SATA questions

[TaskForce163]

I hope this is the right place to put this topic but anyways, I know what I use a SATA cable for, transfer data from storage to motherboard, but I have heard about SATA 3 and SATA 6 and stuff like that. Can someone explain to me what the differences are and what the uses are? Thanks

[79wjd]

There different revisiosn capable of different speeds. 

 

Sata 1 has a max transfer speed of 1.5gbps

Sata 2 has a max transfer speed of 3 gpbs 

Sata 3 has a max transfer speed of 6 gbps 

 

They are all compatible with each other, but the system will run at the slowest speed of the two devices. 

[VZX]

I know what I use a SATA cable for, transfer data from storage to motherboard, 

It's not what SATA cable for.

 

SATA 3G or SATAII refers to the max transfer rate of 3Gb/s

SATA 6G or SATAIII refers to the max transfer rate of 6Gb/s

[Oshino Shinobu]

SATA 3 is sometimes refereed to as SATA 6 (Gbps) because it allows data to be transferred at speeds up to 6Gbps. People occasionally confuse it with SATA 2, which can transfer at 3Gbps, leading to it being called SATA 3 (Gbps) sometimes. 

[pwn_intended]

SATA2 = 3Gbit/s

SATA3 = 6Gbit/s

 

SATA 3 and SATA 6 are often misused to mean sata 2 and 3 respectively.

The difference is that SATA3 is newer and double the speed. The cables themselves are identical from personal experience. The determining factor is what your MOBO and hard drive support.

 

That being said, you will not really see and performance difference between the 2 protocols on a standard spinning drive, since magnetic media will not saturate SATA2, but for SSD's you WILL notice a difference. That said, an SSD running over SATA2 will still be MUCH faster than a spinning drive running SATA3

[TaskForce163]

Thanks All!

[Captain_WD]

I hope this is the right place to put this topic but anyways, I know what I use a SATA cable for, transfer data from storage to motherboard, but I have heard about SATA 3 and SATA 6 and stuff like that. Can someone explain to me what the differences are and what the uses are? Thanks

 

Hey there TaskForce163,

 

Just to add to what the guys wrote:

SATAI (1.5Gb/s) has a limit of 187.5MB/s transfer speed.

SATAII (3Gb/s) has a limit of 375MB/s transfer speed.

SATAIII (6Gb/s) has a limit of 750MB/s transfer speed. 

The SATA cables are all the same and shouldn't affect the speed and performance in any way. Some of them have additional latches for a more secure connection to the drive and the motherboard/controller. 

 

All drives should be backward/forward compatible and should run with the speed of the slower connection (SATAII drive on a SATAIII port should work with the limitation of SATAII, SATAIII drive on a SATAI port should work with the limitation of SATAI).

 

Captain_WD.