SSD Options for SATA 1.5 Only Motherboard \ VOGONS

SSD Options for SATA 1.5 Only Motherboard

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First post, by AntiRevisionism

Posted on 2020-11-21, 21:27

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I have an Athlon 64 3400+ machine that used to be my main workstation from 2005-2008. Long ago I maxed out the RAM to 2GB and installed a ATI 3850 AGP video card, but now I would like to add an SSD as a final upgrade. The sticking point is the MSI motherboard "CoreCell-Extreme Chip you've ever needed!" only supports first generation SATA 1.5. I believe the SATA controller is a VIA.

The motherboard will will refuse to post with a SATA 3.0 hard drive unless it has a jumper enabled that makes them run at 1.5 speeds. Do that and it posts fine... and then it happily installs, boots and runs both XP or 7.

This is a problem though as I'm not aware of any SSDs that have this feature...

I tried using a VANTEC UGT-ST310R PCI SATA controller and then connecting an Samsung EVO 750 120GB SSD... but it would just cause the system to hang while the SSD was connected. Attempting to use the card + SSD in a more modern system worked fine.

I am wondering if it is worth trying another SATA controller (maybe someone could recommend a model?), go with an IDE SSD or maybe just stick with spinning metal.

Last edited by AntiRevisionism on 2020-11-21, 21:29. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 8, by kixs

Posted on 2020-11-21, 21:50

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Awhile ago I've successfully tested Promise TX2300 PCI SATA controller on Gigabyte 7N400E Socket A motherboard and Crucial MX100 128GB SSD.

Requests are also possible... /msg kixs

Reply 2 of 8, by Repo Man11

Posted on 2020-11-21, 22:06

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I've an Epox 8KRA2+ that has the same issue with its Via SATA controller, so I used a SATA to IDE adapter on an inexpensive Team Group SSD and used one of the IDE ports instead. It works fine, and I get read/write speeds that are what you would expect with a machine like this.

"I'd rather be rich than stupid" - Jack Handey

Reply 3 of 8, by red-ray

Posted on 2020-11-22, 13:42

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The SATA 600 SSD should negotiate down to SATA 150, I just checked and my Gigabyte 8IPE775P has a Samsung SSD 840 that does.

Does your SSD support Generation 1 (is G1 checked)?

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SATA 600 SSD running at SATA 150

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Reply 4 of 8, by Mamba

Posted on 2020-11-22, 19:02

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Used an ssd even on a 440bx Pentium III motherboard (with a ide to sata adapter).
Directly on sata-1 ports of my conroe865pe as well.
You should be fine with any model you will chose.

Reply 5 of 8, by frudi

Posted on 2020-11-22, 19:28

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Early VIA southbridges (VT8237, VT8237R) and stand-alone SATA controllers (VT6420, VT6421) had some issues with auto negotiation, which caused them to not properly support SATA-II/III devices. Other than setting a jumper for SATA 1.5 Gbps compatibility, if the drive has one, there's nothing else you can do; newer SATA devices simply won't work on those chipsets/controllers.

So if you want to use SATA SSDs, avoid VIA chipsets. Or use a SATA-IDE adapter, though those can have compatibility issues of their own, especially cheap Chinese ones.

Reply 6 of 8, by Mamba

Posted on 2020-11-22, 19:32

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I insist.
Chose any ssd you want, you will be fine even with your via chipset.
Optical drives and ssd are two different worlds, do not mind.
Go for it.

I used them even on a cuv4x-d.
Cannot be newer than yours...

Reply 7 of 8, by frudi

Posted on 2020-11-22, 20:05

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Yes, through a SATA-IDE adapter, you can use it on any IDE port, even on VIA boards. Provided the adapter works, which some of the cheap ones from ebay may not.

But on SATA ports, it won't work on boards with those VIA southbridges I mentioned (VT8237, VT8237R, which make up the majority of VIA's Athlon XP/64, Pentium 4 and Core 2 boards). SATA ports on Intel chipset boards work fine with SATA-II/III drives. Not sure about SiS, I'm not familiar enough with their chipsets of that era.

Reply 8 of 8, by darry

Posted on 2020-11-22, 20:55

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frudi wrote on 2020-11-22, 20:05:

Yes, through a SATA-IDE adapter, you can use it on any IDE port, even on VIA boards. Provided the adapter works, which some of the cheap ones from ebay may not.

But on SATA ports, it won't work on boards with those VIA southbridges I mentioned (VT8237, VT8237R, which make up the majority of VIA's Athlon XP/64, Pentium 4 and Core 2 boards). SATA ports on Intel chipset boards work fine with SATA-II/III drives. Not sure about SiS, I'm not familiar enough with their chipsets of that era.

One theoretical very ugly way ugly to force a drive to SATA-1 (150MB) mode would be to cascade a SATA to IDE converter and an IDE to SATA converter between the controller and the drive . As those converter are limited to to SATA-1 by design, it should allow a capricious VIA SATA-1 one controller to work with a SATA-II or SATA-III drive .

Another potential workaround is this : Re: Why doesn't this exist?

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