How do I tell if my rig uses SATA 2 or SATA 3?

[Gravemind]

I'm trying to breathe new life into my full sized laptop, and I can't tell right off the back if it uses SATA 2 or 3. I'm assuming SATA 2 because it's an HP Envy 17 from like 7 years ago. The current drive is some no-name drive I got from Best Buy.

[flibberdipper]

Yeah, that's solid SATA II territory.

 

Even then, SSD's on SATA II are fine (hell, my Latitude E4300 boots faster than my PC, and they both have the same SSD, just different capacities).

[Naeaes]

Judging by the age I'd bet it's sata2 too, but there are programs that can tell you exactly. HWInfo for instance. Even if it's sata2, an SSD will be awesome in it. The HDDs don't usually saturate even a third of sata2's bandwidth.

[paddy-stone]

Try Speccy https://www.piriform.com/speccy

 

Run the installer and start the program, give it a few seconds and then hit the storage tab... should say SATA type as below.

[Gravemind]

4 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Try Speccy https://www.piriform.com/speccy

 

Run the installer and start the program, give it a few seconds and then hit the storage tab... should say SATA type as below.

 

7 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

Judging by the age I'd bet it's sata2 too, but there are programs that can tell you exactly. HWInfo for instance. Even if it's sata2, an SSD will be awesome in it. The HDDs don't usually saturate even a third of sata2's bandwidth.

 

 

Huh, it's actually SATA 3. Who'd have thought in this 8 year old laptop.

 

I don't know why it says it's a Seagate drive. It's the only one I have connected, too. *shrugs*

[Naeaes]

17 minutes ago, Gravemind said:

 

 

 

Huh, it's actually SATA 3. Who'd have thought in this 8 year old laptop.

 

I don't know why it says it's a Seagate drive. It's the only one I have connected, too. *shrugs*

Hmm. You got some bad data on your hands, bro. I wouldn't take this at face value. The drive, ST500LM012 (Spinpoint M8) is sata-II but this is saying it's sata-III. And you're saying, you don't even have an M8 installed? And the Interface value should be SATA-3 instead of just SATA. Like here.

[Gravemind]

@Naeaes

 

Yeah I'm not sure what to make of this or what to do anymore to be honest.

[Naeaes]

1 minute ago, Gravemind said:

@Naeaes

 

Yeah I'm not sure what to make of this or what to do anymore to be honest.

Well, if you were planning on upgrading the laptop with an SSD, just do it. If it can reach above 300Mbps, it's working as a sata-3 device but even it it's capped at that 300Mbps, it's still three times faster than a HDD. Really. I've upgraded dozens of old machines with SSDs that won't ever get to their full potential and even still they make the operation way faster than what it used to be. I just tell my customers When they're ready to scrap the laptop, just transfer the SSD into some other machine.

[Gravemind]

@Naeaes

 

So throwing a Sata 3 SSD in even it it's Sata 2 won't make it unusable? Honestly even if it bottlenecks down to Sata 2's limits, that's still a substantial amount of data transference.

[scottyseng]

11 minutes ago, Gravemind said:

@Naeaes

 

So throwing a Sata 3 SSD in even it it's Sata 2 won't make it unusable? Honestly even if it bottlenecks down to Sata 2's limits, that's still a substantial amount of data transference.

Yeah, Sata 3 is backwards compatible with Sata 2. It just runs at Sata 2 rates.

[Laucien]

11 minutes ago, Gravemind said:

@Naeaes

 

So throwing a Sata 3 SSD in even it it's Sata 2 won't make it unusable? Honestly even if it bottlenecks down to Sata 2's limits, that's still a substantial amount of data transference.

As far as I know all SATA devices are backwards compatible so plugging in a SATA3 SSD into a SATA2 port will just reduce the speed to SATA2's max. 

[Naeaes]

10 minutes ago, Gravemind said:

@Naeaes

 

So throwing a Sata 3 SSD in even it it's Sata 2 won't make it unusable? Honestly even if it bottlenecks down to Sata 2's limits, that's still a substantial amount of data transference.

Not at all. Sata is fully backwards compatible. It'd be bottlenecked but a sweet thing nonetheless. The only minor issue with SSDs is that they're thinner and they don't have screw holes on the sides. So depending on how the HDD is mounted, you may have to macgyver something so it doesn't flop around in there.

[paddy-stone]

If you read it again, it actually says "used transfer mode SATA 2" - you were looking at the device limitations not the interface type

 

Anyway, as others have said, even at SATA 2 operating rates it is still better for an SSD than mechanical drive... way better, less heat, noise and power draw too... wish you well with it