Quick question bout sata ports on MB.

[Andreyftw]

Alright i got 890FXA-GD70 and there are 6 sata ports all together pointed to the side and one next to them pointed up.
to save u time here is the link to the pic
http://motherboards-reviews.com/motherboards/MSI/890FXA-GD70/MSI_890FXA-GD70_sata_ide_heatsink_view.jpg

my question is
What is the single port used for? My guess is that its for master drive or something totally random, explain ths, thx

 

[damasvara]

The single SATA port is a SATA II port, while the other 6 are SATA III.

 

[Andreyftw]

is it possible to use sata 2 in sata 3 slots?

 

[damasvara]

Yes, it's backward compatible as in AM3 CPU is compatible with AM2+ motherboard.

EDIT: I mean forward compatible, with the same analogy.

 

[Andreyftw]

I remember having a ribbon data cable connected to one of my hard drives and my dvd rom on my previous build and this time im not using it. Is it necessary to have it and is there any difference between using regular sata and data ribbon cable
sorry for such stupid question im total noob at this )

 

[damasvara]

Ribbon cable? You mean this?:

It's called an IDE cable, some call it ATA or PATA. It's an older version of connection with slower speed. But for an ODD, this won't matter much. For the HDD however, the speed difference is quite significant. The maximum is 133 MB/s, compared to SATA II's 3GB/s. You'll notice it when transferring bulk data. I suggest stick with the SATA, unless you're a very patient guy. :lol: Besides, your mobo only have 1 IDE port, it's wise to use it for the ODD rather than the HDD.

Nothing to worry about. The stupidest is the one who doesn't know but doesn't want to ask either. Nothing's too silly in regards to learning.

 

[Andreyftw]

Like i said i had the IDE cables on my old rig so i kinda learned to be patient =P
i have a bad feeling that both of my hard drives are sata 1, is there any way to make sure? i examined my hardrives closely but it doesnt say it anywhere.

 

[cjl]

Honestly, it doesn't matter that much. Your hard drives are most likely Sata 3.0Gbps (often incorrectly called SATA II), rather than 1.5Gbps or 6.0. However, they are probably limited by other factors anyways, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[damasvara]

What's the brand and model number of the 2 HDDs? If I were you, I'd ask the all-knowing Google using the info.

 

[Andreyftw]

Yeah google didnt really come up with much info, anyhow I finally got my pc running so thx for support everyone )))

 

[Andreyftw]

Best answer selected by Andreyftw.