[SOLVED] Am I losing performance using a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD on an old Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 (Rev 4.0) Motherboard?

AnimexGamer

Honorable
Nov 3, 2015
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Hello! I would just like to ask a simple question about compatibility and limitations when buying an SSD for an old motherboard.

My current PC uses old parts, and some of them were used or second-hand, so that should say a lot about my budget.
I will list the specs here just in case you have other suggestions regarding the PC and to my use of it:
  • i7-3770
  • Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 (Rev 4.0)
  • 8x1GB and 4x1GB of 1333mhz memory (12GB total)
  • GTX 1650Super 4GB
  • Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s

This is the current (and only) storage that I am using:

image.png.0dc9cd00bf7ad25f2d0e71cb147e75f5.png



It felt really slow now, like booting it up takes a good 3-4 minutes to get into desktop with everything fully loaded and functional. I am also running out of space for it since I have lots of stuff stored.
Because of that, I wanted to upgrade to an SSD because I've heard that SSD > HDD by a lot. I have set my eyes on the Crucial MX500 500GB

image.png.d018bff7683dd818ee3bee93961282be.png



This SSD is within my budget, and after researching, seems to be one of the best budget but good SSDs. When I was looking at it, I got curious that it said SATA 6gb/s and thought that maybe compatibility might be an issue since the motherboard I have is really old, and that the motherboard also lists that it supports only up to 3Gb/s.

image.png.04bd1d123db740ca6f78ad9207b815ad.png



My questions are:
  • Will the SSD be compatible with my Motherboard? (if no, then please disregard the following questions)
  • Will it be noticeably faster than my HDD?
  • Will I lose on performance and value because of the limit of my Motherboard?
  • If the SSD is not compatible, or if there are other suggestions, what are my options?

I mainly do gaming, but I also have online classes. I am also into light photo editing and video editing and as well as (maybe) light game development. For now, my budget is restricted to not buying an entirely new PC so these are the parts that I can work with. Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Solution
As mentioned, even without SATA3 you'll be fine. on SATA2 you'd be limited to around 300 MB/s theoretical transfer rate, which is still way faster than the 80-100 MB/s you'd see with a mechanical drive. And you keep the low access times and high IOPS that makes SSDs so snappy in daily use. And that particular drive will be around 400-450 MB/s for random writes, so you aren't even losing that mich.

_ThunderClap_

Commendable
Oct 1, 2021
84
4
1,545
i have
Hello! I would just like to ask a simple question about compatibility and limitations when buying an SSD for an old motherboard.

My current PC uses old parts, and some of them were used or second-hand, so that should say a lot about my budget.
I will list the specs here just in case you have other suggestions regarding the PC and to my use of it:
  • i7-3770
  • Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 (Rev 4.0)
  • 8x1GB and 4x1GB of 1333mhz memory (12GB total)
  • GTX 1650Super 4GB
  • Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s
This is the current (and only) storage that I am using:

image.png.0dc9cd00bf7ad25f2d0e71cb147e75f5.png



It felt really slow now, like booting it up takes a good 3-4 minutes to get into desktop with everything fully loaded and functional. I am also running out of space for it since I have lots of stuff stored.
Because of that, I wanted to upgrade to an SSD because I've heard that SSD > HDD by a lot. I have set my eyes on the Crucial MX500 500GB

image.png.d018bff7683dd818ee3bee93961282be.png



This SSD is within my budget, and after researching, seems to be one of the best budget but good SSDs. When I was looking at it, I got curious that it said SATA 6gb/s and thought that maybe compatibility might be an issue since the motherboard I have is really old, and that the motherboard also lists that it supports only up to 3Gb/s.

image.png.04bd1d123db740ca6f78ad9207b815ad.png



My questions are:
  • Will the SSD be compatible with my Motherboard? (if no, then please disregard the following questions)
  • Will it be noticeably faster than my HDD?
  • Will I lose on performance and value because of the limit of my Motherboard?
  • If the SSD is not compatible, or if there are other suggestions, what are my options?
I mainly do gaming, but I also have online classes. I am also into light photo editing and video editing and as well as (maybe) light game development. For now, my budget is restricted to not buying an entirely new PC so these are the parts that I can work with. Thanks in advance for your help!

I actually have a LGA 775 mobo and i am using CT240BX500 the 240gb version of ur ssd and even though my mobo doesnot support sata 3.0 still the ssd made my pc alot faster as compared to a Hdd
 
As mentioned, even without SATA3 you'll be fine. on SATA2 you'd be limited to around 300 MB/s theoretical transfer rate, which is still way faster than the 80-100 MB/s you'd see with a mechanical drive. And you keep the low access times and high IOPS that makes SSDs so snappy in daily use. And that particular drive will be around 400-450 MB/s for random writes, so you aren't even losing that mich.
 
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Solution

AnimexGamer

Honorable
Nov 3, 2015
91
0
10,630
As mentioned, even without SATA3 you'll be fine. on SATA2 you'd be limited to around 300 MB/s theoretical transfer rate, which is still way faster than the 80-100 MB/s you'd see with a mechanical drive. And you keep the low access times and high IOPS that makes SSDs so snappy in daily use. And that particular drive will be around 400-450 MB/s for random writes, so you aren't even losing that mich.

Thanks for explaining! I will go buy it!
 
Hello! I would just like to ask a simple question about compatibility and limitations when buying an SSD for an old motherboard.

My current PC uses old parts, and some of them were used or second-hand, so that should say a lot about my budget.
I will list the specs here just in case you have other suggestions regarding the PC and to my use of it:
  • i7-3770
  • Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 (Rev 4.0)
  • 8x1GB and 4x1GB of 1333mhz memory (12GB total)
  • GTX 1650Super 4GB
  • Toshiba DT01ACA050 500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s
This is the current (and only) storage that I am using:

image.png.0dc9cd00bf7ad25f2d0e71cb147e75f5.png



It felt really slow now, like booting it up takes a good 3-4 minutes to get into desktop with everything fully loaded and functional. I am also running out of space for it since I have lots of stuff stored.
Because of that, I wanted to upgrade to an SSD because I've heard that SSD > HDD by a lot. I have set my eyes on the Crucial MX500 500GB

image.png.d018bff7683dd818ee3bee93961282be.png



This SSD is within my budget, and after researching, seems to be one of the best budget but good SSDs. When I was looking at it, I got curious that it said SATA 6gb/s and thought that maybe compatibility might be an issue since the motherboard I have is really old, and that the motherboard also lists that it supports only up to 3Gb/s.

image.png.04bd1d123db740ca6f78ad9207b815ad.png



My questions are:
  • Will the SSD be compatible with my Motherboard? (if no, then please disregard the following questions)
  • Will it be noticeably faster than my HDD?
  • Will I lose on performance and value because of the limit of my Motherboard?
  • If the SSD is not compatible, or if there are other suggestions, what are my options?
I mainly do gaming, but I also have online classes. I am also into light photo editing and video editing and as well as (maybe) light game development. For now, my budget is restricted to not buying an entirely new PC so these are the parts that I can work with. Thanks in advance for your help!
Will you lose perf compared to sata3....yes
Will it still be much/much faster than the hdd....yes