Windows 7 - Adding another 500Gb

dorian hawkmoon · 08-02-2011

I want to add another 500Gb to the system, should I get rid of the 320Gb, I mean power consumption and all? I'm also a little concerned over the heat build up if I add another HDD, India's not a very pc friendly country as far as pc temps go!

seavixen32 · 08-02-2011

You have a 600W power supply, which is more than enough to do what you want to do.

Go ahead and install the new hard drive. I'd also keep the 320GB hard drive as it's storage space is ideal for extra drive capacity or backups.

If you are concerned about the heat, is it possible to upgrade the cooling system?

bobkn · 08-02-2011

Quote: Originally Posted by dorian hawkmoon

I want to add another 500Gb to the system, should I get rid of the 320Gb, I mean power consumption and all? I'm also a little concerned over the heat build up if I add another HDD, India's not a very pc friendly country as far as pc temps go!

A WDC 500GB Caviar Black drive (relatively high power usage) draws a maximum of 8.3W.

Short version: don't worry about it. Adding 8W to your total system thermal load shouldn't do much. I suppose there's a slim chance that your system could be on the verge of overheating, and a modest addition would put you over the edge, but I hope that's unlikely.

You could always go with a Caviar Green drive (or equivalent from another manufacturer) that consumes a maximum of about 4W, but there'd be reduced performance.

boogieboy · 08-02-2011

It's safe to add another HDD without any problems

but if you worry about the heat and power consumption issues so you can sell the 320GB and get a bigger one like 1TB. Big size always comes handy but having another drive is also a good thing as it can use as a backup storage or in case of drive failure.

dorian hawkmoon · 08-03-2011

Okay, I'll take a toll of the heat temp. then, that seems to be the only issue against keeping the 320Gb drive. Another cooling solution right now is over budget,in the future.. perhaps! Thanks guys

dorian hawkmoon · 08-06-2011

Quote: Originally Posted by seavixen32

You have a 600W power supply, which is more than enough to do what you want to do.
Go ahead and install the new hard drive. I'd also keep the 320GB hard drive as it's storage space is ideal for extra drive capacity or backups.

I think I have to take your advice, because I seem to have my OS on that 320gb, I don't intend to reinstall OS again! Hope there's enough space in my cabinet

TheReaper · 08-06-2011

As others have said, the extra power consumption of a HDD is negligeble. You can easily cool down the disk(s) by installing a HDD cooler, which is a very cheap & effective solution.
You can just as easily clone your OS to the new drive, no need to reinstall it.
There's many choices of free cloning software:
Clonezilla
Acronis True Image (for WD drive owners)
Macrium Reflect

essenbe · 08-06-2011

You have several options. You have a Western Digital drives. Western Digital offers a free backup program which is a scaled down version of Acronis. The program has a clone function that can clone your 320 to the 500. You could also move your user files to the other drive an save quite a bit of space.

dorian hawkmoon · 08-09-2011

I now have three HDDs, max temp. among three of them,after playing DA2 for an hour or two was 40 c. I expect it'll rise to 43-44 if this Indian summer rears its ugly head for long I guess

TheReaper · 08-09-2011

The temperatures are in the acceptable range. I'd get worried if they approach or go above 50°C, depending on the drive brand & specs.

Windows 7 - Adding another 500Gb

Adding another 500Gb problems?