Sata Cables..... Are thay all sata 3 capables???

[deejayburnout]

Just had a thought. Been using the same SATA cables for years now ( none broke so no need to change ) and now i am using a SATA 3 capable board, will my cables be good enough??? Most will have been made when SATA 2 was the norm.

Just wondering???

[GuidoLS]

There's no difference between an original SATA cable and a SATA 3 cable, in regards to data transfer. It's the same design. As long as you have quality, you're fine. Buying a 'special' SATA3 cable is a sucker's bet. The biggest issue I've found has been the actual plastic connectors - there have been some out of China that are as brittle as if they'd been exposed to UV for decades, and typically have a coal gray color. If you're looking for new cables, and you're not looking for super fancy, led imbedded, flame shooting, eye melting colored stuff, look for a company called Golden Bridge. They're the OEM to the stars, and are the OEM of choice for companies like HP in their servers and workstations.

There's another company out there called (don't laugh) Hung Fu, which also uses top end parts - the only issue I've had with them is that their connectors are somewhat larger (we're talking mm's in difference) but sometimes that clearance is absolutely necessary.

But otherwise, no - there's no difference in function at all between SATA 1, 2 and 3, cable wise.

[Biscuit]

The only difference I saw was on the locking mechanism which I think happened between SATA 1 and SATA 2, although that could be a co-incidence. Personally I have some Akasa cables purely because they are round and nicer to route!