SATA 3 connector on the motherboard. Matplaty

Specifications

The Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 motherboard can be positioned as a board for gamers and enthusiasts and on this moment is the top in the line of models from Gigabyte.

The GA-EX58A-UD7 board is based on the top-end Intel X58 Express chipset paired with the ICH10R south bridge and is designed to use processors from the Intel X58 Express family. Intel Core i7 900-series (Bloomfield codename) with LGA 1366 connector. The model is made on a classic Gigabyte blue printed circuit board in a standard ATX form factor.

The board provides six DIMM slots for installing memory modules, which allows you to install up to two DDR3 memory modules per channel (in three-channel memory mode). In total, the board supports up to 16 GB of memory (chipset specification), and it is optimal to use three or six memory modules with it. In normal operation mode, the board is designed for DDR3-1333/1066/800 memory, while in overclocking mode it also supports DDR3-2200 memory.

There are four slots in the form factor for installing video cards on the board. PCI Express 2.0x16.

Recall that the Intel Core i7 900 series (Bloomfield), unlike Intel processors Core i7 800-series (Lynnfield) do not have an integrated PCI Express 2.0 controller, which means that support for all PCI Express 2.0 lanes is implemented through the Intel X58 Express chipset. The chipset supports 36 PCI Express 2.0 lanes via the Northbridge and six more PCI Express 1.1 lanes via the ICH10/ICH10R Southbridge

On the GA-EX58A-UD7 board, four PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots are grouped in pairs. One pair of slots is full speed, meaning the slots run at x16 speed (we'll refer to these slots as PCIe x16). It is advisable to use PCIe x16 slots for installing video cards (either one or two video cards in NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX mode). Another pair of PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots operate at x8 speed (we'll refer to them as PCIe x8). True, it should be noted that each PCIe x8 slot shares the entire PCI Express 2.0 lane with one of the PCIe x16 slots. That is, when one of the PCIe x8 slots is used, the corresponding PCIe x16 slot will switch to x8 mode.

The PCIe x16 and PCIe x8 slots use 32 of the 36 PCI Express 2.0 lanes supported by the northbridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset.

Speaking about the PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots implemented on the GA-EX58A-UD7 board, we should also note their constructive arrangement. They are placed as follows: a PCIe x16 slot, followed by a PCIe x8 slot, then a PCIe x16 slot, followed by a regular PCI slot, and at some distance from them, the last PCIe x8 slot. The distance between the first PCIe x16 slot and the PCIe x8 slot is such that if a two-slot video card is used (and all top models of video cards occupy two slots in thickness), then using the PCIe x8 slot becomes physically impossible.

The second PCIe x16 slot is located at such a distance from the PCI slot that if a dual-slot video card is used, then the use of the PCI slot becomes physically impossible.

We also add that the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 board supports NVIDIA technologies SLI and ATI CrossFireX for Windows XP operating systems, Windows Vista and Windows 7, as well as Quad SLI (for dual-processor graphics cards) and ATI 4-Way CrossFireX (for dual-processor graphics cards) for Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. -Way SLI (or Quad SLI for dual processor graphics cards).

In addition to four slots in the PCI Express 2.0 x16 form factor, the GA-EX58A-UD7 board has two more PCI Express 1.1 x1 slots implemented through two PCI Express 1.1 lanes supported by the south bridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset, as well as a PCI 2.3 slot.

For connection of rigid disk drives, the GA-EX58A-UD7 board has several SATA ports. First, there are six SATA II ports with the ability to organize arrays of levels 0, 1, 10 and 5 with the Matrix RAID function, which are implemented through the SATA II controller integrated into the ICH10R south bridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset.

Secondly, the board has an integrated JMicron JMB362 SATA II controller, through which two eSATA II/USB Combo ports are implemented on the board (eSATA ports combined with USB connectors and routed to back panel boards) with the ability to organize RAID arrays of levels 0, 1 and JBOD.

