SATA III vs. SATA II...getting two different pieces of information

2

I recently purchased the Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB to replace my (rapidly filling) 64GB OCZ Vertex 2. The drive installation went very smoothly - I was extremely happy with that.

However, after I started my computer back up, I fired up Samsung's Magician software to just check out what was available for my new drive. When I loaded that up, I noticed this information on my screen.

Information from Samsung Magic

So, I quickly ran the performance test to see if what it was saying appeared to be true, and I received back these results (which appear to be SATA II speeds):

Performance Results

When I had built my computer ~1 year ago, the motherboard had at least 2 SATA III ports. So, at this, I was a little confused. So, I went over and downloaded HWiNFO64, and ran that. After its analysis, it told me:

HWiNFO Results

So, now I'm confused. Obviously the benchmarks are not as good as SATA III should provide, so that leads me to believe I am only connected to SATA II. But, all other indications (including the documentation from the motherboard) point to SATA III. (I also did some research to make sure the cable wouldn't have any effect - it appears that that doesn't matter.)

Can anybody provide any insight as to what I may be seeing? Am I truly using SATA II?

JasCav

Posted 2014-12-31T19:52:15.843

Reputation: 431

If you can't trust the report of software...why not open the computer up and have a look for yourself? – I say Reinstate Monica – 2014-12-31T22:22:39.770

@Twisty - I did, but I didn't see anything that specified one way or another. What's the best way to tell? – JasCav – 2014-12-31T22:23:46.970

Your motherboard should indicate next to the ports what type they are. If it does not, the manual most assuredly will. Another way to confirm is to go into the BIOS and see if it tells you the SATA generation of the port your HDD is connected to. – I say Reinstate Monica – 2014-12-31T22:36:43.923

@Twisty - Going into the BIOS is what did it. Told me exactly what was connected to what. (AKA, Samsung SSD 850 EVO connected to SATA II, Blue Port). Switched it to the right ones - awesomeness. Add your above comments as an answer, and I'll accept. Thanks! – JasCav – 2014-12-31T23:00:53.187

Answers

0

You can reliably identify the SATA generation of the port your hard drive is connected to by either:

  1. Physically examining the port on the motherboard for a silk-screen label (the manual may be helpful as well)
  2. Enter the computer's BIOS and review the information there

I say Reinstate Monica

Posted 2014-12-31T19:52:15.843

Reputation: 21 477

Asked: 2014-12-31T19:52:15.843

Viewed: 1 472 times

Active: 2015-04-01T14:06:44.760