# How do I know if my cable is a SATA 3 cable?



## Phusius (Oct 29, 2012)

my new 1 TB HDD storage, are these speeds normal for a sata 3 HDD? or do I need a new SATA 3 cable?


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## Soup (Oct 29, 2012)

I don't think any mechanical hard drive out there will even saturate SATA 2, so I doubt there is an issue with the cable... though I am also foggy about SATA2 vs. SATA3 cables... gimmick?


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## Phusius (Oct 29, 2012)

Soup said:


> I don't think any mechanical hard drive out there will even saturate SATA 2, so I doubt there is an issue with the cable... though I am also foggy about SATA2 vs. SATA3 cables... gimmick?



Thanks, it seems to be working fine, so I guess I just am not going to worry about it.  /shrug


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## [Ion] (Oct 29, 2012)

Agreed.  SATA II can do up to 3 gigabits a second, or ~375 megabytes a second.  You're seeing transfer speeds of about half that (peak) so you're well within the limit of what SATA II can do.  You'd need a modern SSD to take advantage of SATA III.


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## Phusius (Oct 29, 2012)

[Ion] said:


> Agreed.  SATA II can do up to 3 gigabits a second, or ~375 megabytes a second.  You're seeing transfer speeds of about half that (peak) so you're well within the limit of what SATA II can do.  You'd need a modern SSD to take advantage of SATA III.



Yeah, I have my Samsung using a SATA3 cable, and it gets about 410 on read, so cool deal, glad this worked out


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## erixx (Oct 29, 2012)

If the connectors are the same for sata 2 and 3, how are the cables different?

Edit: oh wait! http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139183


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## Phusius (Oct 29, 2012)

topic can be closed  Ion answered it perfectly.  sata3 on my ssd, sata2 on any hdd  /cheers


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## Batou1986 (Oct 29, 2012)

For the record unless the cables are poorly made there is no difference in sata 2/3


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## chinmi (Nov 4, 2012)

Batou1986 said:


> For the record unless the cables are poorly made there is no difference in sata 2/3



i buy a usual red $1,- sata cable, i bet that's sata 2 right ?? what's the 'fair' price for a sata 3 cable ??


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## lyndonguitar (Nov 4, 2012)

chinmi said:


> i buy a usual red $1,- sata cable, i bet that's sata 2 right ?? what's the 'fair' price for a sata 3 cable ??



I think te red cable can do SATA 3 fine, as I am using one, all those expensive "SATA 3" cables are just marketing B.S.


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## lZKoce (Nov 4, 2012)

I watched the Linus Tech Tips extensive testing for the difference betwen SATA2 and 3 cables and the conclusion after all teh tests was, that there is no difference between the cables labelled as SAtA 2 or 3. So yeah, a red one will do perfectly fine I think.


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## newtekie1 (Nov 4, 2012)

The cable standard did not changed between SATA2 and SATA3, so the cables are identical. In fact I don't believe the cable has changed since SATA1.


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## TRWOV (Nov 4, 2012)

I think the only thing that changed is the latch. Older SATA cables don't have them.


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## newtekie1 (Nov 4, 2012)

TRWOV said:


> I think the only thing that changed is the latch. Older SATA cables don't have them.



I think the latch is optional, a lot of newer cables don't have them.  Even cabled labeled "SATA3".  I don't think the latch even even part of the standard, just something additional some manufacturers added because people were complaining SATA cables came out too easily.


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## TheOne (Nov 5, 2012)

Latches on SATA cables were around years before SATAIII was released, but as a standard, I think newtekie is right, most manufacturers just decide to use cables with latches, I know Gigabyte has always preferred them even back before SATAIII.


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## cadaveca (Nov 5, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> I think the latch is optional, a lot of newer cables don't have them.  Even cabled labeled "SATA3".  I don't think the latch even even part of the standard, just something additional some manufacturers added because people were complaining SATA cables came out too easily.



Latch IS part of the standard. I'd love to see an unlatched SATA 6Gb/s cable...



...so I can avoid them


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## TheOne (Nov 6, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Latch IS part of the standard. I'd love to see an unlatched SATA 6Gb/s cable...
> 
> 
> 
> ...so I can avoid them



Most SATAIII cables have latches, but you can find SATAIII cables without latches, Newegg sales them, I don't think the industry standard for SATA cables has changed, I could be wrong, but if you mean that it is just common then yea.