Thirdly, the Gigabyte SATA2 SATA II controller is integrated on the GA-EX58A-UD7 board, based on which two SATA II ports are implemented with the ability to organize RAID levels 0 and 1, as well as an IDE port with support for ATA133/100/66 devices /33.

And fourthly (and this is one of the main features of the board), the GA-EX58A-UD7 board integrates the Marvell 9128 SATA III controller, on the basis of which two SATA III ports are implemented with the ability to organize RAID arrays of levels 0, 1 and JBOD.

Recall that if the throughput provided by the SATA II standard is 3 Gb / s, then for the SATA III standard it is 6 Gb / s.

In general, speaking about the SATA III standard, it should be noted that by connecting drives with SATA III interface to the corresponding interface, one should not expect that the write and read speed will double. The fact is that the interface bandwidth and such a disk characteristic as read and write speed are far from the same thing. Modern hard drives have a maximum sequential read speed of about 100-140 MB / s, or 800-1120 Mbps. As you can see, in terms of their speed characteristics, hard drives do not even reach the bandwidth of the SATA interface, so connecting them to the SATA III interface is simply pointless. There is another pitfall in the SATA III interface. The fact is that the SATA III controller itself is connected to one PCI Express 2.0 line, the throughput of which is 5 Gb / s (2.5 Gb / s in each direction). That is, it turns out that the bandwidth of the PCI Express 2.0 bus is lower than the bandwidth of the SATA III interface. Thus, for connecting drives on the GA-EX58A-UD7 board, there are ten internal and two external SATA ports.

Note that the JMicron JMB362 and Gigabyte SATA2 controllers use one PCI Express lane (rev 1.1) supported by the ICH10R south bridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset. The Marvell 9128 SATA III controller utilizes one PCI Express 2.0 lane supported by the north bridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset.

To connect a 3.5-inch floppy drive, the GA-EX58A-UD7 board has a corresponding connector based on the iTE IT8720 controller.

To connect various peripherals The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 board has ten USB 2.0 ports. Six of them are brought to the back panel of the board (two ports are combined eSATA/USB), and four more can be brought to the back of the PC by connecting the corresponding dies to two connectors on the board (two ports per one die).

In addition, the board has two USB port 3.0 based on the NEC D720200 controller, which utilizes one PCI Express 2.0 lane supported by the northbridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset. The USB 3.0 standard provides for a data transfer rate of 5 Gb/s (640 MB/s) in each direction. This, of course, is significantly (more than 10 times) higher than the data transfer rate provided by the USB 2.0 standard, but, again, you need to remember that the USB 3.0 controller utilizes one PCI Express 2.0 lane with throughput 2.5 Gbps (320 MB/s) in each direction. That is maximum speed USB 3.0 transfer rate cannot exceed 320 MB/s.

Also on the board is a FireWire controller T.I. TSB43AB23, through which three IEEE-1394a ports are implemented, two of which are brought to the rear panel of the board, and a corresponding connector is provided for connecting the third.

The audio subsystem of this motherboard is based on the 10-channel (7.1+2) Realtek ALC889 audio codec. Accordingly, on the back motherboard There are six mini-jack audio connectors, one coaxial and one optical S/?PDIF connector (outputs), and the board itself has S/PDIF-in and S/PDIF-out connectors.

The board also integrates two gigabit network controllers Realtek RTL8111D Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express, united in a functional group called Smart Dual LAN. If one of them fails, the board will automatically switch to another controller without changing ports or connecting a second cable. If you connect a second cable, you can use two controllers together (port aggregation), which allows you to double the bandwidth of the communication channel.

In addition, the GA-EX58A-UD7 board has power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons, as well as a POST code indicator, which emphasizes the orientation of this board for enthusiasts.

The cooling system of the GA-EX58A-UD7 board is a single structure consisting of four aluminum radiators connected to each other by a heat pipe. The first two heatsinks are traditionally used to cool the CPU voltage regulator MOSFET transistors located near the LGA 1366 processor socket. Another heatsink is installed on the northbridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset, and the fourth heatsink covers the ICH10R southbridge, the Marvell 9128 controller, and the JMicron JMB362 controller. Optionally, the northbridge heatsink of the chipset can have two pipes for the water cooling system.

