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  1. Hi everyone,

    Are all internal SATA cables the same? Are there ones made for SATA300 specifically, or the ones that come with SATA150 drives can transfer just as fast when connected to a SATAII drive? I actually had a cable failed on me while the HD was still in use. Luckily I was only deleting files so I didn't lose anything important. But I want to buy an extra or two -- are they all the same or some are better than others? The one that failed was the cheapie generic red cable with the black connectors that one can buy for two bucks at a computer store...

    Also, does anyone know what's the longest external SATA cable I can buy without performance degradation? The one that came with my external enclosure was too short for my situation.

    Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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  2. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I've seen SATA cables shown as SATA 300, but I have my doubts they are much, if any, different than ones shown as SATA 150. With any cable, neither the most expensive or the cheapest are really a good choice. Probably the best advice is to stay away from the cheapest generic cables, but that probably has more to do with the quality of the end connectors.

    I do prefer the ones with the metal clips to hold them in place. I would also avoid 'slim' cables as they likely have smaller conductors. Most of the ones that come with motherboards or SATA drives are good choices for SATA 300 or 150.

    SATA can use up to a 1 meter cable, about 39 US inches. eSATA external cables can be up to 2 meters.

    A Wikipedia page about SATA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA
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  3. contrarian rallynavvie's Avatar
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    I also recommend getting ones with the right-angle connectors if they'll fit on your system. It's pretty easy to bump one of the straight connectors and break the interface right off the drive. Right-angle connector makes it harder to accidentally be caught while you're working in the case.
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  4. Speaking of SATA cables, will an IDE to SATA cable work fine for internal hard drives? I have a lot of PATA drives and wonder if the conversion cable would be worth it. The new boards (650i Ultra) only comes with one IDE port, so just wondering.

    Any loss of speed??

    Thanks
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  5. DVD Ninja budz's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by rallynavvie
    I also recommend getting ones with the right-angle connectors if they'll fit on your system. It's pretty easy to bump one of the straight connectors and break the interface right off the drive. Right-angle connector makes it harder to accidentally be caught while you're working in the case.
    Yuh, I using the right angle connectors are good to use. I had a friend who couldn't figure out why his pc couldn't boot up to windows. I had him remove the sata cable and replug it in since he had moved the computer to his new computer desk. Low and behold the pc booted up fine. I had the same problem but mine was with a sata dvd burner, the cable fell off as I was working in the case. I now use only those right angle sata cables.
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