Do YOU hate SATA as much as I do? Am I alone?

[keoghjacob]

*WARNING - TECH RANT BELOW*

I've been building PCs for over 10 years, and working on them for much longer than that.

...and, I remember the days when everything was running on Molex power and PATA ribbon cables. Albeit PATA was slower than sludge vs SATA, and Molex was aging and didn't have a real versatility other than carrying a static voltage...I'm not so fond of it's replacement.

While I love the simplicity of SATA, with its small connector and incredible throughput advantage over PATA (IDE), the whole female connector system used on hard drives and other devices is PATHETIC when it comes to durability.

So, I understand the movement away from the massive PATA male connector. Not only was it huge, but it was keyed in an awkward fashion where you'd sometimes forget it's and keep trying to insert it into the most hard to reach place in your case, jamming the male end into a hard disk only to realize 5 minutes later you just needed to flip it.

I see why we needed smaller and thinner cables. Great idea. But, why did the SATA standard skimp on durability when the SATA II standard was published?

When SATA I came out, 90% of users were using friction-fit SATA cables. They're not common today, but they're the SATA cables WITHOUT the metal clips on top. These didn't do damage to SATA ports on devices, and simply fit snugly (by friction) into ports without the need of securing clips. They didn't wear out ports, even though they were a bit easier to pull out of the port when you're working inside a PC.

AFTER SATA II, most drives and other peripherals started using the metal clip locking systems. These connectors are smaller than the others, and rely on small metal beads (or maybe...spikes, don't know exactly what they should be called) to grip plastic grooves on the drive to secure the cable.

Well, here's where the problem with that system comes in. After repetitive removal/insertion cycles, the beads or spikes on the top of the cable will scrape and wear away at these grooves, and if any backwards tension is applied on a locked (inserted) SATA cable, it'll rip these grooves completely out, ruining the clip-locking mechanism on your drive, making clipped SATA cables not lock, and be incredibly loose on your drive.

Now, this isn't an unsolvable problem. I'm sure many people have experienced this, and there IS a solution.

You can buy older SATA I friction-lock cables (don't worry, they're 100% compatible and as effective as SATA III branded cables) on eBay, and Newegg as well as other online retailers. Heck, you might even find some at your local Microcenter or NCIX stores.

Silverstone has actually addressed this issue and released their "Tek 180 Degree" high quality braided SATA III cables which LACK the metal clips and are advertised to reduce wear on your drive connector (which they do wonderfully).

Now, onto the SATA power connector. Who the hell designed the thing? We used to have Molex connectors which were keyed and effectively friction-locked onfo the drive, and had 4 pins if repairs needed to be done.

Now we have a dozen-pin monstrosity which at the same time is also configured as a thin, flimsy and breakable SATA power port and male end (SATA data ports and cables are just as flimsy). Why didn't we just stick with a colored Molex connector?

Both the thin SATA power and data ports and cables are flimsy and break easily and are generally not designed for durability.

TLDR: I hate SATA.

</rant>

[SkilledRebuilds]

Don't really have much to say on the subject, but you make some valid points I agree with. ie: Molex power connectors not needing to be replaced by harder to fix power connectors (Did they do that for looks?, cos Molex would have been fine)

[Enderman]

I have not unplugged a sata connector in a year...I dont see why this would have any issues with durability.

If you need durability, e-sata is what you want to use, since its meant to be plugged and unplugged repeatedly.

[DirkW]

Well, AFAIK many people actually prefer the SATA cables with clips..

 

IMO Molex kinda sucks... when the pins in the housing are a bit loose, it can be a pain in the a** to get them together...

[TheKDub]

I do not hate sata, in fact I prefer it over PATA as ribbon cables are not easy to hide/cable manage.

Molex on the other hand, I would have been fine with staying with it, as many things such as fans, graphics cards, etc... can all have adapters to be powered via molex instead of a mobo fan header or 6pin or 8pin connector from the PSU, I don't really see any adapters that let sata power cables do this.

[SkilledRebuilds]

If your PSU isn't modular, and a 4pin molex power connector breaks, it's easy to fix.

 

While I've not had to repair any Sata ones, I can't see it being easier.

[Oshino Shinobu]

I don't have any problem with SATA really. Sure, it's a little flimsy feeling, but it's not something you need to change over too often. 

 

Now, Molex connectors, I bloody hate them. Half the time the pins don't line up and they end up coming out of the connector and crap. I wish it was a connector that you didn't need to force on to provide power to stuff. 

[simtransporter]

You have a point when it comes to the durability of SATA connectors, however like @Enderman said, it's not something that was designed to be plugged in and out on a regular basis, most people don't.   If you constantly need to plug in and swap drives you should use external methods like USB, eSATA, thunderbolt, etc.

[GodSpoon]

I was going to argue a point, but I decided it would be for no real reason

 

Good points though, I have had a few workstation grade components that had beefy SATA connectors though..

And I have had a few drive cages that actually wrap around the sata connectors on ssd's and reinforce the plug and added clip support, but my right angle connectors actually didn't fit lol 

Try ordering the monoprice data cables, they use a heavier plastic and can order some with beefy clips too

[Enderman]

You have a point when it comes to the durability of SATA connectors, however like @Enderman said, it's not something that was designed to be plugged in and out on a regular basis, most people don't.   If you constantly need to plug in and swap drives you should use external methods like USB, eSATA, thunderbolt, etc.

