Can i replace a SATA ii hrd drive with a SATa III hard Drive?

[simonchipmunk]

I have a 250 GB hard Drive that is SATA II (7,400 rpm) on my Gateway eMachine..
Can I replace it with a 250 GB SATA III Solid State Drive?
Will I have to change anything on my pc (ie. BIOS) to install it? appreciate any advice/recommendations offered.
simonchipmunk

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 250 GB hard Drive that is SATA II (7,400 rpm) on my Gateway eMachine..
Can I replace it with a 250 GB SATA III Solid State Drive?
Will I have to change anything on my pc (ie. BIOS) to install it? appreciate any advice/recommendations offered.
simonchipmunk

1. You don't have to change anything.
2. All else being the same, you will not see any performance difference between SATA II and SATA III interface in a spinning drive.


EDIT: Ah, I did not glom onto the "SSD" part.
Yes, and you will see a benefit.

 

[Snipergod87]

Yes you can. the Solid State Drive will not be as fast on SATA 2 versus SATA 3 but will still be a huge increase.

 

[simonchipmunk]

USA FRet and snipergod, thank you both so very much for your advice. I was afraid I would have to do something to the BIOS or whatever to get the SSD to work. My bro the EE engineer had told me many times, Don't mess with the BIOS!!
simonchipmunk

 

[USAFRet]

USA FRet and snipergod, thank you both so very much for your advice. I was afraid I would have to do something to the BIOS or whatever to get the SSD to work. My bro the EE engineer had told me many times, Don't mess with the BIOS!!
simonchipmunk

The only thing you'd have to do is change to AHCI mode. Yes, in the BIOS.

 

[simonchipmunk]

USAFRet; what is the AHCI Mode? Whereis it in the Bios? Now i am scared.

 

[USAFRet]

USAFRet; what is the AHCI Mode? Whereis it in the Bios? Now i am scared.

Get into your BIOS
Look around

If you know the motherboard make/model, I could probably find the specific instructions.

 

[Snipergod87]

AHCI will allow SSD's to perform optimally while not mandatory is strongly recommended.

However if you are cloning your HDD to a SSD and the HDD is operating in Legacy mode (sometimes called IDE mode), switching it to AHCI will cause Windows not to load, and it would have to be flipped back to IDE/Legacy.

There are some registry edits and what not to swap over to AHCI mode from IDE depending on the OS. Chances are due to the age of your machine it is set in IDE/Legacy mode, and if you are cloning your drive and are not comfortable making those changes you can leave it alone.

 

[simonchipmunk]

USAFRet; what is the AHCI Mode? Whereis it in the Bios? Now i am scared.

Get into your BIOS
Look around

If you know the motherboard make/model, I could probably find the specific instructions.

The model isW5243 and its an eMachinemade by Gateway..
thanks much.

 

[simonchipmunk]

I looked around the BIOS and did not see AHCI anywhere .i think it is in IDE mode. so i won't mess with the BIOS. i don't want my bro turning overin his grave. haha