Solved Internal vs External SATA Motherboard connectors?

[Mike Lynch]

They appear to be physically identical.
There is a speed option on the External one: 1.5 vs 3.0.
Why do I ask?
Can the External connector be used Internally?
I want to run a fourth HDD internally, not externally.

Could the External description really be saying I can throttle the External for some reason?

Just want to know I will not be causing myself additional problems.

 

[Megahertz07]

External SATA connector works the same as an internal, so yes, you can use on an internal drive.
Don't you have 4 SATA connectors internally (one may share with the external)?

 

[Mike Lynch]

Thank you for responding.

Yes, there are four, colored: Blue (00), White (01), White (02) and Black (03).
The Black one is the External with speed settings of 1.5 and 3.0.

- - - Updated - - -

As a side note, what might the speed of the SATA connections vs USB-3 and USB-2?

I'm guessing the SATA connections are faster but I'm Just guessing.

 

[Megahertz07]

SATA 1.5=150 MB/s (first gen)
SATA 3 = 300 MB/s (2nd gen)
SATA 6 = 600 MB/s (3rd gen)

USB 2 = 480 b/s or 60 B/s
USB 3 = 5000 b/s or 625 B/s

The USB 3.2 standard has modified USB 3 and USB 3.1

USB 3.2 Gen 1 – SuperSpeed, 5 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) data signaling rate over 1 lane using 8b/10b encoding (effective 500 MB/s), the same as USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 3.0.
USB 3.2 Gen 2 – SuperSpeed+,[58] 10 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) data rate over 1 lane using 128b/132b encoding (effective 1212 MB/s), the same as USB 3.1 Gen 2.
USB 3.2 Gen 1×2 – SuperSpeed+, new 10 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) data rate over 2 lanes using 8b/10b encoding (effective 1000 MB/s).
USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 – SuperSpeed+, new 20 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) data rate over 2 lanes using 128b/132b encoding (effective 2424 MB/s).

 

[MisterEd]

Electrically SATA and eSATA connectors are the same but physically they are not (see below). However, you can connect a SATA drive to a eSATA connector if you use an adapter cable.


By The original uploader was Smial at German Wikipedia. - Transferred from de.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 2.0 de, File:SATA2 und eSATA-Stecker.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

 

[Mike Lynch]

My intent is to use the eSATA internal motherboard connector to attach a fourth internal drive.
From everyone's feedback it appears I can and I will set the speed to 3.0 vs 1.5.
Thanks again for the education.

Mike

 

[MisterEd]

I have a computer with an ASUS M4N82 Deluxe motherboard. The eSATA port is shown as #8 below. The eSATA port is meant to be used with a special eSATA cable to connect with a SATA hard drive enclosure. The eSATA connector has a different shape is for a reason.

The original SATA standard was meant for the drives to be hot swappable. Unfortunately, the current SATA connectors weren't designed to support that effectively. eSATA was developed to correct that. With eSATA cables not only supported hot swappable but were shielded to allow longer cables. For example, my eSATA cable is 6 feet long. Note regular SATA cables are limited to about 3 feet.

Like I said this eSATA port can be used with an internal drive only if you use an adapter cable between them.

 

[Mike Lynch]

Mr. Ed,

Thank you for your response.
My PC does not have that type of connector, (eSATA).
It has a normal SATA connector shaped just like the other SATA connectors.
The motherboard SATA connectors indicate: 0, 1, 2, and 3 which is designated / called eSATA.
After seeing your Back Plain diagram, I'm assuming the following regarding my PC's situation:
The connector I'm referring to has multiple functions, i.e., SATA and eSATA.
To use it as eSATA I would need to buy a PCI type card with the special eSATA connector on it, like yours has.
Then using a SATA cable connect the two, providing an external eSATA connector for whatever device.
So, if that is the case, I'll just use the connector on my motherboard as if it were a normal SATA connector,
With the speed set to 3.0 vs 1.5, I'm guessing I'm good to go.
Best regards,
Mike

 

[MisterEd]

Mr. Ed,

Thank you for your response.
My PC does not have that type of connector, (eSATA).
It has a normal SATA connector shaped just like the other SATA connectors.
The motherboard SATA connectors indicate: 0, 1, 2, and 3 which is designated / called eSATA.
After seeing your Back Plain diagram, I'm assuming the following regarding my PC's situation:
The connector I'm referring to has multiple functions, i.e., SATA and eSATA.
To use it as eSATA I would need to buy a PCI type card with the special eSATA connector on it, like yours has.
Then using a SATA cable connect the two, providing an external eSATA connector for whatever device.
So, if that is the case, I'll just use the connector on my motherboard as if it were a normal SATA connector,
With the speed set to 3.0 vs 1.5, I'm guessing I'm good to go.
Best regards,
Mike

It seems your motherboard doesn't support true eSATA. If the regular SATA connector is accessible outside the case like mine is I don't understand why they would even do that. You still need power for the drive. Do you understand how that was to used?

In any case if is a regular SATA cable then I agree you can use it internally.

BTW, my motherboard chipset supports 6 SATA drives. 5 internally with regular SATA connectors and 1 externally with the eSATA connector. I already had more then enough internal SATA connections for my needs.

 

[Mike Lynch]

The motherboard.

Thank you, Mr. Ed.

 

[MisterEd]

It looks like your eSATA port was added as an afterthought by using a regular SATA port and using an optional bracket. The advantage of this is it still could be used for an internal SATA port by not using the bracket.

HP Compaq Pro 6300 Small Form Factor PC Specifications
HP Compaq Pro 6300 Small Form Factor PC Specifications | HP(R) Customer Support

HP Compaq Pro 6300 manual
User manual HP Compaq Pro 6300 (English - 104 pages)

HP eSATA Adapter
https://cdn.cnetcontent.com/40/4b/404bf2b7-4c31-44e8-98c9-8d437cc6523d.pdf

 

[Mike Lynch]

Thank you for the documentation Mr. Ed.

Best regards,

Mike