SATA 6G and PCI-E bus

How to use the maximum transmission speeds with SSD disks? By choosing the right SATA controller, but also by using the correct version of the PCI-e bus.

The SATA 6G bus has 600 MB/s of data bandwidth and was made mainly due to SSD disks. How to use this speed to a maximum extent? A prerequisite for full use is not only the choice of controller but also the use of the correct PCIe bus version.

Since 2010, we have been able to meet SATA 6G buses more often. The SATA 6G Revision 3.0 bus has a maximum data bandwidth of 600 MB/s.

This bus has seen the light of the world mainly due to SSD disks that are getting faster and faster, and today's SSD disks attain speeds of around 500 MB/s.

But how to properly use this speed of modern SSD disks?

A prerequisite for full use of the speed of modern SSD disks with SATA 6G specification with maximum speeds around 500 MB/s is the use of the right controller, but also the correct PCIe bus for this controller.

Choice of controller:
In the AXAGON brand products offer, you'll find controllers with the latest generation of SATA 6G for PCES-SA2, PCES-SA4 and PCES-SH4 desktop PCs.

Using the correct PCIe bus:
The PCIe bus in version 1.0a (1.1) provides maximum data bandwidth of 250 MB/s for one line. Therefore, if you connect the SATA 6G controller to PCIe x1 Revision 1 slot, the SSD disk speed will be limited by the bus bandwidth of 250 MB/s. In practice, real transmission speeds of 200 MB/s can be achieved (PCIe 1.x uses 8b/10b encoding, but which requires 20 per cent overhead when transferring data).

The PCIe bus in version 2.0 (2.1) provides maximum data bandwidth of 500 MB/s for one line. By connecting the SATA 6G controller to the PCIe x1 Revision 2 slot, you can use the maximum speed of transmitting data from SSD disk of 400 MB/s (after deducting overhead of the bus itself).

If you want to maximize the potential of your new SSD disk, you can preferably use the PCES-SH4 controller that uses two PCIe lines to increase data bandwidth. The PCIe bus in version 2.0 (2.1) provides maximum data bandwidth of 1,000 MB/s for both lines. Thus, you can use the maximum speed of transmitting data from SSD disk of 800 MB/s (after deducting overhead of the bus itself).

Back