Getting up to date on SATA II. Question...

I have a related question about SATA II...

I'm in the process of upgrading my PC. I already have two SATA drives. I noticed that many new mobos only have SATA II headers, but some have both SATA and SATA II headers (i.e., 4 of each). Currently, I've selected the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe as one of my few options.

Do cables exist that allow connectivity between a regular SATA drive and an SATA II mobo header and have it run at 1.5 GB/s like it normally would? Or... do standard SATA drives have to be connected to SATA headers with the normal SATA cables? I realize that if I want 3 GB/s performance I would need SATA II HDDs. I suppose another question is whether the HDD-end of a SATA II cablea is identical to a regular SATA cable -- or, are both ends different?

The reason I ask is because I don't need extra storage space and I'd like to keep using my current SATA HDDs. Also, I want to get an SLI-ready mobo, so my options are limited because the majority of SLI mobos have only SATA II headers.

TIA.

The cables (and drives) are all physically and logically compatible. Thus, you can take your current drive and cable and plug it into your new board, and it will fit, and your data will be accessible. You may have to reinstall or repair Windows to get that working, but that's a minor issue.

Drives that support SATAII should be backwards compatible with SATA. You shouldn't have any problems using your current drives and cables with your new motherboard. It's doubtful that you would be able to saturate the 1.5gbps capabilities of standard SATA anyway, so unless you really need some of the host side SATAII features, then there wouldn't really be a reason to switch.

Asus Sli-Premium has 4 of each...

I guess what I was trying to ask is:

If I buy a mobo with only SATA II (the newer-style) headers, will I still be able to use my regular SATA drives with the newer cables supplied with the board? Or do I need a board with the older-style connectors for my HDDs? With respect to the cables, is the only difference between SATA and SATA II the end which connects to the mobo?

If that's the case, then I have a lot more options available for mobos.

Thanks again.

Max Rebo said:

If I buy a mobo with only SATA II (the newer-style) headers, will I still be able to use my regular SATA drives with the newer cables supplied with the board? Or do I need a board with the older-style connectors for my HDDs? With respect to the cables, is the only difference between SATA and SATA II the end which connects to the mobo?

Click to expand...

1) Yes.
2) No.
3) There's no physical or electrical difference between sata and sata2 cables. Same thing.

Cool. That helps a lot.

So basically, the cables are the same. Are the newer-style connectors designed to simply hold the cables in place better?

Also, (OT) -- What's the deal between the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe and Premium? The only difference I see is the chipset cooler. One has a fan and the other uses a block/heatpipe setup. I've heard the fan is pretty annoying... True/false? Is the Premium worth the extra $20 or so on Newegg? I'm beginning to think so...

it is, it doesn't have the SLI jumper that needs to be switched around, it has 8 total sata ports.

the pci e slots are spaced apart more, fanless chipset cooler...overclocks a bit better too.