Port 0 / Sata III Speeds Dropping To Sata II Speeds

[Dell-Bill_B]

@ Bill

As I mentioned earlier Bill, one of the guys I spoke to regarding SSD's that are being shipped with M18x told me that "Dell only uses Sata II drives as Sata III would cause instability within the system" - like you said above, the M18x is Sata III compatable, so I am not following the logic with that......

Poppycock! Balderdash! Is that Stan that told you that? If we have a SATA II option (I'm too lazy/busy to check right now), it is more likely to do with things like supply chain, pricing, etc. We support SATA III drives we qualified and shipped with the system, period.

The Dell parts list compiled by ChrisM shows that there is a Sata III variant made by Liteon...I just dont understand why new rigs would ship with a Sata II drive instead of the Sata III variety?

See above...price points, supply chain under strain due to Thai flooding, all kinds of reasons.

[johnksss]

Unless...Someone knows that there is a potential problem with the sata ports staying stable at sata 3 speeds. From what i get out this is that someone along the line has tested it and found it to have drop out issues. Pushed it along in lew of maybe a bios update to correct it later. Speculation of course.

Edit:
People would buy this...
Sata 3 Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148837

[steviejones133]

Poppycock! Balderdash! Is that Stan that told you that? If we have a SATA II option (I'm too lazy/busy to check right now), it is more likely to do with things like supply chain, pricing, etc. We support SATA III drives we qualified and shipped with the system, period.


See above...price points, supply chain under strain due to Thai flooding, all kinds of reasons.

Nah, wasnt Stan...one of his colleagues, Anton.

I mailed him asking if he knew what would get shipped Sata-wise for new rigs with SSD's (as John had posted up a pic of the US website showing 3gbp/s and, well the UK site shows no info on it at all!) - so it was more like an "exercise" to find out what people get SSD wise, when they order.

Me being me, presumed that if you got a Sata III capable system, I presume that it comes with Sata III enabled SSD's (if you ordered 'em).

I got a response from him in email so if you want me to forward it to you, let me know.

[johnksss]

Hey sevie, remember how long that list was last week? Take a look now...
ssd sata 3 - Dell - Search - All Dell.com

Me being me, presumed that if you got a Sata III capable system, I presume that it comes with Sata III enabled SSD's (if you ordered 'em).

I concur. And that inclues an regular sata 3 hard drive as well. That would cover the other 95 percent of people who didn't want to spend the extra money.

[Dell-Bill_B]

Nah, wasnt Stan...one of his colleagues, Anton.

I mailed him asking if he knew what would get shipped Sata-wise for new rigs with SSD's (as John had posted up a pic of the US website showing 3gbp/s and, well the UK site shows no info on it at all!) - so it was more like an "exercise" to find out what people get SSD wise, when they order.

Me being me, presumed that if you got a Sata III capable system, I presume that it comes with Sata III enabled SSD's (if you ordered 'em).

I got a response from him in email so if you want me to forward it to you, let me know.

Now it makes sense. If you take "pricing" under consideration, and the fact that marketing folks in regions have the "D" on what configurations are offered in their region, you might be able to assume the platform managers in EMEA would rather allocate configurations to other options instead of SATA III. This is pure speculation on my part. I'd have to kick off a big email chain to get the exact answer.

(Anton's an L2. A good one from what I can tell, but not an L3. They're all in Costa Rica, I believe.)

[steviejones133]

I see what you mean, Bill. It was the way his email was worded - basically implying that if "any" Sata III SSD was installed by the user or installed at factory, it would cause system instability.....which seemed quite an odd response for a Sata III capable system!

His response also seemed to indicate that regardless of the SSD's Sata Operation, it would run at Sata II speeds anyway......hmmmm....

[Dell-Bill_B]

He could be a victim of misinformation. I will forward him a couple of emails and help him get on message. Thanks for helping root it out for me.

[DanXbix]

Update I am still having problems with my OCZ in port1 now. Read speeds are up to 430mbs+ and write speeds are like 140mbs- ??? I am going to try drive in desktop sata3 and see what numbers I get.

[Mr. Fox]

Bill - below is another potential source of confusion about what Dell/Alienware sells for SSD drives in the M18x. Based on what is seen on the online configuration page, there is no incentive for a tech savvy buyer to purchase an SSD drive from Dell if the buyer believes they are going to receive a slower SATA-II drive in a SATA-III enabled system. Speaking for myself, I would never buy a SATA-II 3.0GB/s SSD from Dell if I were buying a SATA-III 6.0GB/s system.

If SATA-III is the standard for the M18x it should be correctly advertised as such. Also, knowing the brand and/or drive controller (Marvel, Sandforce, etc.) is important to many buyers. Providing accurate information on the order configuration might boost sales and avoid having technical problems created when aftermarket parts are installed by the end user. If the SATA-III 6.0GB/s SSD drives offered by Dell are priced competitively and the specs are correctly presented, I cannot help but think that many customers (myself included) would buy a turn-key M18x directly from Alienware that needs no parts swapped out after delivery.

[johnksss]

Update I am still having problems with my OCZ in port1 now. Read speeds are up to 430mbs+ and write speeds are like 140mbs- ??? I am going to try drive in desktop sata3 and see what numbers I get.

What program are you using to test?