SATA 3 internal HDD cable

Jed Shields · 29 Jul 2011 at 10:46

Hi guys,

I need to buy a new internal HDD and want to get a SATA3 to future proof myself. I'll hopefully be upgrading my system in a few months and will be looking for a SATA3 motherboard. Do internal SATA3 HDDs need a different cable when connecting to a SATA2 port? I have an external WD SATA3 HDD and it cas a completely different USB connection, wasn't sure if this was the case with internal HDDs as well.

Cheers,

Jed.

Stone22uk · 29 Jul 2011 at 11:11

Hey,

The cables are physically the same, eg you can plug a SATA II cable into a SATA III drive, they are backwards compatable. Im not sure what the performance difference is between a SATA III drive using a SATA II cable mind. I wouldnt have thought a huge difference unless you are using a SSD.

Jed Shields · 29 Jul 2011 at 11:28

The performance doesn't worry me at the moment. I can use one of my old SATA2 cables for the time being and order a new SATA3 one with my new build in a few months.

CaptainUnlikely · 29 Jul 2011 at 12:20

There's no difference between SATA II and III cables, they are exactly the same.

R088ieS86 · 29 Jul 2011 at 12:48

Don't pay anymore for the 6Gb/s interface. the read/write speeds are identical to the Sata 2 interface.

Jed Shields · 29 Jul 2011 at 19:30

Nice one guys