We also note that the heatsinks installed on the MOSFET transistors of the processor supply voltage regulator cover only half of all transistors. The fact is that the GA-EX58A-UD7 board uses a 24-channel processor voltage regulator with technology dynamic switching processor power phases (Dynamic Energy Saver, DES). Accordingly, there are a total of 48 MOSFET transistors on the board, related to the processor voltage regulator. However, placing all 48 MOSFET transistors in close proximity to the processor socket proved to be not so easy. Therefore, 24 MOSFETs are located on the front side of the board, and another 24 on the back. Well, only those MOSFET transistors that are on the front side of the board are covered with radiators.

To connect fans, the GA-EX58A-UD7 board has two three-pin and two four-pin connectors. Three-pin connectors use the method of changing the supply voltage to control the fan speed, and four-pin connectors use the method of pulse-width modulation of the supply voltage.

The specifications for the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 board indicate that it uses a 24 + 2 + 2-voltage regulator, that is, a 24-phase supply voltage regulator, a 2-phase memory supply voltage regulator and a 2-phase chipset supply voltage regulator .

As we have noted more than once, talking about a 24-phase processor voltage regulator on Gigabyte boards(there are several such boards) is not entirely correct. It is more correct to speak of a 24-channel 6-phase (four channels for each phase) supply voltage regulator.

Indeed, on the board, a 6-phase PWM controller Intersil ISL6336A, compatible with the VRD 11.1 specification, acts as a microcircuit that controls all power channels. Two two-channel Intersil ISL 6611ACRZ MOSFET drivers are placed in parallel on each phase of the PWM controller (if you remove the heatsinks, you can count exactly 12 Intersil ISL 6611ACRZ MOSFET drivers). The result is that each of the six phases of the PWM controller is divided into four synchronous channels. Well, then everything is traditional. Each power path is made up of two NEC uPA2724UT1A MOSFETs, a ferrite core choke, and a solid state capacitor. Thus, in the case of the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 board, we are talking not about a 24-, but about a 6-phase 24-channel processor voltage regulator. By the way, it is the use of the 6-phase PWM controller Intersil ISL6336A that imposes its limitations on the technology of dynamic switching of power phases. The Intersil ISL6336A PWM controller can dynamically monitor the current processor load (the current consumed by the processor) and, depending on this, activate the required number of power phases (PWM channels) in order to optimize the efficiency of the voltage regulator. And it is clear that switching between power phases occurs in portions of four channels, that is, despite the presence of 24 channels of the processor voltage regulator, a 6-stage hardware switching of power consumption modes is implemented. Recall that in the terminology of Gigabyte, the technology of hardware switching of the processor power phases is called Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced.

One of the features of this board is that it supports Ultra Durable 3 technology.

Recall that motherboards with Ultra Durable 3 technology have twice the copper layer in the power and ground layers, due to which more efficient cooling is achieved and 50% less impedance printed circuit board. Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 series motherboards also feature solid capacitors with an average life of 50,000 hours, ferrite core chokes, and Low RDS(on) MOSFETs. Compared to conventional MOSFETs, the operating temperature of Low RDS(on) MOSFETs is 16% lower, according to Gigabyte.

Testing the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4 board

Having considered all the features of the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 board, let's turn to the results of its testing.

When testing the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 board, we used the stand with the following configuration:

Processor - Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition(Intel mode turbo boost activated);
motherboard - Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 rev. 1.0;
BIOS version - F2a;
memory - DDR3-1066;
memory size - 3 GB (three modules of 1024 MB each);
memory operation mode - DDR3-1333, three-channel operation mode;
video card - Gigabyte GeForce GTS295;
hard drive - Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS (2 TB, SATA III, Firmware CC12);
power supply - Tagan 1300W.

