SOLVED Apparently sata 3 cables do make difference with sata 3 devices

[brkkab123]

When I purchased my sata 3 ssd, I also purchased a sata 3 cable. The ssd got a 7.9 WEI. The cable at the time was the only sata 3 cable tpye in stock. It didn't have the locking mechanism on either end. Therefore if I as much as moved my case, it came unhooked. I got tired of this and put my old sata 2 cable in it's place. The WEI went down to 7.8 with that cable. Today I recieved some new ram and 6 sata 3 cables w/locking mechanism. I had to rerun wei due to switching a set of ram. The sata 3 ssd is now back at 7.9 wei.

 

[Digerati]

It is more likely your SATA II cable was simply of lessor quality, or perhaps the connector was worn, or the cable/connector was damaged. The SATA 3.0 standard had a primary goal of maintaining forward and backward compatibility in cabling and connections. That said, higher bandwidth ALWAYS place greater demands on the transmission media - whether it be USB cables, Ethernet cables, HDMI cables, or RF antennas.

Note the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) - the group responsible for developing and managing the SATA standards - FAQ Q9 where it says:

9: Does SATA 6Gb/s require different connectors and cables to support the higher transfer speed?
A9: The same cables and connectors used for current SATA 1.5 and SATA 3.0 Gb/s implementations can be used to connect SATA 6Gb/s devices, although SATA-IO recommends quality components be selected to ensure data integrity and robust operation at the faster SATA 6Gb/s transfer rate. Keeping the existing SATA connector form factor enables SATA 6Gb/s to be designed into the same cost-conscious hardware architectures while minimizing infrastructure changes.

I suspect if you bought a new, good quality SATA II cable, you would not see a difference. Also, note the difference between 7.8 to 7.9 is not really significant. The WEI is not a true benchmark and does not always yield consistent results.

 

[brkkab123]

Don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, The new cables are alot shorter than the old ones, so it looks alot neater inside my case. Now I just have to get around to putting in the cable wrap arounds that came w/ my OCZ psu and get rid of the zip ties I've got around them now. I figure I'll do that one next month. My 2nd video card's been on hold due to the fact that it's been out of stock for the last 2 month's, when I've had the money for it. After a week or 2, it's back in stock, after I purchased what was going to be the following month's purchase. Only other thing's I have left that I could get are a 990FX mobo and a Bulldozer cpu. The 990FX mobo maybe down the road, but the Bulldozer cpu doesn't really appear to better than my Phenom 2 1100T cpu is. It's about time I replace my speakers after the video card. I'm gonna get the Corsair SP2500. http://www.corsair.com/pc-computer-...-sp2500-high-power-2-1-pc-speaker-system.html

 

[Nibiru2012]

Also, note the difference between 7.8 to 7.9 is not really significant. The WEI is not a true benchmark and does not always yield consistent results.

Truer words haven't been spoken here in a long time and the above statement fits! There is NO reason to get all OCD and anal over a 1/10 point differential in the "Windows Experience Index" score or rating. Too many end-users get all freaked out over WEI. Basically it's just guide or index to roughly indicate system performance.

Digerati is correct in the fact that SATA cables are basically the same. The only difference in the cabling is whether or not they have straight or angle connectors, locking tab, round cabling versus flat cabling and so forth. Nearly all SATA cables use an AWG 30 wire (30 gauge) and the connectors have gold-plated contacts.

Now I do use DeOxit Gold Contact enhancer to maintain clean connectors, plugs, sockets and pins throughout my setup. In areas with high humidity and such, it helps to prevent dendrite and fretting corrosion, forms an anti-tarnish layer, protects against oxidation and reduces arcing, RFI and intermittent connections.

Now a company may use the marketing term: Compliant with Serial ATA III Specifications but there is no physical difference in the cables themselves, it is the hardware interface that is the difference.

 

[brkkab123]

Not much, but a little improvement. Atleast the new cables are about 3"-4" shorter, so inside my case looks neater. When Newegg finally has the 2nd IceQ X Turbo X video card in stock, I'll get around to removing all the zip ties on the cables and replace with the wraps from my psu. The Corsair H80 hasn't gone over 35 degrees celcius since I put it in last month.