Are SATA and eSATA Ports Interchangable?

can you use a E-sata port for reg sata devices?
the mobo im looking at has 6 reg sata and 2 e-sata. can i use the e-sata like the reg sata?

Left is SATA and right is eSATA


Although they have different connections, there are cables available to go from one type connection to the other.

thats odd. on my coolermaster case(rc690) i havea Esata plug on the top of the case and the wire that goes from that top plugin is the same as my reg sata cables. and it plugs into one of the reg sata plugins. now the Esata ports on the new mobo and the same shape as the above sata cable. but is a different color. here is the mobo. yo can see the 6 reg sata(yellow in color) are togethere then off to the side a bit are the esata ports they are purple. they look to bee the same shape and sized fitting.

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kinda has me confused about it right now.

I didn't mean to confuse you Rob , as now I am as well. I was just going off the information I could find as my board does not have any eSATA connections. I will look and see what else I can find and perhaps in the mean time some body more knowledgeable can give you an answer.

Edit: After some additional reading, I believe the difference in the cables is due to the fact that the one on the right is the external cable for eSATA which is shielded to provide a greater working length and is designed to provide better wear and tear with plugging and unplugging.

An eSATA connection is a connection, usually on the back plate of the motherboard, that allows you to connect external hard drives and other devices to it.It's very similar to SATA, although slower.

However, it doesn't transmit power, so if your external hard drive only has eSATA it will need to be plugged in, while USB versions draw power from the system.

Hope this helps you

I think the two purple ports on the motherboard to give you the option to connect a pci or pci express card to it which will give you more "plug n` play" options
But you will need a power supply running to it too.

take a look here esata case has a power supply attached - The other drive is for internal connection. the 4 pins need to connect to your psu for power.

so than basicly i can use those 2 purple sata connection just like regular ones then.
in my tower the esata port on top. it looks like the one fitting shown above. but the cable from it in side the case it is a regular sata plugin.

oncei get my HAF932 and can have 6 odd in it.. it will have 4 sata drives and 1 ide
then i will have3-4 sata hdd. thats 7-8 sata connectors that i will need. and this new board has 8 counting the 2 purple ones. that im allmost postivie will work fine..

I have been very surprised at how difficult it has been (for me anyway) finding exact information for this specific question. But based on what I have found, I think that what you posted last, is correct Rob. There are some minor differences possibly in how your controller handles to 2 sets of ports (the eSATA set and the regular SATA set) and some slight voltage differences. Both depending on the source of information, which is very frustrating. So long story short, I think that it will work just fine, but if not you can be our new source of info as to why.

well once i get this bad boy i will let everyone know. cause it is driving me nuts like you said to find out a straight answer about them. on my GA-P35-DS3R it had the extra esata plugins like that but i never used them didnt have enough stuff to require it..

found this little bit of info on the situation.

the plugs are the same on the platform of the board as normal sata plug so you can use the same plug...but on the rear panel it total different for a external drive or a odd 1 it will take a different cable E-sata means
(External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) if you don't hook your bracket up to the purple plugs you use them as regular sata's connections for inside drives in the case