Can I use SATA2

[mn072065]

On my motherboard (dont know model #) I have 4 ports for SATA. I want to buy the new WD3000GLFS Raptor. I see it says SATA2. Can i still use this on my computer or I need a card for SATA2. Thanks for the advice.

[drjtech]

You'll need to find out more information about your motherboard to get an answer. Otherwise the answer is:

Maybe; Maybe not.

SATA2 is otherwise known as SATA 3 Gbit/s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA2#SATA_3.0_Gbit.2Fs

SATA is designed to be backward and forward compatible with future revisions of the SATA standard.[11]

According to the hard drive manufacturer Maxtor, motherboard host controllers using the VIA and SIS chipsets VT8237, VT8237R, VT6420, VT6421L, SIS760, SIS964 found on the ECS 755-A2 which was manufactured in 2003, do not support SATA 3 Gbit/s drives. To address interoperability problems, the largest hard drive manufacturer Seagate/Maxtor have added a user-accessible jumper-switch known as the Force 150, to switch between 150 MB/s and 300 MB/s operation.[3] Users with a SATA 1.5 Gbit/s motherboard with one of the listed chipsets should either buy an ordinary SATA 1.5 Gbit/s hard disk, buy a SATA 3 Gbit/s hard disk with the user-accessible jumper, or buy a PCI or PCI-E card to add full SATA 3 Gbit/s capability and compatibility. Western Digital uses jumper setting called "OPT1 Enabled" to force 150 MB/s data transfer speed.

-drjtech

[jagabo]

Usually you can use a sata 2 drive on a sata 1 port (with some exceptions as noted by drjtech). Though you won't get the benefit of the faster transfer rate of SATA 2. In practice, for a single drive, there is very little difference anyway. The drives can't read data off their platters faster than SATA 1.

[aedipuss]

cpu-z might identify your mainboard for you.
www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

[redwudz]

In addition to what jagabo said, JMO, but a 10,000 - 15,000 RPM Raptor drive would just be a waste of money, and you might find out it's very noisy. It could operate at 'lightspeed' and it still won't transfer data any faster than your existing SATA controller and bus speed. Save your money or buy two SATA 300 drives for likely the same price. JMO and OT, but I would also pass on a RAID0 setup. SATA 300 is plenty fast.

[jagabo]

The new VelociRaptors are fast, cool, and quiet (for a 10K drive). They can exceed the bandwidth of SATA1 by a bit. They uses 2.5" platters.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3291&p=1
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/HDD-SATA-VelociRaptor,1914.html

I agree it's not really worth the money just to save a few seconds here and there.

[redwudz]

Thanks for the links, jagabo. That's a fairly impressive drive for about $1 per Gigabyte.

[mn072065]

Thanks all. i have the 150GB raptors and I love them, Quiet and fast. I will definitely be buying the VelociRaptors so I can get more HD space and the speed. I checked my system with cpuid ()Thanks aedipuss) and my motherboard does accept SATA 2. Thanks all for the help. Now I just have to wait for those drives to be available.