As for the point of this thread.

http://www.sata-io.org/documents/SATA-Revision-3.0-FAQ-FINAL.pdf


			
				SATA-Revision-3.0-FAQ-FINAL said:
			
		

> *9: Does SATA 6Gb/s require different connectors and cables to support the higher
> transfer speed?*
> A9: The same cables and connectors used for current SATA 1.5 and SATA 3.0 Gb/s
> implementations can be used to connect SATA 6Gb/s devices, although SATA-IO recommends
> ...


http://www.sata-io.org/


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## newtekie1 (Nov 6, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Latch IS part of the standard.



No it isn't, at least not as a requirement.




cadaveca said:


> I'd love to see an unlatched SATA 6Gb/s cable...
> 
> 
> ...so I can avoid them



StarTech Model SATA6RA1 6" [152.4 mm] SATA to Righ...


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## cadaveca (Nov 6, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> No it isn't, at least not as a requirement.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That's not a SATA 6 Gb/s cable. A SATA 6 Gb/s cables says "SATA 6 Gb/s" on it(also as a requirement), not just SATA like those do. 


Latches are required, and that's why the connectors on motherboards have the ability to use the latches in the first place.


However, I never said that regular SATA cables would cause any performance issues.. that depends on cable quality and length.

SATA6RA1 = SATA, 6-inch, Right Angle 1-side. 


With all the motherboards I've reviewed, I've seen 'em all(I mean SATA 6 Gb/s cables).



TheOne said:


> Most SATAIII cables have latches, but you can find SATAIII cables without latches, Newegg sales them, I don't think the industry standard for SATA cables has changed, I could be wrong, but if you mean that it is just common then yea.
> 
> As for the point of this thread.
> 
> ...




Yeah, pointedly, it says any cable can work fine.


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## newtekie1 (Nov 6, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> That's not a SATA 6 Gb/s cable. A SATA 6 Gb/s cables says "SATA 6 Gb/s" on it, not just SATA like those do.
> 
> 
> Latches are required, and that's why the connectors on motherboards have the ability to use the latches in the first place.
> ...



Read the specs. Type: SATA III

You're nuts if you think all SATA 6 cables have to say SATA 6 on them.

As TheOne pointed out, even SATA-IO says the cables didn't change since SATA 1.5, that includes the latch being required.


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## cadaveca (Nov 6, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> Read the specs. Type: SATA III
> 
> You're nuts if you think all SATA 6 cables have to say SATA 6 on them.



:shadedshu

http://www.sata-io.org/developers/naming_guidelines.asp


Explains how WRONG that newegg listing is. There is no such thing as "SATA III"



> Do not use the terms "SATA II" or "SATA III," which are incorrect and have no meaning.



EDIT:



newtekie1 said:


> As TheOne pointed out, even SATA-IO says the cables didn't change since SATA 1.5, that includes the latch being required.




NO, it says :

"*can be used* to connect"

can be used...CAN..not that nothing has changed..


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## Jetster (Nov 6, 2012)

The cables are the same. If your just running a platter drive there is no difference

Did Phusius get banned?


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## 95Viper (Nov 6, 2012)

From my understanding (reading the "Serial ATA Revision 3.1 Specification") for a single lane cable; they can be:

A. cables can be what ever color they want.
B. "ClickConnect" is optional. (what everyone calls latches)
C. connector labeling is optional. 
D.The cables/connectors meets the electrical characteristics requirements of the spec.

However, I am sure there may be vendors/manufacturers out there that turn out cables with SATA 6 Gb/s stamped all over them and they may not meet the spec of the Serial ATA International Organization. 

This has nothing to do with the Serial ATA International Organization, but it's my view of cables...  Cables should be stamp with the specs of the cable itself from the cable manufacturer (Except for the few who have specialized cable, but it should still be on the packaging or available).

So, you may want to check the specs of cables from the manufacturers you plan on getting them from to see if they fall into the proper specs.

And, I use the latch-less connectors in some areas that are hard to access quickly; or, if I have a need for tight spaces (I have found that an angled connector with no latch takes up less height than a latch one).

EDIT:


Jetster said:


> Did Phusius get banned?



Says "Banned"... I would hazard a guess... that he is.


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