1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

Hard Drives , SATA and SATA 2

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by TerryFox, 2008/06/21.

Page 1 of 2
  1. 2008/06/21
    TerryFox Lifetime Subscription

    TerryFox Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2005/09/07
    Messages:
    250
    Likes Received:
    2
    Hi , If I am able to use the normal sata drives can I also use the sata 2 drives ? Are the connectors the same ? What the different between the 2 ? Is it only speed issues ? Thanks
     
    TerryFox,
    #1
  2. 2008/06/21
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    SATA 2 drives require SATA 2 controllers on the motherboard - you will need to check what you have.
     
    PeteC,
    #2


  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2008/06/21
    TerryFox Lifetime Subscription

    TerryFox Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2005/09/07
    Messages:
    250
    Likes Received:
    2
    TerryFox,
    #3
  5. 2008/06/21
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    Yes, it can:

    That is SATA-2. They are backwards compatible which means that you can hook up SATA-2 hard disks to a SATA-1 motherboard and also the other way around.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #4
  6. 2008/06/21
    TerryFox Lifetime Subscription

    TerryFox Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2005/09/07
    Messages:
    250
    Likes Received:
    2
    Oh ok , cool :) Thank you Christer and Pete
     
    TerryFox,
    #5
  7. 2008/07/02
    chas berlin

    chas berlin Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/06/03
    Messages:
    1,578
    Likes Received:
    2
    Does this mean a SATA 3 HD will work, but at the lower SATA 2 speed?
     
    chas berlin,
    #6
  8. 2008/07/06
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    Sorry for keeping you waiting but I've been away from home and will be so frequently during July.

    Yes, a SATA-2 drive will not be able to transfer any faster than the receiving SATA-1 controller on the motherboard can handle it.

    However, the interface doesn't have to deal with a transfer rate higher than the internal (in the hard disk) transfer rates. The internal transfer rates have just exceeded the old ATA100 specs but I don't think the ATA133 wall has been broken yet (possibly burst rates but not sustained rates).

    As I understand it, SATA-2 is much more than just transfer rates and the increased transfer rate when comparing SATA-1 is a bi-product.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #7
  9. 2008/07/06
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    I forgot to post this link: Serial ATA

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #8
  10. 2008/07/06
    chas berlin

    chas berlin Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/06/03
    Messages:
    1,578
    Likes Received:
    2
    chas berlin,
    #9
  11. 2008/07/06
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    sata 1
     
    PeteC,
    #10
  12. 2008/07/06
    chas berlin

    chas berlin Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/06/03
    Messages:
    1,578
    Likes Received:
    2
    So the question is...How slow is slow? :(
    (SATA 1 compared to SATA 2 & 3)
     
    chas berlin,
    #11
  13. 2008/07/06
    jparnold

    jparnold Inactive

    Joined:
    2005/09/08
    Messages:
    345
    Likes Received:
    1
    Does anyone have some specs or links to web sites which explain the differences in BURST and CONSTANT data throughput between IDE and SATA? Someone once suggested that there wasn't a lot of difference but it seems to me that there must be as SATA is 3Gb/s and IDE is only 100Mb/s. Is SATA faster even for constant data read/write?
     
    Last edited: 2008/07/06
    jparnold,
    #12
  14. 2008/07/06
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    SATA 1 - 150 Mb/s

    SATA 2 - 300 Mb/s

    Both theoretical and unlikely to be achieved in practice see screenshots of my drives ....
     

    Attached Files:

    PeteC,
    #13
  15. 2008/07/06
    jparnold

    jparnold Inactive

    Joined:
    2005/09/08
    Messages:
    345
    Likes Received:
    1
    Thanks Pete for the very quick reply - the phosphur burn had hardly disappeared off my screen (from my post) when your reply came in - excellent!
    So I assume then that SATA2 could have a data throughput 3 times that of my 100 ATA hard drives.
    I wonder why then that they quote 3Gb/s for SATA - maybe that is the BURST speed.
     
    Last edited: 2008/07/06
    jparnold,
    #14
  16. 2008/07/06
    chas berlin

    chas berlin Inactive

    Joined:
    2008/06/03
    Messages:
    1,578
    Likes Received:
    2
    That's still quite a difference.
    Thx Pete - for the bad news! :D
     
    chas berlin,
    #15
  17. 2008/07/07
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    chas,

    Have any "SATA-3" drives been released? If so, which ones?

    jparnold,
    There is a mix of MB/s and Mb/s which might be confusing. MegaBytes/second or Megabits/second. One Byte is eight bits but with 25% overhead, one Byte equals 10 bits making 3 Gb/s = 300 MB/s.

    Pete,
    I'm familiar with Hitachi and can conclude that those drives have 8 MB cache but what about the Samsung? 16 MB? If so, I believe that has a bigger impact on transfer rates than the 3.0 Gb/s interface.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #16
  18. 2008/07/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    A common misconception - SATA 2 is 3 Gbits/s which equates to 300 Mb/s.

    Standards are one thing - the real world is another :)

    From
    ....
    Christer posted while I was typing, but I'll post it anyway.
     
    PeteC,
    #17
  19. 2008/07/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Christer

    Yes - the Samsung has a 16 Mb cache, the Hitachi's 8 Mb.
     
    PeteC,
    #18
  20. 2008/07/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    jparnold

    To answer your question specifically - from here ....
     
    PeteC,
    #19
  21. 2008/07/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Chas

    Those figures are theoretical - there are bottlenecks in the system.
    Not really bad :) On my drives it theoretically takes 3.3 secs to open a 200 Mb file off a SATA 1 drive and 2.3 secs off the SATA 2. This is hardly earth shattering even though the maths say that the Sata 2 is 30% faster. You will not notice it :) For small files the time difference is fractions of a second.
     
    PeteC,
    #20
Page 1 of 2

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...