When testing the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 motherboard, we focused on considering its features, such as support for SATA III and USB 3.0 interfaces.

SATA III vs. SATA II

To find out how users can benefit from the new SATA III standard, we used a 2TB Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS drive that supports the new SATA interface III.

Initially, we measured the performance of the Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS drive using the IOmeter package. For this, two hard drives. The operating system was installed on a hard drive, which was connected to one of the SATA II ports implemented through a controller integrated into the ICH10R south bridge of the Intel X58 Express chipset. The tested Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS drive was connected once to a SATA III port and the other time to a SATA II port based on a Gigabyte SATA II controller.

The test results are shown in fig. 1-4.

Rice. 1. Sequential read speed when drive is connected

Rice. 2. Sequential write speed when drive is connected
via SATA II and SATA III interfaces

Rice. 3. Selective read speed when connecting a disk
via SATA II and SATA III interfaces

Rice. 4. Selective write speed when connecting a disk
via SATA II and SATA III interfaces

As can be seen from the test results, the maximum serial operation speed for the SATA III interface is exactly the same as for the SATA II interface. This is understandable - after all, in this case, the speed is determined not by the interface bandwidth, but by the speed characteristics of the disk itself.

The speed of selective operations when connecting a disk via the SATA III interface also does not differ from the same speed when connecting a disk via the SATA II interface.

The only difference in speed we found when connecting a disk via SATA III and SATA II interfaces was observed in sequential operations with small data block sizes.

The speed of sequential operations increases in proportion to the size of the data block, reaching saturation at a certain block size. The difference lies in the fact that when a disk is connected via the SATA III interface, saturation occurs with a smaller data block size, and in the area of a linear increase in the sequential write or read speed with the same data block size, the speed is higher when the disk is connected via the SATA III interface.

In the next phase of testing, we decided to see if we could benefit from the SATA III interface in real-world conditions, that is, when working with various applications. To do this, we connected the Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS drive to the SATA III port in AHCI mode and installed the operating system on it. Windows system 7 Ultimate (32-bit). Next, we ran our traditional tests from the ComputerPress Benchmark Script 8.0 package on the computer, which we use to test processors and PCs.

We then connected the same drive to a SATA II port based on a Gigabyte SATA2 controller and ran the ComputerPress Benchmark Script 8.0 test again. It is clear that the difference in the test results can only be explained by the fact that the first time the drive was connected to the SATA II interface, and the second time - to the SATA III interface. The summary results of testing using the ComputerPress Benchmark Script 8.0 test are presented in the table. Recall that all test results are normalized with respect to the reference configuration, which differs from the one being tested only motherboard And hard drive. The integral test result is defined as the geometric mean of the results for individual groups of tests, multiplied by 1000.

Based on the results of testing computer performance on real applications, we can conclude that if only one disk is used (that is, without a RAID array), the SATA III interface does not have any advantages over the SATA II interface. In all groups of tests, the same results (within the measurement error) are obtained, and the integral test results differ by less than 0.1%, which, of course, can be ignored.

The only advantage of the SATA III interface over SATA II is when using a RAID 0 array of two drives (there are only two SATA III ports on the board). However, we could not explore this mode due to the lack of a second drive with a SATA III interface.

By the way, we note in passing that, despite the use of the AHCI mode for both the Gigabyte SATA II controller and the JMicron JMB362 controller, there is no "hot" connection for the ST32000641AS drive. That is, if you connect the disk when loaded operating system, then it will be determined by it only after restarting the computer. Perhaps this is a problem with the controllers on the motherboard, or maybe the ST32000641AS drive itself.

USB 3.0 vs. USB 2.0

In the next phase of testing, we tried to evaluate the benefits of the new USB 3.0 standard. For this we used external hard a Buffalo drive that has a USB 3.0 interface.

The speed characteristics of the Buffalo drive were measured using the IOmeter package. Once the drive was connected to the Gigabyte GA-EX58A-UD7 motherboard via USB 3.0, and the other time via USB 2.0.

results comparative testing are presented in fig. 5-8.

