Questions regarding ASRock Z77 Pro4 mobo

W

So very shortly I'll be buying this mobo from a local shop in india-
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

My Questions-

1) The pictures & feedback from the users on that site says that it comes with 2 SATA cables but I need to know what speed cables these are? Are these cables SATA 2 or SATA 3 speed cables?? There's no clear mention about this anywhere, so can anybody inform me about this?

2) Right now on my older pc the ODD uses IDE cables but the problem is the new mobo that I'm purchasing above doesn't have any IDE ports. So I'm planning on getting a new DVD burner very soon & wondering whether these new DVD burners at the time of purchasing come with a SATA cable in the box or do I have to purchase them separately?

3) I have 2 HDDs at the moment- 160GB & 500GB. First one is from Seagate & the later one from Seagate Barricuda. Right now I'm using a basic SATA 1 'red' colored cable for connecting both of these two drives. Now, my question is if I use both these HDDs with the SATA 3 cables then will I get the 6Gb/s max rated speeds? Or do my drives not qualify for these speeds? I'm really very confused about this issue.

PLEASE ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS!!!

1.Refer to this
Is SATA-III cable same as SATA-II cable or do I need new cable to realize full speed? - AnandTech Forums
It says if you are not using ssds,then cable doesn't matter.
If you are using ssds,better ask newegg or asrock.

2.Don't know.

3.Refer to link given above.

Since 2. wasnt answered I will answer it

Yea they do come. The Asus drive I bought came with one :wink:

But mine didn't have any SATA Cables. First one was HP OEM and 2nd is Asus, neither of them provided SATA Cable.

W

Ok read that link & got the answers. Thanks

In general traditional HDDs like mine can go upto what speeds?
SATA 1, 2 or 3 ?

SATA 1 has theoretical max bandwidth of 187.5 MB/s.
So I think HDDs can,in certain cases,saturate SATA 1.
But they,in no way,can saturate SATA 2.

W

kisame said:
SATA 1 has theoretical max bandwidth of 187.5 MB/s.
So I think HDDs can,in certain cases,saturate SATA 1.
But they,in no way,can saturate SATA 2.

Ahh see that's all I really needed to know

Unless you are using Very good SSD like M4 or Vertex4, you won't be needing the extra bandwidth of SATA III cables. SATA II cables would suffice.

W

d6bmg said:
Unless you are using Very good SSD like M4 or Vertex4, you won't be needing the extra bandwidth of SATA III cables. SATA II cables would suffice.

But will normal Seagate Barricuda HDDs like mine use SATA 2 speeds or will they still run at SATA 1 speeds even when connected via SATA 2 cable?

Practically they can only run at SATA 1 speed.

W

d6bmg said:
Practically they can only run at SATA 1 speed.

Then which HDDs do I need other than SSDs to get SATA2/SATA3 speeds?

Well, only WD Black is capable of utilizing SATA II speed upto some extend.

W

d6bmg said:
Well, only WD Black is capable of utilizing SATA II speed upto some extend.

that's sad news for me

Nothing to be sad of. You have SATA II cables & normal HDDs. Nowadays everyone uses that combo. I think presently SATA 1 cables aren't even available in the market.