sata power input

[OnDborder]

On the sata hdd you have a choice of a 4 pin or the sata(5 pin I think) power plug.
What's the difference? Which one is prefferable to use?

[CAD4466HK]

It's a WD right?
That's so you can plug in either or,BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME!!!!
Some PSU's don't come with SATA plugs;)
If you have SATA plugs, use them

[OnDborder]

Thanks..
So why the 3.3 volt line in the sata line?

[CAD4466HK]

Some "may" require it

[GalvanizedYankee]

It really doesn't matter which one is used but as CAD said, NEVER use both at the same time.
The SATA power connection are infamous for being structurally weak, if bumped hard they will break at the HDD. So use care.
The 4 pin Molex connects are as tough as nails but are bulkyer. Given a choice, I use the Molex because I'm all thumbs. ;)

[Tazz]

The SATA ones can also be shorted very easily. I had one short on one of my WD drives. Luckily I also had the molex connector to use for a backup.

[jonnyGURU]

I hate the SATA interface. I've broken cables and card edge interfaces because they're so skinny.

Molex all the way.

[DvBoard]

SATA on my new computer and i haven't run into any problems yet. i liek SATA myself, but then agian i'm not takign my computer part that much...

[Tazz]

None of us are saying we don't like SATA. We just don't like the connectors they use simply because they are brittle and easily broken.

[Bbq]

So true. The connector broke off a brand new raptor for me :(

Luckly, the new ide --> sata adaptor works very well.

[madmat]

If you plan to hot swap the drives you have to use the SATA power but otherwise...six to one, half a dozen to the other. It won't matter although I prefer to use SATA power on my SATA drives mainly due to them being lower profile.

[DvBoard]

None of us are saying we don't like SATA. We just don't like the connectors they use simply because they are brittle and easily broken.

When i was saying SATA i was refering to the connectors. none of my SATA drives have anythign but SATA connectors on them.