Rice. 5. Sequential read speed when drive is connected

Rice. 6. Sequential write speed when drive is connected
via USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces

Rice. 7. Selective read speed when connecting a disk
via USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces

Rice. 8. Selective write speed when connecting a disk
via USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces

As can be seen from the test results, the USB 3.0 interface has a clear advantage over the USB 2.0 interface.

When a drive is connected via a USB 2.0 interface, the maximum sequential read and write speed is limited by the bandwidth of the interface itself and does not exceed 33 MB/s for sequential reading and 29 MB/s for sequential writing.

When the same disk is connected via the USB 3.0 interface, the maximum sequential read speed is no longer limited by the interface bandwidth, but by the speed characteristics of the disk itself and is 140 MB / s, that is, 4.25 times more than when the disk is connected via the USB 2.0 interface.

Similarly, when a drive is connected via USB 3.0, the maximum sequential write speed is determined by the speed characteristics of the drive itself and is 140 MB/s.

In selective read and write operations, the advantage of USB 3.0 over USB 2.0 begins to affect at large data block sizes (more than 256 KB), that is, when operations become more sequential. With small data block sizes, the bottleneck in the system is not the interface bandwidth, but the disk itself. Therefore, there is no difference in the speed of selective operations with small data block sizes when a disk is connected via USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 interfaces.

Note that 140 MB / s is not yet the limit for the USB 3.0 interface. If a faster external drive were used (although a sequential operation speed of 140 MB / s is a lot for a drive), then you could get even more O more speed.

Probably the most important conclusion that can be drawn from comparing test results external drive with the USB 3.0 interface is that now the USB 3.0 interface has ceased to be a bottleneck in the system and allows you to fully realize the full speed potential of the hard drive. The speed of the USB 3.0 drives is not lower than that of the SATA II/SATA III interface. And if there is practically no real benefit from the new SATA III interface, then the benefit from the USB 3.0 interface is obvious.

Modern motherboards support many different interface standards. This is done in order to be able to connect to them, both old devices and new ones. This also applies to hard drives or SSD drives. Almost every modern motherboard has SATA 2 and SATA 3 connectors for connecting drives. In this article, we will look at how to determine whether a computer hard drive or SSD is connected to SATA 2 or SATA 3.

Table of contents:

What is the difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3

Structurally, SATA 2 and SATA 3 connectors do not differ. They look absolutely identical on the motherboard, and only if desired, the motherboard manufacturer can make them different from each other in color. The SATA 2 and SATA 3 connectors are a platform of seven pins.

The key difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3 interfaces is data transfer speed. As you can understand, the SATA 3 standard is more modern, and through it, data for writing and reading go at speeds higher than SATA 2, if the connected drive supports them. The maximum data throughput through SATA 2 is no more than 3 Gb / s, while SATA 3 has this figure up to 6 Gb / s.

Modern SSD drive and to unlock their potential, you should connect to a SATA 3 connector, because through SATA 2 they will work slower than they can. As for ordinary HDDs, they can be connected to both SATA 2 and SATA 3. In fact, the speeds of the SATA 2 interface are quite enough to unlock their potential.

Please note: If SATA 3 connectors are free on the motherboard, they should also be used to connect HDD drives. This is due to the fact that they are able to provide improved device power management.

How to determine if a drive is connected to SATA 2 or SATA 3

Often, many users do not know which SATA connector their existing drives are connected to in their computer. This can be a problem that slows down the speed of the drive. For example, if you connect an SSD to a SATA 2 connector, it will run much slower than it can when connected to SATA 3.

There are software and mechanical ways to find out which connector the hard drive is connected to. Let's consider both options.

mechanical way

The mechanical method is extremely simple. It means parsing system block computer (or laptop) and determining from the information on the motherboard which SATA connectors are used for the drives installed in the computer.

