Upgrading to SSD or HDD - Sata 2 or Sata3

[powerdrome]

I've just read lot of articles on the loading times and other benefits upgrading to a new SSD or an Hybrid 7400.
Just wanted to be sure if buying a sata 1, 2 or 3 device, in order to save some money.
http://www.ps3devwiki.com/wiki/Harddrive
here it seems that my slim ps3 cech-250xxx 320GB mounts a sata 2 (300) HDD.
?? My ps3 is mounting a sata 2 controller or it is a sata1 like all the others but sony mounted a sata2 HDD?
?? What kind of sata hdd or ssd should i buy? will sata 3 still benefit of new technology even if the controller is sata1 or 2?

Thanks

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

Don't buy an SSD to replace a drive in a console that will be replaced next year...

To answer your questions...

SATA is backwards compatible; but if you use a SATA 3 drive on a SATA 1/2 motherboard then you will only get SATA 1/2 speeds. A SSD on SATA 2 is still faster than a HDD on SATA 3.

 

[powerdrome]

thanks, I've got doubts since now, but i decided to do it anyway...
do you remember how long we waited for GT5?
Anyway, i will swap the ssd on the new console, or use it on a laptop, and in the meantime benefit from the better performance of the SSD on the PS3!

Ok whatever SATA i get it will work on PS3; anyhow ps3 slim 320 what kind of sata controller has? sata 1 or 2?
tnx

 

[Lion-Face]

If you just want max speed from the PS3, get a SSD. I picked up an Intel 330 series SSD 6 months back and game performance in GT5 is crazy fast. Everything from jumping between menus to loading a race. Everything about the game is smoother. Also the XMB gets more responsive, especially if you are using it during a game.

If you are buying a cheap one just for a handful of games or have no issue spending money on the largest you can buy, the SSD is definitely going to improve your experience.

 

[powerdrome]

Thanks Lion-Face, I will go for a Samsung 840 Pro or 830 (256GB) replacing my 320GB.
What's your opinion?
anyhow ps3 slim 320 what kind of sata controller has? sata 1 or 2?
tnx

 

[sesselpupser]

From that wiki page you linked to:

"Replacing the internal harddisk
For compatibility, if you have a SATA-300 (sometimes called SATA-II or SATA2) harddrive, you should sometimes set the harddrive via jumper to enforce the slower SATA-150 speed, instead of default 3 Gb/s of SATA-300.

TIP(s)
Exchanging the internal drive to a 7200RPM model doesn’t do much for your loading times (shaves off a second or 2) and upgrading to SSD/Flash Drives is almost insane considering the prices you pay per GB. Any modern larger drive is always faster than the older default smaller drive. Some people are argueing that SSD/Flash Drives produce "much less heat" but consider this: a very good/efficient one uses 5V 0.35A 1.75 Watt while a harddrive uses 5V 0.85A 4.25 Watt. A difference of 2.5W less on a total of 225Watt is not something you would see back on your electric bill or thermometer.
Because of the low price/ high storage capacity I personally always go for SATAII/300 7200rpm drives (if internal, maximum height is 9.5mm, 12 or 12.5mm doesn’t fit) and if modified to external via eSATA you can even use cheaper/faster 3.5″ drives (but you’ll need them to have their own powersupply because the internal PS3 powersupply can’t power that safely)."

Compare the price of this 64GB SATA II SSD with the price of this 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" 9.5mm HDD. HDDs easily fulfil the SATA-150 data transfer speed so the only speed advantage to the SSD option is the seek time. Also that's a 7,200rpm drive, a 5,400rpm isn't even that much slower. You can get up to a 1TB drive in a PS3 now for about the same price as a 128GB SATA II SSD. Can you justify the tiny increase in speed over the massive, massive difference in storage? Justify to yourself, I mean.


Edit: Got ninja'd, if you must have an SSD then the Samsung 830/840s are good, I have a Crucial M4 128GB in my PC and it's very nice indeed.

And it sounds as if the PS3 has a SATA I controller, if that wiki is advising people to select the slower speed on SATA II drives.