SATA HDDs - Cause for Concern!

[gg_3000]

Hi Guys,

My config. is AMD Athlon64 3200+ CPU, MSI RS480M2-IL Motherboard, 1GB DDR RAM, 80 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 1 HDD.. and i'm running WinXP PRo with SP2..

I want 2 get myself a new 250GB SATA HDD.. But Seagate's 250 GB models are SATA 2 HDDs.. My motherboard is compatible only with SATA 1 according to its manual.. So, will the SATA 2 HDDs work in mine?

Is my motherboard compatible with SATA 2? Or is SATA 2 HDD backward compatible to work as SATA 1? Or will an BIOS Upgrade enable SATA 2 Technology on my motherboard?

I'm really confused as none of my frnds hav an answer for any these questions..

 

[monkey]

I think SATA2 HDDs r backward compatible with SATA1. So ur 250 GB SATA2 HDD should work with this MoBo. BIOS or any other software upgrade will not covert ur SATA1 to SATA2. It has some hardware issues too.

 

[wizrulz]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that SATA2 motherboards are backwards compatible with SATA drives, but SATA2 drives are not compatible with regular SATA motherboards. CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG

 

[ambandla]

Hi gg,
no. your board will not support SATA 300Mb/s a.k.a SATA2
Yes. Seagate harddisk has a jumper setting that makes the drive work on SATA 1 speeds. Just check the harddrive before buying it.

SATA 2 is actually name of a consortium and it does not indicate the technology. The actual name is "SATA 300Mb/s". On my seagate HDD, I can switch between 150Mb/s (a.k.a sata1) and 300Mb/s using a jumper.

 

[gg_3000]

Guys thanx a lot in helping me out.. but after seeing the replies and the pm's i got regarding this thread, i hav few more queries.. Hope u would clear these 4 me..

There was this guy who says that even if i get a 250 gb SATA1(150Mbps) HDD, i would not be able to connect it with my existing 80gb sata1 HDD.. If i do so, it would damage my motheboard.. Do u think that he is right? any reason behind it?

Also, if i take ambandla's advise n get myself a sata2(300 Mbps) HDD that has a jumper setting to make it work as a SATA1 HDD, would i be facing any issues when connecting it along with my existing SATA1 HDD? any of u have heared of such issues?

 

[ambandla]

Oh god. who the heck told you that. My mobo supports 4 SATA drives (HDD/optical drives). It's pure crap.

You should not face any issue with SATA 300Mb/s HDD if you use that on your SATA motherboard when connected along with your existing drive.

If you not going to change your motherboard for another year, just go and buy SATA 150Mb/s drive else you can buy SATA 300Mb/s drive from seagate, set the jumper accordingly and enjoy 250gig.

 

[janitha]

In case of new Seagates, it is only a matter of jumper setting, either way.

In the case of my Hitachi 80GB SATA II, which I bought one year back when coneceted, it was shown as SATA I and I was perplexed. On visiting their website, it was known that it is shipped as SATA I and can be turned into SATA II by a firmware upgrade, which I could do very easily. The reason why they did so was at that time, SATA II Mobos were not popular as it is now.

 

[wizrulz]

one question form my side....

IF by jumper setting we can convert to SATA1.....then is gona give benefits of SATA II or work liek sata I...and then what r benefits of using SATA II if it is not gona work like SATA II.???
Unless and untill one is gona buy a new MOBO soon....