Next to the SATA connectors, information about their bandwidth should be applied, by which you can understand whether this is a SATA 2 or SATA 3 connector. As mentioned above, the SATA 3 connector has a bandwidth of 6 GB, so the inscription “SATA 6G” is applied next to it on the motherboard. Near the SATA 2 connector, you can see the inscription “SATA 3G”.

Thus, you can understand by which connector the current drive is connected to, whether it works via SATA 2 or SATA 3.

Programmatic way

If there is no way to disassemble the computer, you can use specialized applications for analyzing computer components. There are a lot of programs that allow you to determine whether a disk is connected through SATA 2 or SATA 3.

One of the applications that allows you to find out which motherboard connectors are available for connecting drives, and how they are used, is HWINFO. To get the necessary information through it, you need:

Serial ATA 6 Gb/s @ 3 Gb/s

In this inscription, the value before the @ sign indicates how much bandwidth the device has, and after the @ sign it indicates which port the device is connected to. That is, from the above example, we can conclude that this is an SSD drive that is connected to a SATA 2 connector, which does not reveal its full potential.

Please note: If the SSD drive is connected correctly to the SATA 3 connector, then the label will be Serial ATA 6 Gb/s @ 6 Gb/s.

The second application that allows you to analyze the connection of drives to SATA connectors is called CrystalDiskInfo. This program is aimed specifically at analyzing drives, in contrast to the HWINFO application discussed above, which can provide various information about the system.

To see through CrystalDiskInfo information about which slot the disks are connected to, you need to install the application and run it. After that, from above, you can select which disk you want to see the data on (in the event that several disks are connected). Switch to the desired drive.

Further in the “Transfer mode” column, you can see information about which connection is recommended for the disk, and which one is currently being used. Before the vertical line, there is information about which interface the disk is currently connected to - SATA 2 (SATA / 300) or SATA 3 (SATA / 600), and after the line, information about the potential of the disk. If the values are the same or the second value is less than the first, this indicates that the correct SATA connector has been selected.

SATA is the interface used for communication between the motherboard and HDD. The technology is based on a protocol of rules that determines how bits will be transmitted in the controller that carries out the transmission and signal lines on the cable. The interface is serial, which means that data is transferred bit by bit.

The development of the technology began back in 2000, by the best companies in the IT field. The connector began to be integrated into motherboards in 2003.

SATA - translated as serial application the latest technologies. Stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. The key here is the word Serial, which means "serial", which, accordingly, distinguishes the interface from its predecessor PATA.

IDE (aka PATA) uses parallel data transfer, which is much inferior in speed to a newer interface. In addition, IDE uses a 40-pin cable, which makes it difficult for air to circulate inside the PC and contributes to an increase in temperature.

Cables and Connectors

To connect a hard drive using Serial ATA two cables required.

The first cable is used for data transmission and has 7 pins. The second SATA cable is power and connects directly to the power supply via a 4-pin MOLEX connector. The voltage that passes through the power cable is 3, 3.5 and 12 V, while the current strength is 4.5 A.

In order not to create sharp jumps in the transition from one interface to another, in terms of power, many HDDs have an old 4-pin connector.

Newer HDDs only use the 15-pin SATA connector.

SATA cable

Power cable

SATA and IDE interface

Varieties of SATA

Since the release (2003), the development of technology has not stood still and ever faster and faster stable versions. At the moment, there are 6 main versions that are widely popular and in demand.

sata

The first model is currently quite difficult to meet in a PC. Operates at a frequency 1.5 GHz and has a capacity of 150 Mbps, which does not greatly exceed the bandwidth of Ultra ATA. The main advantage over the previous interface is serial bus, which provides a high data transfer rate.

Sata 2

SATA 2 was released the year after the first version was released. The bus frequency has become 3 GHz, and the throughput 300 Mbps. I used a chipset from NVIDIA called nForce 4. Visually it looks like the first version.

Sata 3

The first variation of version 3 appeared in 2008. Transfer rate 600 Mbps.

Version 3.1 has improved work with SSD, reduced overall power consumption for a system that includes several devices.

