3rd Hard Drive

J

jay1b

Active Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2004
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I currently have 2 hard-drives and i want to invest into a 3rd. However i am out of power cables and IDE wires, is there a way i can add some sort of component to allow me to add another HD? I currently have a DVD and CDR on the other two IDE's.

Thanks
 
You can get a PCI IDE controller card for decently cheap; something like this will probably do: http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?productId=11&familyId=3

If you have two drives of the same size (preferably same model, but not necessary), you might want to consider RAIDing two drives together: http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?productId=8&familyId=2

As for power, if you think your power supply has the juice to run everything in your system, you can get molex splitters to plug more devices in: http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com/58/48.htm?311 (or, if you have lots of fans on 4-pin molex, you may want to consider a fanbus: http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com/62/cat62.htm?311)
 
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Err.... another point.

I havent got round to getting this new hard-drive yet, but after reading the new Intel chipset i get the feeling that the old style HD connectors (IDE) are going to be phased out in favour of SATA (Sooner rather than later). If i brought a SATA HD, can i get a converter to plug it into the old style IDE connectors?

Thanks...
 
Some SATA drives have a PATA option, however these are usually PATA drives with the capability to talk to a SATA controller. Your choice of which system to go with really hinges around when you're planning on upgrading your motherboard; if you expect this new drive to be a primary drive when you change motherboards, go with SATA and an adaptor. Otherwise, I wouldn't think it worth the expense.
 
My current PC doesnt support SATA directly, but i think new computers from next year will only be able to support 2 IDE drives, instead of the current standard of 4. For that reason i am trying to get away from buying another one.

So i can get a PCI Card? That will allow me to connect to a SATA drive? I have never heard of PATA before.
 
If you get a new computer chances are it will come with SATA controller onboard. Most new motherboards do have it built in.
 
Yes i know. But i want a new hard-drive now, then i will buy the other components next year sometime.
 
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