SSD III with SATA II Controller - M6600

A Dell Tech support today told me that on the M6600 the primary HD is SATA III but the second is only SATA II (which I find strange as they sell SSD IIIs on the configuration page for the 2nd HD although they only offer SSDs II on the 3rd HD).

My question is, if the above info is correct and I install a 2nd SSD III and the controller at that port only supports SATA II then do I lose the benefits of purchasing III? Would it have been better to just buy a good SSD II?

Thanks.

Ps. Also is there any way to verify the SATA Ports on the M6600, as I do find it strange only one slot is SSD III?

 

You will have a slight benefit over a SATA II SSD but purely because it is newer tech. Not really noticable. At the prices I'm seeing at the moment, SATA II SSDs are not a lot more expensive so I would go for the SATA III drive. That way if you decide to upgrade your notebook or SSDs you can keep the SSDs or sell them at a higher price. You should be able to verify them by putting a SATA III drive in each and checking it in the BIOS

 

Thanks for the clarification Wally33. There are some conflicting reports from Dell about whether the 2nd HD connector is SATA III or not so hopefully it is, but at least I now know it is still best to get SSD III even if it is SATA II connector.

 

If they are both HDD bays, they will both be SATA 3. Dell has also tried telling people that if they don't order an SSD with the system, they won't have ANY SATA 3 ports on their systems (like the XPS 17, where both HDD bays are in fact SATA 3)...HM65 chipset has 2 SATA 3 ports integrated and so those will be wired to any HDD bays. If there is only one HDD bay and the second you refer to is the ODD bay, then all bets are off on the ODD.

Basically, Dell people on the phone are 50% clueless, 45% just ignorant, and the remaining 5% are decent and know what they are talking about. In my experience with them at least.

 

Whether your laptop supports SATA III or not, I'd still recommend Crucial M4.

 

+4000000000

 

Yup, the M4 is a great option. Good price and reliability, also even if you're on SATAII, you might want to keep the drive after you get rid of the laptop if it still has some life left in it.

 

Thanks, but I had aleady bought the 240GB Kingston HyperX SATA III SSD. I believe it, and the Crucial M4 are very similar anyway. Will definitely look at the M4 nex time though. Thanks.

 

The HyperX has a SF-2281 controller. Most likely, this won't have impact on your system's stability, but if you are one of the unlucky SF SSD owners, when you start getting random BSODs, look no further.