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Are the SATA power connectors on motherboards compatible with both 2.5 & 3.5 drives?

I want to switch my desktops internal 3.5 in drives to 2.5 in drives. I know that the signal cables are the same, but does that apply to the power connections too?

Is it safe?

vfclists
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1 Answers1

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The connection is the same, and the power levels are both the same independently of the disk form-factor (3.5 or 2.5 inch), so it is absolutely safe to connect a 2.5 inch drive to your desktop PC. Watch the Wikipedia article to read more about SATA.

Though, I've met some drives that had non-standard SATA-connectors (on the HP Pavilion notebook). t has the same pinout, but the different construction.

Alexey Shatygin
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  • Have to second this - in my experience if they are physically compatible then they are logically compatible too - being able to use the same form factor for 2.5" disk connections was one of the stated benefits of SATA. – Rob Moir Feb 20 '11 at 13:41