6GBs SSD on 3GBs mb - upgrade card?

[jleslie246]

Im using a Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD on an ASUS M4A88T-V EVO mb which has 3GBs SATA ports. So, it works but speed is cut in half. Can I use some sort of PCI card for 6GBs SATA speeds? is it worth it? and which card? I also use one 500GB HHD. So no raid config required.

I have these PCI slots:

1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (blue) *2 (used by my GTX 660 ti FTW)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, gray) *2
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 *2
3 x PCI

Thanks

 

[Dereck47]

You need a PCIe x4 card to get the advertised speeds of a SATA 6Gb/s SSD on a SATA 3Gb/s port.

The card will cost you almost as much as a motherboard upgrade. It's not worth it to me. Save your money for a new motherboard.

You will still be impressed with your SSD's performance on SATA 3Gb/s ports.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Dereck47's reply hits the three important points; +1.

I am running my machine with an SSD on an SATA II port. Its performance is amazing compared to when it ran from a Velociraptor.

While there are many SATA III add-in cards sold, they tend to be PCI-E x1, which is silly because it's slower than a properly connected SATA II port. I haven't seen many PCI-E x4 cards for SATA III.