Solved sata to sata 3 cable

[phoenixmark]

I bought a sata3 ssd instead of a sata ssd- didn't read the package correctly. I've already cloned the sata3 drive. Is there a cable/adapter available that I can adapt the sata wiring to the sata3 drive? It's going into a Dell 545 desktop. Thanks.

Mark

 

[HammerHead]

Sata

If I am mistaken someone can correct me.

Sata 3 has a faster transmission engine. But the wiring on the connectors stay the same. The difference in the cables is sata three is has a much lower resistance which permits the faster signal transfer.
Pinout: Serial ATA (SATA) pinout diagram @ pinoutsguide.com

 

[TVeblen]

Don't worry about the cable. There is very little difference between a SATA 2 cable and a SATA 3 cable in terms of the wires or the data throughput for the average user.

It is more significant to have a USB 3 port on the motherboard to get USB3 speed. But even then, don't sweat it. The SSD is backward compatible and will just run at the speed of the controller. You will get noticable performance improvement regardless.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Except for possibly really ancient SATA cables from a museum worthy machine, all SATA cables are the same. Rating a cable as SATA 3 (actually, it would be SATA III or SATA 6.0Gbps) is just a marketing ploy to get you to unnecessarily buy new cables when you don't really need them. As long as your old cables aren't the really wide ribbon kind that won't fit into your SSD, they should work just fine.

The ports in your computer are probably SATA II but, don't worry, SATA III is backwards compatible with SATA II or even SATA I and your new SSD will work just fine with them. You won't get as much of a speed increase but it will still beat the holy hairy heck out of a HDD.

 

[TVeblen]

If I am mistaken someone can correct me.

Sata 3 has a faster transmission engine. But the wiring on the connectors stay the same. The difference in the cables is sata three is has a much lower resistance which permits the faster signal transfer.
Pinout: Serial ATA (SATA) pinout diagram @ pinoutsguide.com

Not a correction, just a clarification .
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...-sata3-hdd-cable-post1882102.html#post1882102

 

[phoenixmark]

The problem is the cable connectors for the current HDD do not fit the new SSD, that's why I need a adapter cable.

 

[TVeblen]

Are you talking about an IDE connector?
The SATA connectors have not changed in configuration since version 1.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It may be you have an IDE cable instead of a SATA cable. Does your cable look like a wide ribbon consisting of multiple, tiny wires fused together side by side?

 

[phoenixmark]

You are probably correct, it could be an IDE cable,. When I went to crucial.com and ran their upgrade advisor program, it came back saying my Dell had an sata hdd. If I'm understanding correctly, sata 1, 2, &3 cables are the same?

 

[phoenixmark]

It may be you have an IDE cable instead of a SATA cable. Does your cable look like a wide ribbon consisting of multiple, tiny wires fused together side by side?

Give me a minute or so, to open the cover on the computer. I'm here using another computer.

 

[TVeblen]

An IDE Cable:


A SATA Cable:

_

 

[TVeblen]

If you have any SATA ports on the motherboard, use those for SSD.

 

[phoenixmark]

The hdd has a 4 wire connector going to the power supply and a flat ribbon cable going to the mb.

 

[phoenixmark]

TV, look like A SATA in your picture. Does the sata3 not use the (what looks to me) like the 15 terminal connector?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Does either of these look like yours and which one top or bottom,

 

[phoenixmark]

TZ, current hdd, top picture -no. New ssd, bottom picture yes, except don't have the 2 pin connector on the far right.

current ribbon cable in pc fits ssd connector shown in middle, but have no cable end for the large connector on the left.

current hdd has 4 pin connector as shown on right of top picture

 

[TVeblen]

No, not 15. The SATA connector has 7 . It is highly recognizable by the L shaped slot it plugs into.

 

[phoenixmark]

TV, I don't need to use the 15 pin connector, just the 7 pin to use the ssd?

 

[TVeblen]

AH! I bet you do not have a SATA power connector!

So you are saying you have a small cable on the right (the Serial ATA Data Cable in the picture in post #11) but you do not have the one shown on the left (the Serial ATA Power Cable)?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Some of the early SATA HDDs used a four pin Molex connector for power instead of the 15 pin five wire one used nowadays. Does your old HDD look like this one?