New Hard Drive

I have a dell optiplex 790 with a 250GB 3.5" SATA drive and lookinig at replacing it with this one - http://www.ebuyer.com/321341-wd-1tb-green-desktop-dr... which is a SATA-III.

Will the SATA-III drive work with my optiplex 790?

Thanks

Yes...

The difference between SATA I, II and III is data transfer speed.

SATA I can transfer data at a maximum of 1.5 Gigabits per second.
SATA II can transfer data at a maximum of 3.0 Gigabits per second.
SATA III can transfer data at a maximum of 6.0 Gigabits per second.

The data cables are interchangeable; no need to buy 'special' SATA III data transfer cables.

SATA III and SATA II are backwardly compatible with SATA I, so you could use a SATA III drive on a SATA I motherboard. You would, of course, only get transfer speeds at the SATA I level though.
Just bear in mind that to achieve 6.0 Gigabits per second transfer rate, both the motherboard (interface) and the drive must be for SATA III. A SATA III drive on a SATA II motherboard will only transfer 3.0 Gigabits per second.

I wouldn't worry too much about the SATA interface. The real-world speeds will be nowhere near the SATA spec. They'll be closer to SATA 1 spec.

Thanks guys for all the help.

In reply to a post by camieabz:

I wouldn't worry too much about the SATA interface. The real-world speeds will be nowhere near the SATA spec. They'll be closer to SATA 1 spec.

Agreed. The benefits of SATA III are really only much use with SSDs. With spinning drives it somewhat like advertising just how fast the wheels on a Lada could go..... if they were attached to a Ferrari.