How to tell SATA 3.0gbps from SATA 6.0gbps

[brian_sabalo]

ok, so i just bought an hdd.

it's a seagate barracuda 7200 1tb, but i CANNOT for the life of me figure out if this is a SATA II or SATA III hdd.

how do i tell them apart just by looking at it?
or even if i have to connect it to my pc, how will i know which slot to put it in? (since there are slots for SATA II and SATA III)

don't explain the difference between the two, i already know. What i dont know is how to tell which one i have. Sorry noob question guys.

 

[mattyg_nz]

Sorry if I sound blunt, but it practically does not matter. Your mechanical HDD will NOT experience any difference between the two interfaces, so just plug it into any old sata port and don't worry about it.
If you are curious about which one it is, look on the sticker for the model number 7200.xx and search it up on google. That will tell you.
For the connectors, which motherboard do you have?
P.S. The ports look exactly the same - usually just coloured differently

 

[brian_sabalo]

Oh actually there's a little difference. If you look it up, a sataII hdd will transfer at about a rate of 70mb/s. a sata III mechanical drive will transfer at 120mb/s.

but yea i never thought of googling the model number. grr. sorry.
mobo is an msi z68a-gd55.

thanks!

 

[brian_sabalo]

ok so the model number thingy doesnt work. there are 2 versions of 7200.12, a sata 3gbps one, and a sata 6gbps one.

 

[bwrlane]

Only a fast SSD can transfer data faster than SATA II. A mechanical one such as yours cannot.

It therefore makes no difference whether it is SATA II or III. They use the same cable and physical interface, and you can plug it either into the SATA II or III slot.

There's no way to determine which it is by looking at it, but as the other poster says, if you're curious for some reason, you should be able to find out by googling the model number.