Do onboard SATA controllers operate at "lowest connected speed?"

[MichaelD]

Didn't really know how to word this question for the Thread Title.

Scenario: Your MB has 6 onboard SATA ports. You connect a SATA II HD. You also connect a SATA I HD. Will the SATA I HD cause all the connected HDs to operate at SATA I speed, or are the "lanes" independent of each other?

I realize that a DVD burner you connect to the same SATA controller isn't SATA II (AFAIK), but I'm not sure if SATA controllers recognize the diff b/t HDs and DVD drives and do something internally to compensate for that.

I unearthed two SATA I HDs over the weekend and they still work and I want to use them...just don't want to screw anything up...like my shiny new SSD.

 

[C1]

I would think the connection would be at the level (or specification) that the peripheral device supports. That was so even with IDE controllers as I recall (eg, a DvD ROM at DMA 2 while an HDD at DMA 5).

Check the connection properties in the BIOS and/or the device manager to see what specification a given device is connected as.

 

[RaiderJ]

I believe it was only an issue with IDE devices because they were connected on the same cable. Since SATA devices have their own connection, I would assume each device would operate at the highest possible speed and not be affected by other devices.

 

[Iron Woode]

Didn't really know how to word this question for the Thread Title.

Scenario: Your MB has 6 onboard SATA ports. You connect a SATA II HD. You also connect a SATA I HD. Will the SATA I HD cause all the connected HDs to operate at SATA I speed, or are the "lanes" independent of each other?

I realize that a DVD burner you connect to the same SATA controller isn't SATA II (AFAIK), but I'm not sure if SATA controllers recognize the diff b/t HDs and DVD drives and do something internally to compensate for that.

I unearthed two SATA I HDs over the weekend and they still work and I want to use them...just don't want to screw anything up...like my shiny new SSD.

it will make no difference.

My MB has both SATAII(3 mps) and SATA3 (6 mps) connectors. I have 2 drives and one is SATA3 and the other is SATA2 and they each transfer data at their correct speed.

if in doubt try one of those drive speed programs like hdtach.

 

[MichaelD]

Great. Thanks, everyone. :thumbsup:

 

[tcsenter]

I believe it was only an issue with IDE devices because they were connected on the same cable.

Even then, it was only with the old PIO mode and first couple revisions of DMA-capable devices. At least since the appearance of UDMA, even IDE devices could operate at different speeds on the same cable. I think the only deal-breaker (after firmware, BIOS, and controller bugs were solved) was if any device was using PIO mode then it made the other device on the cable run in PIO mode.