# Question about SATA 3.0 HDD on SATA 1.5 computer

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sata-3-0-hdd-on-sata-1-5-computer/391124>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 6, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sata-3-0-hdd-on-sata-1-5-computer/391124 "2007-02-06T20:27:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sata-3-0-hdd-on-sata-1-5-computer/391124/1 "2007-02-06T20:27:47Z")

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I have a Dell Dimension 8300. It came with single 160GB SATA 1.5Gb/s hard drive. About a year later, i installed a second hard drive, a 160GB Seagate SATA 1.5.

Now, i want to pull the second hard drive out and put it in an external enclosure. Then, i want to replace it in the computer with a larger drive, probably a Seagate 320 or 500GB SATA drive.

The thing is that all the new SATA drives now are SATA 3.0, and before i order a new drive i want to be sure that it will work in my computer. According to the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA) on Serial ATA, the 3.0 drives _should_ work on older 1.5 systems. But the Wiki entry and [this Western Digital page](http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1337) note that there are a few motherboard chipsets that have trouble with the newer SATA drives, and need “jumper shunt” hardware installed.

Now, because i got my computer from Dell, i was never really sure even what the brand of motherboard in my computer was. I downloaded and ran the Belarc Adviser, which gives a list of hardware and software, and under the heading **Main Circuit Board** it gave the following information:

Board: Dell Computer Corp. 0W2562  
Serial Number: …CN4811144905PM.  
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz  
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A05 02/23/2004

I googled this stuff, but i’m still not clear about whether my motherboard will have any trouble running a SATA 3.0 hard drive.

Any advice would be most welcome.

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**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sata-3-0-hdd-on-sata-1-5-computer/391124/2 "2007-02-07T00:33:48Z")

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Can’t give you a definitive answer, but a utility like [CPU-Z](http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) will tell you the actual chipsets on your mobo. Then you can compare it against the list of the known problematic ones found in your articles.

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-sata-3-0-hdd-on-sata-1-5-computer/391124/3 "2007-02-07T01:05:40Z")

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Thanks.

I ran it, and my chipset doesn’t seem to be one of the affected ones. Also, i had a look on Seagate’s website, and according to them, you can get around the problem by switching a jumper on the HDD that will restrict it to SATA 1.5 transfer speeds.

I’ve ordered the hard-drive and enclosure now, so fingers crossed.

Thanks again.