I have a Maxtor SATA 160GB hard drive, and the documentation explains
that the drive may be powered by either the 15-pin SATA power
connector (that only few power supplies have), or the legacy 4-pin
standard power connector.

What are the advantages of using the 15-pin as opposed to the 4-pin?

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff L wrote:

I tossed a new PS in the box, last month, and it[1] had a few different
connectors than what I'd seen, before. I think one of them is for a
blender or coffee maker. <g> My question is this: what the heck does a
*power* feed need 15 lines for?

[1] Antec TruePower 480W

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X-No-Archive: Yes
On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 18:46:58 GMT, Jeff L wrote:

Does it matter? Without getting into paired gnd returns next to power?
Low power / portable, the legacy connector only has 5/12V and not 3.3.

Check the SATA docs at Maxtor and specs at http://www.serialata.org/

Me

X-No-Archive: Yes
On 4 Oct 2003 19:05:03 GMT, Blinky the Shark wrote:

http://www.serialata.org/collateral/...rialata10a.ZIP
2.6MB

3x3.3V (portables) , 5xGND , 3x12V , 3x5V and reserved. Some of these
are called 1st / 2nd mate.

I guess by looking at the different length pins / GNDs 1st mate there is
an initial gnd connect on cable insertion and an initial voltage (the
pre-charge) 2nd mate.

Doh!! See pg47 of the PDF from the URL

Me

why? wrote:

Interesting re the portables. I have one, but I don't "think laptop"
when I'm thinking about drives for my desktop.

Thanks. Makes sense.

With all those 1st and 2nd mates in there, it sounds like you're either
Navy or Australian.

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