SATA port numbering and color relevance

[Swank]

I'm looking to install a SSD to breathe some new life into a Dell PC I bought off another beyonder a while back as a HTPC. After looking at the mobo I see there are 4 SATA ports but they have a color pattern that I'm trying to figure out. The Dell website's manuals are almost useless. Here's a pic of the mobo and then the port numbering in relation to the pic:



SATA2 - White______SATA1 - Black
SATA3 - Black______SATA0 - Blue

The main boot drive is in SATA0 (blue), DVD drive is in SATA1 (black), and the SSD (for now while I install a fresh OS) is in SATA3 (black). There is a significant delay of 30-40 seconds before going to the Windows 7 loading screen on the SSD (black screen with cursor flashing in top right corner), but that delay doesn't occur on the existing boot drive. I've ensured the boot priority is set accordingly in BIOS.

I'm thinking based on info I could find elsewhere that once I plug the SSD into SATA0 it will fix up the boot process but I want to understand the differences between the ports and how they affect device performance. Once I'm done I'll have 1 OS/boot drive (SSD), 1 drive for storage (and maybe add another soon), and the optical drive. Can anyone shed some light on the specifics of which device is best suited for which ports? Thanks in advance!

[firebane]

A lot of these boards use two different chipsets for the sata ports.

Most common is Intel and Marvel. Intel is obviously the better one to use which is perhaps the port 0 and the others are Marvell.

You could figure this out by looking at the device manager when Windows is loaded.

[eblend]

Since you said this is a dell mobo, then it makes no difference whatsoever, firebane is right about multiple chipsets but it wouldn't be the case on that dell mobo. Most likely done for easy builds....blue color for hdd, white for cd ect.

[Alterac]

You may want to try booting with only the SSD plugged in to Port 0, and see if the delay is still there.

Sometimes the optical drive can cause delays while booting, especially if its before the boot drive in the boot order.

It has to spin up, and check the CD if there is one in the caddy.

[dirtsniffer]

whats the difference between an intel and a marvel sata3 port? I have two intel and a marvel, should I have two ssd's on the intel and a hdd on the marvel?

I think I read somewhere that things like a bluray player won't work on the marvel..

[Swank]

After hooking the SSD into SATA port 0 the boot delay is gone completely, so I guess the port numbers do matter despite the boot sequence stipulated in the BIOS. All good now, thanks guys!