SATA 3(SATA 6Gb/s) really worthwhile?

[bloodrue]

Hi. I'm kinda new to hardware and stuff and I've recently decided to upgrade my computer( I'm changing nearly every component). I've planned out some parts already and I've decided to get the sandybridge 2500K processor and also a LGA 1155 motherboard to support it.

Now to get to the main point, should I buy SATA 3Gb/s or SATA 6Gb/s? I think the latter is more expensive so comparing the price difference, which is more worthwhile?

If SATA 6Gb/s is better, can I have some recommendations on which ones to buy. Thanks.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Are you planning on getting an SSD or an HDD? No current rotating hard drive can saturate the 3Gb/s link, so for hard drives it doesn't matter. Some few SSDs would be limited by the 3 Gb/sec link, so all of these are made with SATA III interfaces and should be attached to SATA III ports.

Note that you can attach an SATA II drive to an SATA III port, or vice-versa. The link will be limited to SATA II speeds, but they are fully compatible.

Or did you mean "should I buy a motherboard that supports 6 Gb/s?" That's a different story. If you are planning to invest in a top-notch SSD during the lifetime of this motherboard, yes.

 

[bloodrue]

Sorry for not providing enough detail, I was meaning a HDD, not a SSD( SSDs are sitll a bit pricy). So it seems better to rather get HDD SATA II since HDD SATA III can't deliver its full performance. Thanks a lot!!!

 

[tastelikecrab]

Quick question related to the OP's. Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 6GB/s drive running on a SATA II port -- will this cause a bottleneck? My mainboard is GA H55-UD2H and it only supports SATA II.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Quick question related to the OP's. Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 6GB/s drive running on a SATA II port -- will this cause a bottleneck? My mainboard is GA H55-UD2H and it only supports SATA II.

To the best of my knowledge, no current hard drive can sustain a transfer rate greater than that of the SATA II interface. That means that while SATA III compatibility is great for motherboards, to handle high-end SSDs and possible future HDDs, right now no HDD will benefit from an SATA III connection, either on the mobo or on the drive.

On the other hand, there is no harm in connecting an SATA II drive to an SATA III port, or an SATA III drive to an SATA II port (your situation). It will just transfer at SATA II speeds.

Community, am I wrong? Are there HDDs that transfer over 3 Gb/sec?

Edit: Here is the most recent HDD transfer benchmark that I could find on Tom's: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/600-gb-sas-hdd,2651-5.html. Max rates of 203 MB/s, or 2.03 Gb/s allowing for 8/10 encoding. Will not saturate a 3 Gb/s interface, even though we all know that you don't get the full theoretical transfer rate. And those are SAS drives.

 

[sminlal]

^ +1

Basically, you want to buy a system whose motherboard supports SATA 6Gbit/sec so that you're prepared for later upgrades. But currently for hard drives there's basically no practical difference in performance between SATA 3Gbit/sec and 6Gbit/sec since the bottleneck is the drive platters, not the SATA connection.