Thread: Interface SATA II drives

Barring the WD Raptor 150 GB, all other drives are SATA II compliant-that is, their interface speed can go up to 3 Gbps. However, note that the SATA II specification also lists down other features, and it does not exclusively refer to 3 Gbps. Around the completion of our test, WD launched a newer ver¬sion of their Raptor drive-called the VelociRaptor (300 GB) that supports SATA II.



We will review it shortly. All drives have improved SATA connectors with additional latches, ensuring that the cables don't come out like it used to with the older connectors. Also, all drives offer the option of going back to 1.5 Gbps, if there are compatibility issues with your motherboard's SATA controller. Seagate and Western Digital have jumpers for this purpose. In the case of Hitachi, you need to download the Feature tool to downgrade the interface speed.