Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: markronz on February 04, 2010, 09:48:04 am
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Hello-
I am considering installing a dvd drive behind my coin door on my new cabinet, and as such, I'm looking for Long Sata cables, and long sata power cables so that they can reach from my mobo all the way to the coin door. Moving the computer isn't really an option at this point, so it seems like the longer cables are my only option.
Now, I have found long SATA cables such as the 3 ft or 6 ft SATA cables available on this page.
http://www.satacables.com/html/esata-external-esata-shielded-.html (http://www.satacables.com/html/esata-external-esata-shielded-.html)
What I can't find is a long sata power cord. Does anyone know where I could find a longer cord for this? I suspect that a 3ft power cable would be more than long enough.
Let me know if anyone knows where to find them!
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monoprice.com is where I got my sata cables. as for sata power, best solution maybe to extend a molex wire then get a molex to SATA power converter
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Both good ideas. I will have to look and see what might be cheaper.
Also, I found it's helpful when searching to search for "sata power cable 36" instead of searching for "long sata power cable" so maybe I will find what I'm looking for that way as well... I found this one here for example:
http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=10020243506 (http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=10020243506)
I'm a little confused by the types of cables out there though. There are SATA and SATA II cables. Are most devices SATA II now? Can someone tell me the difference? Here is the DVD drive I will be using:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031&cm_re=sata_dvd_drive-_-27-118-031-_-Product (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031&cm_re=sata_dvd_drive-_-27-118-031-_-Product)
It doesn't say anywhere on the posting if it's sata 1 or sata 2...
Also, for a power cable, would I correct in assuming I want a Female to Female (F / F) cable? Not sure if there are other types or what...
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Also, when it says eSata, does the e just stand for External? Or is that yet another type of different cable?
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Also, when it says eSata, does the e just stand for External? Or is that yet another type of different cable?
Yes and Yes. AFAIK, eSATA has a different connector but it's exactly the same signal as standard SATA. SATA II is the newer standard for faster transfer rates. I believe SATA II devices are all backwards compatible and they both use the same cable.
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"SATA II" is one of the most miss used terms out there. edit: same with "SATA2", "SATA 2" and "SATA 2.0"
The SATA 2.0 standards added a few features over the original SATA 1.0, including 3.0 Gb/s. But a device doesn't have to have any of the big ones, including 3.0 Gb/s to claim to be "SATA 2" or "SATA II". IOW, if a device doesn't say "SATA 3.0 Gb/s", it transmits at 1.5 Gb/s, even if it says "SATA II".
One of the changes with SATA II is the max length increased from 1 meter to 2 meters. So all 2 meter cables should be SATA II, or else they're out of spec. Not that it makes a difference; AFAIK, the cable specs didn't change (besides max length). If you go longer than 2 meters, you're out of spec, period.
eSATA is a variant of SATA, with a different connector, slightly higher minimum voltage, and the longer length of 2 meters (probably due to the higher minimum voltage). Same protocol as SATA, etc. Mostly the same, and in most cases interchangeable, but not exactly.
Your Sony DVD is 1.5 Gb/s; all DVDs max SATA 1.5 Gb/s. Harddrives barely can fill 1.5 Gb/s, DVD can't even come close. I'd bet your DVD drive is SATA 1.0 (even though it could be SATA 2.0); there are no reason the manufacture to go SATA 2.0 if they have SATA 1.0 chips to use.
Note:
You might have problems if your computer chipset is SATA 1.0 and if your DVD is SATA 1.0 and if you go longer than 1 meter. (Same thing if you replace the ones with twos.) Then again, it might work fine, as with evidence of all the extention cables. But you'd be out of spec. And data loss/corruption is bad. I'm not saying "don't do it", nor "it won't work"; just be watchful if you go out of spec and make sure it works before commuting anything you can't undo, like move all your photos to disk and deleting the HD and then discover all the pics are corrupted on the DVD.
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Thanks for all that information u_rebelscum. Very informative. Trying to figure out the conversions here. I believe that a meter is about 3.3 feet. The cord that I ended up purchasing was a SATA II cable that was 36 inches or 3 feet in length. So I believe that would mean that my cord is less than 1 meter long. Also I did read that SATA II cables should be interchangable with normal SATA (1) cables. So from my understanding, I should be ok in my current setup. If I'm wrong on that let me know.
Thanks for helping to clear all this up.
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Yup, sounds like you're in spec.
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Hey u_rebelscum, could you please expound further on everything in the world for me? Seriously, you seem to know -everything-!!!!
:notworthy:
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Just in case others ever try to find such long cables, here is the site that I went with:
http://www.koolertek.com/ (http://www.koolertek.com/)
They have about every type of pc cable, extension cable, and cable converter that you'd ever need. They also have some sweet lighting options available too. So on a whim I decided to buy this sound activated cold cathode light:
http://www.koolertek.com/computer-parts/pc/Logisys-15-Sound-Activated-Cold-Cathode-Kit-Red-212p1167.htm (http://www.koolertek.com/computer-parts/pc/Logisys-15-Sound-Activated-Cold-Cathode-Kit-Red-212p1167.htm)
For less than 8 bucks, I thought it'd be worth a try to light up the underside of my arcade!