Sata 3 Cables

[kool1zero]

It could also have something to do with cable pairing or magnetic insulation. The III cable could have two of the conductors together or differently shielded or a shielding tuned to a different frequency.

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[seekermeister]

Going somewhat off in a tangent, I found some SATA III cables which are round, rather than the typical flat shape. Is there any reason that these would be better or worse?

They aren't as flexible. That might be important for your cable management.

That might be true for internal cables, but what I was thinking of was my external cables. I don't know that round would be any better, except that the flat ones tend to be a bit annoying in when they won't twist the way that I want very easily.

 

[pparks1]

EDIT: Still, this illustrates something that I have asked about previously, regarding whether a SATA III drive is better than SATA II or not. All the responses that I got seemed to brush it off as merely being hype, or too negligible to be worth noting. That may be true for someone accustomed to SSDs, but not for someone such as myself that is specifically interested in hard drives. The difference between your drive and mine is definitely worth paying a little more for. Had I seen this previously, I would not have opted for that SATA II drive.

Of course, you must take into account the motherboard, the drivers, the amount of cache on the drive, and the onboard SATA controllers themselves as well. It's quite possible, that the exact same physical drive used above, in your rig, might have scored more inline with where your SATA 3.0Gbps drive falls. I think real world measurable differences between SATA 3.0Gbps and SATA 6.0Gbps mechanical hard drives is just about non-existent. A few MB/s in a benchmark really won't amount to anything in real world usage.

 

[GeneO]

EDIT: Still, this illustrates something that I have asked about previously, regarding whether a SATA III drive is better than SATA II or not. All the responses that I got seemed to brush it off as merely being hype, or too negligible to be worth noting. That may be true for someone accustomed to SSDs, but not for someone such as myself that is specifically interested in hard drives. The difference between your drive and mine is definitely worth paying a little more for. Had I seen this previously, I would not have opted for that SATA II drive.

Of course, you must take into account the motherboard, the drivers, the amount of cache on the drive, and the onboard SATA controllers themselves as well. It's quite possible, that the exact same physical drive used above, in your rig, might have scored more inline with where your SATA 3.0Gbps drive falls. I think real world measurable differences between SATA 3.0Gbps and SATA 6.0Gbps mechanical hard drives is just about non-existent. A few MB/s in a benchmark really won't amount to anything in real world usage.

And the drive's cache, number of platters, improvements in firmware, etc, etc.
I have both. I agree.

 

[GeneO]

Going somewhat off in a tangent, I found some SATA III cables which are round, rather than the typical flat shape. Is there any reason that these would be better or worse?

They aren't as flexible. That might be important for your cable management.

That might be true for internal cables, but what I was thinking of was my external cables. I don't know that round would be any better, except that the flat ones tend to be a bit annoying in when they won't twist the way that I want very easily.

You mean eSATA cables? I have a round one, it works fine, but also have the same difficulty - you still have resistance to twisting the orientation. The flat cables can fold on themselves a little better.

 

[kool1zero]

Well, the twisting and folding (especially the folding) change the resistance internally and affect the capacity for throughput. The more it deviates from standard the more resends and failures it will have to have for a transmission

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[GeneO]

Well, the twisting and folding (especially the folding) change the resistance internally and affect the capacity for throughput. The more it deviates from standard the more resends and failures it will have to have for a transmission

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How would you explain that? Copper is pretty malleable/flexible. Bending it repeatedly will "work harden" it, but I understand the change in resistance is very small, and usually you don't bend it repeatedly.

 

[seekermeister]

I think that the amount that a bend might effect throughput would depend on the amount of bending imparted on the cable. I doubt that a bend as would normally be necessary, would have any effect, but if that angle of bend became acute, it might.

 

[GeneO]

I think that the amount that a bend might effect throughput would depend on the amount of bending imparted on the cable. I doubt that a bend as would normally be necessary, would have any effect, but if that angle of bend became acute, it might.

Very much doubt it, lets stick to known facts and not speculation. For one thing, I am sure these cables are speced with headroom to take considerations like that into account. The acceptance criteria for a SATA II, for example, is a 6dB loss at 4800 MHz (1800 MHZ above the rated transfer speed).

 

[kool1zero]

CompTia specifies that you should not bend a cable a bend to a radius of less than three cable widths of sharpness or it will begin to affect throughput.

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[Sardonicus]

It's recommended that you don't fold the SATA cable into a 90 degree angle, otherwise data loss may occur.

 

[seekermeister]

GeneO,

Very much doubt it, lets stick to known facts and not speculation.

I don't consider it speculation, but if you do, that is fine with me. Even if it were, that is what the majority of this thread consists of...isn't it.

 

[kool1zero]

Exactly what I was saying. Extreme bends can interfere with cable performance.

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[seekermeister]

Exactly what I was saying. Extreme bends can interfere with cable performance.

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Yes, but you also spoke of twisting in your previous post. While I'm sure that if someone did an extreme twist of a cable, it might also apply, that is not the kind of twisting that anyone would have any reason to do on a computer...or any other circuit that I can think of.

 

[kool1zero]

Twisting or bending wires change the resistance. When they run parallel or near each other the distances changing also changes things like crosstalk. The more extreme the more extreme the interference and causes more resends and failures, which then means less throughput

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[profdlp]

I think the point is: how much twisting is needed to make a difference? Has anyone ever had a computer that was acting up and you fixed it by unkinking a cable?

 

[kool1zero]

Yes actually in a computer upgrade and repair lab my college

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[GeneO]

GeneO,

Very much doubt it, lets stick to known facts and not speculation.

I don't consider it speculation, but if you do, that is fine with me. Even if it were, that is what the majority of this thread consists of...isn't it.

Well no, I don't think that is the case. When someone makes a statement that something is true without being able to provide evidence or documentation, then that is probably more than speculation - just opinion. If someone makes a statement based on documented inferences, well that is a hypothesis and a bit more than speculation. If someone shows some documentation that directly backs up a statement then that is not speculation.

 

[GeneO]

It's recommended that you don't fold the SATA cable into a 90 degree angle, otherwise data loss may occur.

Recommended by who? I bend some of my cable by 180 degrees to route them - a gradual bend. Do you mean a kink bend of 90 degrees? I don't think anyone would do that.

 

[GeneO]

Yes actually in a computer upgrade and repair lab my college

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Get back to reality. These cables were designed to be able to take twists and bends without affecting performance.