Version 3.2 has distinguishing feature is a fusion of PCI Express and Serial ATA called SATA Express. The main one is PCI, but software is still compatible with Serial ATA. Has a throughput of 1969 Mbps.

Esata

This technology is used to connect external devices using the function " hot swap". The connectors have been changed and are now incompatible with standard Serial ATA although they are signally identical. Also, the connectors have become more durable, which allows you to make more number connecting / disconnecting devices before failure. Two cables are used, one for data transmission, the other for power.

Esata connector

Difference between Esata and SATA

Power eSATA

Power eSATA (eSATAp) - specially designed to get rid of the two cables required when connecting. This interface transmits data and power over a single cable, making it easy to use.

Msata

An interface used in netbooks and ultrabooks, replacing the bulkier connector of its predecessor. Bandwidth 6 Gbps.

SAS

An interface for connecting via a physical channel, analogous to Serial ATA, devices that are controlled using the SCSI command set. Thus, it becomes possible connect any device, which use the SCSI command set in control, this is also facilitated by backward compatibility with Serial ATA. If we compare these two interfaces, then the SAS topology is at a more advanced level, which allows you to connect one device in parallel over two or more channels. The first revisions of SAS and Serial ATA 2 were listed as synonyms, but over time, the creators decided that using SCSI in a PC was inappropriate and separated them.

What's happened

This is a technology for combining PCI Express and SATA. On the motherboard, it looks like two side by side SATA ports, which allows you to connect both devices using past interfaces and a newer one. Bandwidth 8 Gb/s when connecting one connector and 16 Gb/s when connecting two connectors at once.

Sata Express connectors

Sata Express cable

Differences and compatibility

All versions are backward compatible with each other. Those. if you have Serial ATA 3, the user can easily connect a device using version 2. And so with all versions.

The throughput of version 3 is twice as high as that of version 2 and is 6 Gbps. Compared to the previous one, it was improved power management.

Pinout

Pinout power cable SerialATA:

Pinout connection cable:

How to find out what SATA is on the motherboard

The user can find out which Serial ATA connector is installed on the motherboard in several ways. For owners of stationary PCs, the first method will be the most relevant.

You need to remove the side cover of the system unit to get to the motherboard. If you have a laptop, you will have to completely disassemble it. It is not recommended for an inexperienced user to do this. After we got to the motherboard, you should find plug with labelSATA or you can just trace the cable that goes from the HDD to the motherboard. Near this connector on the motherboard, SATA will be written. 6 Gb / s is the third revision, and 3 Gb / s is the second.

If there is no way to disassemble it, and you need to find out the Serial ATA connector, you can use the programs. You need to download the HWiNFO program, install it and open it.

In the main window select Bus – PCI Bus and see in the right part of the window which Serial ATA ports are present on the motherboard.

USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s devices

USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s end devices and controllers have been available for several months now, and are now entering the mainstream market. NEC is the first to release a complete USB 3.0 controller (µPD720200). USB 2.0 compatibility is taken for granted by users, and we haven't seen a USB 3.0 hardware that isn't backward compatible with USB 2.0. GDA has its own designs, VIA already offers USB 3.0 controller hubs, and more designs are coming soon. In the case of SATA 6 Gb / s, the situation is similar. The Marvell 88SE9123 controller is already dominant today, and the entire storage industry is busy transitioning from 3Gbps to 6Gbps in 2010. However, not all systems are able to support sufficient bandwidth.

PCI Express bandwidth issues

And the problem today is not the availability of products, but the connection and bandwidth. Until USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers are integrated into mainstream chipsets, they remain optional devices that require an appropriate interface for their connection. Typically, this interface is PCI Express, which exists in two different versions speeds: PCI Express 2.0 provides 500 MB/s per lane, while PCI Express 1.x is limited to 250 MB/s. Clearly, a single PCIe 1.x lane cannot handle the 600 MB/s peak throughput of SATA 6 Gb/s or 5 Gb/s of USB 3.0. The 500 MB/s bandwidth of a PCIe 2.0 lane can be considered sufficient.

