Various HDD and SSD linked with the same SATA cable: performance hit?

[Over]

I would like to know if I plug 2 SSD and 2 HDD to the same SATA cable, will I get lower performance (as max out the SATA bandwitdh capacity)?

[RatedBlam]

First thing that comes to mind is how would you even be able to do that?

[Over]

With this?

 

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=454&area=en

[alpenwasser]

SATA is point-to-point, can't be done AFAIK.

But maybe you're talking about an SF-8087 cable branching out to four ports? Then no,

the circuitry is designed to handle four devices attached to an SFF-8087 cable, so

there won't be a performance hit. SFF-8087 is actually a SAS connector though (you

can still hook up SATA drives to it).

See here for more info on SAS connectors.

EDIT:

With this?

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=454&area=en

That's a power cable, not a data cable. Has no influence on performance.

[RatedBlam]

With this?

 

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=454&area=en

it's for power so no problem I'd say

@alpenwasser, seems like he is talking about sata-power

[Hyydrah]

According to TweakTown, there is no observable performance loss.

 

Remember that what you linked (and what was tested in the above link) is a SATA power cable, not a data cable.

[Hyydrah]

it's for power so no problem I'd say

@alpenwasser, seems like he is talking about sata-power

I think he was confusing the linked cable as being a data cable rather than a power cable, which is what it really is. 

 

"will I get lower performance (as max out the SATA bandwitdh capacity)?"

[alpenwasser]

it's for power so no problem I'd say

@alpenwasser, seems like he is talking about sata-power

 

Yeah, I was too slow with typing.

 

According to TweakTown, there is no observable performance loss.

 

Remember that what you linked is a SATA power cable, not a data cable.

I can't believe somebody was actually thorough enough to test this. :lol:

But it's good to have some facts, I'm always in favour of that.

[SMURG]

Just as an fyi, it is possible to plug as many as 5 drives into a single SATA connection, but it requires some pretty expensive hardware to get working and it's far from optimal - it's not meant for consumer applications. It basically involves having some kind of active (powered) controller on a PCB to control it iirc.

[Over]

it's for power so no problem I'd say

@alpenwasser, seems like he is talking about sata-power

 

No, I was really being silly.

 

So I need two cables to connect my new SSD. The power cable with the 4 plugs (the one I have has only three plugs) and a new SATA data cable. Although I think I should have checked out if I have a free SATA slot in my MB before buying the SSd in an Amazon's lightning deal (couldn't pass up a Crucial 240GB SSD for 90€).