Sata 3 Cables

seekermeister · 20 May 2011

I know that there is really no difference between a SATA 1 and SATA 2 cable, despite the fact that some vendors try to give that impression. However,the new Asus Asus M4A89GTD motherboard includes two pairs of cables, 2 x SATA 2 & 2 SATA 3. The only difference that I can see in them, is one pair has black connectors, and the other gray. Also the gray pair are marked as SATA 6GBs. Does this mean that there is a real difference between them, or is it like in the past...hype?

DustSailor · 21 May 2011

Well, if you have a device that supports 6GBs, than yea, it is a significant difference. If not, likely there wont be much difference.

Solid State Drives can really use the Sata III 6GBs to their advantage, increasing the speed dramatically. It is still often a noticable difference for some, but as I said, the difference will more likely come in getting hardware that supports it

GeneO · 21 May 2011

seekermeister said:

I know that there is really no difference between a SATA 1 and SATA 2 cable, despite the fact that some vendors try to give that impression. However,the new Asus Asus M4A89GTD motherboard includes two pairs of cables, 2 x SATA 2 & 2 SATA 3. The only difference that I can see in them, is one pair has black connectors, and the other gray. Also the gray pair are marked as SATA 6GBs. Does this mean that there is a real difference between them, or is it like in the past...hype?

Though the cabling is the same, the SATA III requires a higher quality than is required for SATA II transmission speeds. Your SATA II cable would probably work fine, but I think there is no guarantee. Well, that's the story spun anyhow

seekermeister · 21 May 2011

A higher quality, but the same number of contact pins...right? I read a thread elsewhere, that one poster said that if a SATA 3 system was connected to a SATA 3 device, with a SATA 2 cable, that the performance would only be that of SATA 2, rather than SATA 3 as it should be, but I got the impression that was his opinion, rather than a statement of fact.

My interest is somewhat academic at the moment, because the only SATA 3 devices that I currently have are hard drives, which I understand are not able to really use the SATA 3 bandwidth, but I still wanted to experiment with this to see if there would be even a small difference in performance. If there is, then I would want to get some longer SATA 3 cables than the ones that Asus provides, so as to be able to connect my external SATA 3 drives in that fashion also. At the rate that things are going, I suspect it will be some time before I buy any SSDs.

DustSailor · 21 May 2011

The two cables themselves are exactly the same, it is only the interface that is different on the motherboard. However, increasing cable length can harm the effectiveness of SataIII. If you would like some more reading on it, here is the website I got my info from: SATA 2 vs. SATA 3 cable - General-Homebuilt - Homebuilt-Systems

Later on in the reading, it is suggested that the SataIII cable is more compatable with sataIII, but if SataII works, it shouldn't matter

Now, don't stop reading till you get to the bottom, some people at the top misspeak. There is also a link to a pdf that explains even more.

If you want more, google might turn up something newer.

*Edit:
I was looking up for an actual numbered benefit to having SataIII 6GBs vs SataII 3GBs and found the answer to be there right in front of me. The pdf I mentioned states that there is a simple doubling of speed. right. I mean, what else could there be, from 3GBs to 6GBs, right? lol

seekermeister · 21 May 2011

DustSailor,

The two cables themselves are exactly the same...Later on in the reading, it is suggested that the SataIII cable is more compatible with sataIII, but if SataII works, it shouldn't matter

Obviously, if there is a compatibility factor involved, then the cables cannot be exactly the same. The difference may be small, but even small counts. I had already Googled this question before posting, and the ambiguity that I found did not satisfy my curiosity. I will take a look at the pdf that you mentioned, but I suspect that it has more to do with general aspects of the SATA categories, than specifically the fine point of the cable question. Thanks for the input.

EDIT: After a quick scan of the PDF, it appears that there is a higher quality standard for SATA III cables than before, but it really isn't spelled out exactly what that means. Therefore, until proven otherwise, I shall consider SATA III to be a different cable than before. It spoke of the possible problems with too long of a cable, but it did not spell out exactly how long is too long either.

EDIT: I found that there is no difference in the maximum cable length between SATA II & SATA III.

Hopalong X · 21 May 2011

Link for the organization that sets the standards. Though some manufacturers still do not follow them.
Serial ATA International Organization

pparks1 · 21 May 2011

This is very similar to the discussion between Cat5e and Cat6 network cable. Technically, both can run gigabit speeds over copper. Cat6 has tighter tolerances and in a small number of situations might work a bit better than 5e. But I've never personally seen a situation with a measurable performance increase when I switched out a Cat5e cable with a Cat 6 cable. If I was responsible for wiring an office brand new, then I would just go with Cat6 to be safe...since the price difference is negligible.

whs · 21 May 2011

the only SATA 3 devices that I currently have are hard drives, which I understand are not able to really use the SATA 3 bandwidth

That is not neccessarily true. I am sure your external disks can run at more than 50MB/sec which is approximately the maximum transfer speed of Sata2 (480Mb/sec). I suggest you verify your disks with HD Tune or Atto.

pparks1 · 21 May 2011

whs said:

the only SATA 3 devices that I currently have are hard drives, which I understand are not able to really use the SATA 3 bandwidth

That is not neccessarily true. I am sure your external disks can run at more than 50MB/sec which is approximately the maximum transfer speed of Sata2 (480Mb/sec). I suggest you verify your disks with HD Tune or Atto.

What? I think you have confused something. SATA 2 is known better as Sata 3.0Gbps. A SATA2 drive can sustain almost 375MB/sec...

480Mb/sec is the USB 2.0 spec. I think that is what you are thinking of. The original poster didn't necessarily mention an external hard drive....i think he was talking about internal SATA drives and their physical connections to the motherboard.