Solved What's my HDD, SATA II or SATA III

[Hikeman]

Hey guys pleas help me out here.
I have a Sony VAIo VPCEB1s1E/BJ and I want to upgrade my 500 Gb 500 RPM HDD to 1Tb 7200 RPM HDD. The problem is that I don't know if I have SATA II or SATA III, so I don't know what to buy. How can I know this information in order to decide what to buy SATA II or SATA III HDD???

Thank you very much.
Have a nice day. )

 

[DeaconFrost]

You can always google the model number of your hard drive, but the main factor will be what your controller supports. Both types will work in your laptop, it is just a matter of the performance being held to the lowest point. If the controller is SATA III and you put an SATA II drive in, you will have SATA II speeds. If the controller is SATA II, any drive you put in will run at SATA II speeds.

According to this link, it seems as though your controllers are limited to 3.0 Gbps, so it probabl won't matter what drive you put in.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/mainstream-chipsets/h55-express-chipset.html

 

[Hikeman]

So according this information (that my controllers are limited to 3.0 Gbps) my laptop doesn't support SATA III ? (I mean I understand it will work, but not with its' full potential, right??), if so then I'll buy SATA II, because it is cheaper.

Thank you DeaconFrost!

 

[DeaconFrost]

That's correct. If it is cheaper, no harm done. If you think you will be using this drive in a newer laptop down the road, go with SATA III. If not, you wouldn't notice a difference (except the cash you saved).

 

[Hikeman]

Now it is clear. Thank you very much DeaconFrost !

Have a nice day

 

[smarteyeball]

TBH, there's sfa difference in terms of performance in Sata II vs Sata III mechanical drives.