal. 😀

Maybe it had something to do with the cable being stiff causing undo stress to the connector when trying to route it around other components in a small case?

AAR, no one here suggested a better signal path, just materials and construction.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

I gave up and will be ordering some 10" and 18" black Xoxide cables.

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
I gave up and will be ordering some 10" and 18" black Xoxide cables.

Poop, I was hoping you'd find another place like SataCable.

SataCable, SataGear, and another Sata-something are owned by the same people and I buy alot from there because I can't find it anywhere else.

They're not crooks but I don't like their attitude.

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: mmntech
Cables are cables regardless of what anybody tells you. They're all made the same way, probably all in the same factory. Don't be one of those idiots who buys into the $100 HDMI cable because it's got better super electrical conduciveness with high tech plastic coating, or some other horse manure like that.

Monoprice sells them for the grand total of a single buck. They're the same cables that most retail boxed HDDs an motherboards ship with.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...p?keyword=SATA&x=0&y=0

Testing has shown that for short runs (>10') then almost all HDMI cables are equal. However, once you get into cross-room Home Theater runs (30'+) then you actually can start to notice a difference, not just on testing equipment (which for obvious reasons is highly sensitive) but also in visual tests. It is there that you want the more expensive, higher quality stuff (still not necessarily Monster of course, but higher quality all the same)

LOL, digital is digital is digital. A 5v signal does not magically flip to a 0v signal as it travels down the line; if it does the signal will fail and it just won't work. If it works then there is no difference in image quality.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

yo, I found these from Molex and 3M, both reputable companies:

Molex (red, 1.6 feet): https://www.jameco.com/webapp/...reCatalogDrillDownView

3M (blue, 1.6 feet): http://search.digikey.com/scri...?Detail&name=3M5567-ND

 

[Texun]

FWIW - I found SATA cables made by OKGEAR are better than the OEM cables that come with most boards. I've used several and never had a problem.

Here are some 10" Black http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16812123157 (The "insert link" was not working)

The above link is just a reference for what I used. You may want to check out SVC or Google for more stores, but in response to your question I think OKGEAR cables would be a fine choice.

I found them when I used a mATX case and wanted a shorter set of cables to minimize the clutter. They worked perfectly. Unless you can accomplish a direct shot from drive to port without bending them be careful you don't go too short because they don't bend quite like OEMs.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Texun - thanks. those look like they have the same generic tag around the cable as the ones in the picture on Xoxide and SVC. The connectors look cheap and poor fitting... I'm sure they work but for less $$$ I can get some Molex cables. Only thing is they're not black or 10" - I'll live with that. 5 half meter cables for under $7 + $9 (estimated) shipping...

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
Texun - thanks. those look like they have the same generic tag around the cable as the ones in the picture on Xoxide and SVC. The connectors look cheap and poor fitting... I'm sure they work but for less $$$ I can get some Molex cables. Only thing is they're not black or 10" - I'll live with that. 5 half meter cables for under $7 + $9 (estimated) shipping...

I thought you only wanted better quality than OEM. The link and my reply were only a reference to the manufacture. The OKGEARs I bought are far better than OEM, but if you have a even higher standard for connectors and can find them let us know where and how they work. Mine are built very well but because they are heavier than OEM the short cables I bought were much more difficult to bend. If not for the stiffness they would be perfect.

 

[abaez]

Bought some from satacables.com and had no issues. They have lengths/variety that many other places don't have and they work fine.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
If I can't find anything online I'll just get RadioShack cables so I don't have to pay $7 for shipping.

That you would consider Radio Shack contradicts the idea that you could possibly be looking for quality.

I would trust a $0.99 cable from E-bay long before trusting a $39.95 cable from Radio Shack.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: mmntech
Cables are cables regardless of what anybody tells you. They're all made the same way, probably all in the same factory. Don't be one of those idiots who buys into the $100 HDMI cable because it's got better super electrical conduciveness with high tech plastic coating, or some other horse manure like that.

Monoprice sells them for the grand total of a single buck. They're the same cables that most retail boxed HDDs an motherboards ship with.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...p?keyword=SATA&x=0&y=0

Testing has shown that for short runs (>10') then almost all HDMI cables are equal. However, once you get into cross-room Home Theater runs (30'+) then you actually can start to notice a difference, not just on testing equipment (which for obvious reasons is highly sensitive) but also in visual tests. It is there that you want the more expensive, higher quality stuff (still not necessarily Monster of course, but higher quality all the same)

LOL, digital is digital is digital. A 5v signal does not magically flip to a 0v signal as it travels down the line; if it does the signal will fail and it just won't work. If it works then there is no difference in image quality.

Not true with HDMI and high bandwidth digital. Google : HDMI eye pattern
Most digital connections do error correction, but that has its limits, exceed it and you can get artifacting that is on the borderline making the picture have some frames intact and others with pixels missing , combined it looks less sharp.

That doesn't mean you have to buy the best cable made but you shouldn't go for the cheapest made either.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Originally posted by: glugglug

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
If I can't find anything online I'll just get RadioShack cables so I don't have to pay $7 for shipping.

That you would consider Radio Shack contradicts the idea that you could possibly be looking for quality.

I would trust a $0.99 cable from E-bay long before trusting a $39.95 cable from Radio Shack.

Hahahah - ya I know, but I was thinking if I could only find cheap cables, then avoiding shipping would be a good thing. It turns out RadioShack doesn't even sell SATA signal cables afterall.

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai

Originally posted by: glugglug

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
If I can't find anything online I'll just get RadioShack cables so I don't have to pay $7 for shipping.

That you would consider Radio Shack contradicts the idea that you could possibly be looking for quality.

I would trust a $0.99 cable from E-bay long before trusting a $39.95 cable from Radio Shack.

Hahahah - ya I know, but I was thinking if I could only find cheap cables, then avoiding shipping would be a good thing. It turns out RadioShack doesn't even sell SATA signal cables afterall.

If they did they would probably be $10.00 each!

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: Texun

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai

Originally posted by: glugglug

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
If I can't find anything online I'll just get RadioShack cables so I don't have to pay $7 for shipping.

That you would consider Radio Shack contradicts the idea that you could possibly be looking for quality.

I would trust a $0.99 cable from E-bay long before trusting a $39.95 cable from Radio Shack.

Hahahah - ya I know, but I was thinking if I could only find cheap cables, then avoiding shipping would be a good thing. It turns out RadioShack doesn't even sell SATA signal cables afterall.

If they did they would probably be $10.00 each!

No way in hell would Radio Shack have a 7 conductor computer related cable only $10.

They sell low quality 3' HDMI cables for $90.00!!!

Although this is a better deal than some I've seen at J&R, where they have "high speed internet connection cables" (as in plain old 6' phone cords for dial-up modems, 2 conductor RJ11, NOT ethernet) for the low low price of $79.95.

 

[idolon]

<deleted for lack of context>