4 Serial ATA (SATA) Drive Guidelines
and Features
NOTE: HP only supports the use of SATA hard drives on these computer models. Parallel ATA
(PATA) drives are not supported.
SATA Hard Drives
Serial ATA Hard Drive Characteristics
Number of pins/conductors in data cable 7/7
Number of pins in power cable 15
Maximum data cable length 39.37 in (100 cm)
Data interface voltage differential 400-700 mV
Drive voltages 3.3 V, 5 V, 12 V
Jumpers for configuring drive N/A
Data transfer rate 3.0 Gb/s
SATA Hard Drive Cables
SATA Data Cable
Always use an HP approved SATA 3.0 Gb/s cable as it is fully backwards compatible with the SATA
1.5 Gb/s drives.
Current HP desktop products ship with SATA 3.0 Gb/s hard drives.
SATA data cables are susceptible to damage if overflexed. Never crease a SATA data cable and
never bend it tighter than a 30 mm (1.18 in) radius.
The SATA data cable is a thin, 7-pin cable designed to transmit data for only a single drive.
SATA Hard Drives
21