Also if you push the retention clip down all the way the plug will just slide out without scraping the female connector housing at all...

They are delicate connectors though, so yanking them out while pushing down on the clip will damage it. The clip is meant to be pushed down first to unlock, then slide out, not both at the same time.

[TheWhiteOne]

It has never been a problem for me, but you have a very interesting point.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

SATA has an advantage of being identical on desktop and laptops, and I find the SATA power to be superior for multiple insertions as there is no sleve end to get loose on the pin end to produce a bad connection

[keoghjacob]

I definitely see some valid points made here.

 

While SATA isn't something you typically would want to be removing\inserting 24/7, eSATA simply isn't an internal device standard. It IS e(xternal)SATA, so you won't find any internal performance-grade drives that use eSATA.

 

I build PCs as a hobby, and I'm constantly upgrading and changing out drives. SATA is unable to perform in that condition, because repeated insertions and removals, whether you are careful or not, will wear out the locking mechanism and render it ineffective.

 

It's not only the lock mechanism, the SATA connector itself is made of thin plastic that cracks and breaks under any tension. Molex and PATA had thick plastic that wouldn't break until you brought a hammer or something to it.

 

I think they should've used metal on the SATA connectors for durability, and it could've contributed to shielding.

 

Also, when talking about Molex sleeves pulling out...I only remember that happening when you were working with sub-par PSUs or devices that had bad build quality. If you used brand-name PSUs and equipment, or at least parts of good quality, you usually didn't deal with sleeve seperation.

[IdeaStormer]

Wow, so much fail man. ...

 

First off PATA was not changed for fashion reasons or because it had a wide data cable, and they did make PATA cables that prevented dufuses from plug it in wrong. I still remember the multi-colored and separated ribbon PATA cables that could be bundled into a round cable quite nicely if you didn't want the wide ribbon cable blocking air flow or your precious fashion statement. :rolleyes:  Then the Molex connecter was is the worse connector known to man, the number of time I had to use pliers to remove a drive are countless, those things would and still get stuck as the pins are metal and can start to rust together in the wrong environments, like those of us who live near an ocean.

 

Now, if you're pulling drives a lot of times you don't use a standard SATA power and data cable! Instead you need a hot swap bay that lends it self for... wait for it ....

 

Hot swapping of SATA drives! Yea they make something for that and they come in one slot, two slot, three slot, four slot, 6 slot, 8 slot tool-less drive bays so all you have to do is connect the proper number of SATA power and data cables into the back of it and never ever have to touch them no matter how many times you insert and yank drives from the front of the bay.

 

Once again, use the right tool for the job, wins over whining over failing to find a proper solution B)

 

SATA is great and will continue to be till they make a more efficient and higher bandwidth data path for storage devices, what ever they may be in the future.

[Trik'Stari]

I think Molex is a bigger problem than Sata, I've never had an issue with my Sata cables nor can I see one arising.

 

Molex on the otherhand is a gigantic pain in my ass. The wires never want to stay in the connector, and the connectors are either impossibly to fit together, or impossibly to pull apart without your fingers slipping and pulling the wire out of the connector (assuming it hadn't just fallen out on it's own from gravity).

 

Seriously, I'd rather use modified RCA plugs than Molex.

[Berkut99]

SATA was a tremendous improvement over PATA. I would never go back. But with that said, your frustration is completely understandable and another jump forward would be nice. I've broken my fair share of SATA connectors for one reason or another. Often my fault, but there were a few times where I was left wondering why after pulling the cord straight out I was met with a broken hard drive connector still in the cable; not fun to replace.

 

SATA power and SATA data are both too thin to manage realisitically in the small spaces reserved for modern ATX cases. There are times where I'm sometimes only able to hook up the cables with a wing and a prayer. Still better than PATA where it's instead reduced to a snowball's chance in hell that there's a way to connect.

 

Molex power is, has been, and always will be a poor connector. Hell it's introduction with disks in the 1970's was met with disdain, yet we won't to restandardize. Poor quality construction of the connector is probably the culprit, but given how much of a crapshoot as to whether or not the connectors you get will be easy or hard to work with, it's irrelevant.

 

This is where M.2 comes in for me. If M.2 chips would just get a little denser, I think I'll be able to rest easy with this solution for a long while. Doesn't work for optical, of course. But I'm looking forward to optical being phased out entirely in the next ten years anyway. I think the replacements for SATA are on the way, just hang in there. I don't know whether or not SATA Express will be any better, but I can cross my fingers for it.

[keoghjacob]

I'm not saying that I dislike SATA as a data transfer standard...I'm saying that I don't really like the connector design.

If for SATA IV, or SATA Express II, they switched to a carbon-fiber or some sort of metal connector, SATA would be GOLDEN.

Right now, I'm completely fine with SATA with my Silverstone friction-fit cables, I'm just griping about the general product that is SATA.

Fun Fact: SATA connectors are only rated for 50 insertion cycles (100 total actions, either remove or insert)

[Real_PhillBert]

I can honestly say I have never had any issues with a SATA connection. That said I was not really interested in PCs when PATA was widely used.

 

I see molex as a much bigger nusance than SATA. Besides being a huge bulky connector, it is poorly designed and I have had pins damaged in the connector in the past.

 

I would rather see a standard connector for front panel LEDs than a retool of SATA. That's just me though.