My laptop is Samsung NP530U4B-S02IN, whose specs are here:
NP530U4B-S02IN - TECH SPECS | SAMSUNG India
I am planning to swap the 1 TB HDD (SATA2) with 512 GB SSD (SATA3).
But I am not sure whether the motherboard in my laptop is SATA2 or SATA3.
Does anyone know how to find it ?
Thanks in advance for your tips.
I think you want to know if the SATA 3 will run on your motherboard, is that correct? If so, the SATA 3 drive will attach to a SATA 2 connector and run without issue, but at SATA 2 speeds which are not noticably different unless you are doing a benchmark test.
To more directly answer your question as you stated it; the installed harddrive is a 1TB SATA 2, 5400 RPM which is a good indication that the board only supports SATA 2.
HTH
The Samsung specs don't show what motherboard is in the laptop.
Use Speccy , SIW , or System Info and see if you can find out what motherboard is in the laptop.
The Intel HM65 does support SATA2 and SATA3, but that doesn't mean Samsung has implemented SATA3 on your motherboard for the internal HD bay.
Thanks David. I ran speccy and came up with this. I have no idea what it all means.
Motherboard
Manufacturer SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Model 530U3BI/530U4BI/530U4BH (CPU)
Version 0.1
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Sandy Bridge
Chipset Revision 09
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model HM65
Southbridge Revision B2
System Temperature 54 °C
BIOS
Brand Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Version 11XK
Date 11/06/2012
PCI Data
Slot UNKNOWN
Slot Type UNKNOWN
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PEG Gen1/Gen2 X16
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PCI-Express 1 X1
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PCI-Express 2 X1
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PCI-Express 3 X1
Slot Number 3
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PCI-Express 4 X1
Slot Number 4
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width Unknown
Slot Designation PCI-Express 5 X1
Slot Number 5
As Sir George says, I need to decide to go for sata2 or sata3 ssd.
Unfortunately that doesn't list what motherboard is in the laptop.
Unless you can get a SATA2 SSD a lot cheaper, I'd just get a SATA3.
If you do get a SATA3, you should be able to figure out if it is using SATA3 with benchmark programs.
No guarantee it will run at SATA3 speed, but it might.
I can understand wanting a clear answer, but at the same time, even on SATA2, going from a 5400 rpm drive to an SSD will be a huge improvement.
Thanks David and Deacon.
My dilemma is that while sata2 ssd's are quite cheap, sata3 seems to be the future trend (for now at least). I am willing to spend more bucks for sata3 ssd if my laptop motherboard could handle it. I took the laptop to the local samsung service center and the guyz (kids literally) knew jacksquat.
Amazing that samsung doesn't put out such a vital information in its website.
I'm surprised you can't find an answer, but I also think you are putting too much importance into it. If it was me, I'd get the SATA3 SSD anyway. Prices aren't much different, and it will still be much faster than what you have no regardless of your laptop's controller. Then, you'll always have the drive to be able to reuse in another computer later on, if needed. SSDs bring several benefits to the table, so I'd just get the best one that fit my budget.
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