Need help to check if my laptop supports SATA III

Hi,

I recently received my laptop, the Alienware m11xR3, but am not sure if it supports SATA III.

As retailers so not accept returns for 'used' SSDs, I dare not purchase a SATA III SSD unless I know that the systems supports it.

The m11xR3 does have the Sandy Bridge chip, and I assumed that because of that fact, the laptop should by default support SATA III SSDs. I have tried asking Dell support, but get conflicting answers.

I have tried asking this question in the Alienware forum but no one knows the answer.

I would really appreciate it if anyone on this forum would know how a person would be able to check if their system supports SATA III - short of purchasing the SATA III SSD and installing it in the system and finding out it does not.... It's really frustrating that there seems to be no way to tell.

Thank you very very much!

 

Use hwinfo32 and look under motherboard, it will show if Sata Ports 0 and 1 say 6 GB/s supported. If so, then it does.

 

Not sure if you know but even if your laptop only supports SATA II, a SATA III SSD will work and will be slightly faster than SATA II SSDs. It's sequential speeds will just be topped at 265 MB/sec.

 

Thanks for your informative answers guys

My dilemma is that I only have two choices of SSD to install in my system. The intel 320 series 160GB or the Intel 510 series 120 GB. I am not consideting others as I feel most comfortable with the reliability of Intel SSDs to date.

The most recent info I have gathered from a Dell Alienware rep informs me that the system only supports SATA II for now, BUT he also gave a suggestion that the system may support SATA III in a future Bios update. He cannot and will not confirm this as a fact. Has anyone come across any other laptop systems that have the Sandy Bridge chip BUT do not support SATA III? Or is the Dell rep just hoodwinking me and the m11xR3 actually supports SATA III?

However, I see in Anand review charts that even though the 510 series is SATA III, when it was plugged into a SATA II port, it's performance seems slightly lower than the 320 series. This seems to go against the fact that a SATA III SSD when plugged into a SATA II port will perform better that it's SATA II counter part. This was for random write comparison..which was more realistic for everyday normal tasks than using sequential data comparisons. I know that the 510 series performs better in sequential stuff.

Because of the above facts, I am veering more towards the 320 series. It is also slightly cheaper with proven Intel reliability. It uses an intel controller instead of the 'unproven' Marvel controller in the 510 series.

Since there is still no confirmation if my system can support SATA III, but there is a chance that it may in future, I could just choose the Intel 510 over the 320 series. if I chose the 510 series, I may be able to utilize it's 6gbp/s rates if Dell/Alienware decide to update the m11xR3 bios. But who knows if they will ever do this.

My decision making process would be so much easier if only there was a way to test if a system was SATA III capable....

Please do correct me if I am wrong in any of my understandings or statements above.

 

Intel 510 250GB on SATA II beats the Intel 320 300GB in most real world benchmarks on Anandtech. Look at Anand's Storagebench.
The Intel SSD 320 Review: 25nm G3 is Finally Here - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

However, I don't think the difference will be noticeable during day to day usage. So get the Intel 320.

If you really want max. performance the Intel 510 120GB isn't a very good choice anyway in my opinion.

 

Thanks very much Phil. I think when it comes down to the wire, all I care about is this statement "I don't think the difference will be noticeable during day to day usage. So get the Intel 320".

If this is so, I will feel alot more comfortable with just accepting the choice with going with the Intel 320 series. I guess what 'pains' me the most is putting a SATA II SSD into a machine that 'May' be SATA III capable one day(Or may actually be capable right now)...but, time is running out, and I need to migrate to my new laptop 'yesteday'. I can't wait with indecision any much longer.

 

mobile, hwinfo32 is a free download, and it will tell you if it is Sata3 supported.

 

Download CPU-Z here CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Click on "Mainboard" and look under "Chipset".

Check that Chipset name with the ones listed here: List of Intel chipsets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HM65, HM67, QM67 and QS67 all have SATA 3 (6gbps)

 

So when you post you don't know if it is Sata3, but several of us tell you how to tell, and you don't respond, what should we think? Run any of the programs, and tell us if it is. Kind of a kick in the you know what to ask how to tell if it is Sata3, then either not respond, or not run test to tell. I am sure others have bought this, may have the same questions, and might want to know the answer. Please try to give info as easy as you ask for it. Don't waste everyones time.

 

As anyone can tell, this is low tolerance Friday for me. Sorry if I am too upfront on the question, but what gives with the Q and A and no response. We are here to help each other, not play games.