The PCI Express 2.0 connection of existing chipsets was mainly used for the 16 PCI Express lane interfaces, which give the graphics cards enough bandwidth. Nearly all mainstream chipsets provide 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes for graphics cards; enthusiast chipsets usually give twice as many lanes. Unfortunately, all other PCI Express lanes run at half speed - but we found an interesting difference between AMD and Intel chipsets worth talking about.

AMD vs Intel?

For some reason, all Intel chipsets available today only support PCI Express 2.0 on the primary interface that is used for graphics. This applies to chipsets of lines 4 and 5, with southbridges ICH10 and higher. All secondary PCI interfaces Express available for optional components are limited to PCI Express 1.1 speeds. This applies to all Intel PCI Express chipsets since the 900 line. AMD, on the other hand, decided to upgrade to latest version PCI Express all lines of 700 and 800 chipsets. That is, AMD's current offerings for the mass market and enthusiasts do not have a bandwidth bottleneck for high-speed add-on devices.

We took three P55 motherboards from Gigabyte and MSI, all of which are equipped with different solutions to support USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb / s. We analyzed SATA 6 Gb/s performance on the new Crucial RealSSD C300 SSD and Seagate Barracuda XT SATA 6 Gb/s hard drive and found that not all solutions provide sufficient throughput.

Bottlenecks for USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s

As we already mentioned, all AMD 700 and 800 chipsets fully support PCI Express 2.0, while Intel PCIe 2.0 support is limited to the main lines that lead to the graphics solution. Therefore, we are unlikely to encounter bandwidth bottlenecks on AMD platforms. As for Intel, there are several options to consider. I would like to emphasize the fact that controllers available on the market usually use only one PCI Express lane for maximum simplification. The performance bottleneck could certainly be eliminated if the controllers were connected to the system via two or four lines, but on most mainstream motherboards you are unlikely to find other PCIe slots than x1 or x16.

The first solution is to simply use existing PCIe 1.1 lanes to connect USB 3.0 or SATA 6Gb/s controllers. This will give a maximum throughput of 250 MB/s. Of course, this approach should be avoided, since the SATA 6 Gb / s controller will receive less bandwidth than the SATA 3 Gb / s interface, and USB 3.0 will also be limited in bandwidth. For individual hard drives connected via USB 3.0, it doesn't really matter, but if you plan to connect two drives in parallel at the same time, or when the SSDs exceed 300 MB / s, then this bottleneck will be annoying. An example of a good implementation is Asus' installation of the PLX 8613 chip on the P7P55D Premium motherboard, which combines the bandwidth of multiple PCIe 1.1 lanes to provide a PCIe 2.0 interface. From the point of view of delays, this option is not ideal, but it is still better than connecting via a single PCIe 1.x lane. Unfortunately, we did not have this motherboard on hand.

The second approach to overcome bandwidth limitations for high-speed components such as USB 3.0 or SATA 6Gb/s controllers is to connecting them to the main PCI Express lanes, which comply with the PCIe 2.0 standard, and therefore provide sufficient bandwidth. As a result, the existing 16 lanes must be shared between the graphics card and the high-speed controllers. This solution is implemented on the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 motherboard. But when you install two video cards and run them in a Crossfire configuration, the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb / s controllers will be connected via a PLX chip with regular PCIe 1.1 lanes to the south bridge. Thus, users can choose whether to provide full PCIe 2.0 connectivity for graphics (be it a single graphics card or Crossfire configuration) or dedicated PCIe 2.0 lanes for connecting USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb / s controllers.

Finally, there is another way providing bandwidth in a more flexible manner. This decision was made on the Gigabyte P55A-UD7 motherboard. While the UD6 is already breaking all feature records, the UD7 goes a step further and adds an nForce 200 chip that provides more PCI Express connectivity and adds more efficient SLI support to the Intel P55 platform. For everything to work correctly, a switch is required; this time it was the PLX 8608 chip.