Fitting a hdd drive inside pc tower with a pci card?

[trendy]

Good day,I have a spare 320gb sata drive which I want to install it to my desktop running windows 7. The only hitch I got that all the sockets on the mother board are occupied.Is it possible to connect this drive internally with some other way,Have read somewhere on google that you can fit a pci card to overcome this matter. Would this be possible Please and if so what will I need to solve the issue.

PS.Yes I do have a spare slot in the motherboard for a pci card. Can anyone recommend a suitable one for my needs,Does this pci card cover the voltage input as well as the data cable or do I have to find another source for the power to the hdd??.Would this hdd be okay fitted to the bottom of the tower case as there are no hdd slots available as I have two hdd already fitted. Just thought that I would use this spare hdd as an internal backup.

Many Thanks.

 

[whs]

It is possible but I would use the PCI slot for an eSata header and get an eSata enclosure like this one. That is a much more flexible solution and the speed is about the same. You can stick any bare bone Sata disk into it (HDD, SSHD or SSD).

 

[TVeblen]

To answer your questions:
Yes you can use a PCI-e card like this one:
Rosewill RC-211 Silicon Image 2 port SATA II PCI Express Host Controller Card RAID 0/1/0+1/5 JBOD - Newegg.com
To do what you want.

You need to be sure you have the correct slot type - PCI or PCI-e. Yes they also have PCI cards, but far fewer available than PCI-e.

And yes, you will need another SATA power connector from your power supply for the new drive.

And you can install the drive 'loose' in the case - provided you do not move the case around a lot. It is a good idea to put some foam or padding under the drive where it lies so it does not vibrate the case.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The MOBO you're using appears to have one PCI-e and two PCI slots. The top slot is a PCI-e slot and the bottom two are PCI. We need to know which type you have available for a SATA card.

Also, be aware that adding a SATA card will slow boot times because the card will have to load its own BIOs in addition to the MOBO's BIOS.

 

[trendy]

Hi Many thanks for all the feedback on my question.
Looking at the results Maybe my other option would be to put the hdd into a caddy.Does that idea sound okay it would be a lot easier thing all round.
Any thoughts where to get a good caddy Please.
Many thanks.

 

[TVeblen]

whs suggestion in post #2 was a good one.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

whs suggestion in post #2 was a good one.

Whs' suggestion was for a dock. An enclosure, like this one, would be better for a drive that is going to connected permanently. Docks are better connecting multiple drives temporarily. The Rosewill enclosure can be connected by USB 2.0 or by e-SATA (both cables are included; use only one or the other). If you can deal with the slower speed, USB 2.0 will eliminate the need for a PCI or PCI-e card as long as you have an unused USB port on your computer, preferably on the back.

If you still want to go the e-SATA card route, we need to know if the free slot in your computer is PCI or PCI-e.

 

[trendy]

Many thanks to all,I've decided to go for the caddy method.It will be more easier for me as not very techy.
May I just ask a further point on this caddy system,Would it be okay to have this connected to the desktop and leave it running all the time or just when needed?.
Most grateful for all your advice.
Many Thanks.

 

[whs]

USB2 caddies cost around $25 in the US - maybe 20 quid in the UK. That would work but does not give you the same speed as eSata. Then on the other hand, do you need that speed.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Many thanks to all,I've decided to go for the caddy method.It will be more easier for me as not very techy.
May I just ask a further point on this caddy system,Would it be okay to have this connected to the desktop and leave it running all the time or just when needed?.
Most grateful for all your advice.
Many Thanks.

As long as the HDD in an enclosure, such as the one I linked, doesn't run too hot, it will be fine running full time. If it does run hot, an open dock like the one whs linked would be better, mayhap with a fan blowing over it. If it still tends to run hot, then it would be better to run it only when needed. If the HDD is very old, running it only when needed would also be better.

Whatever you decide, make sure you have at least one backup (two would be better) of all your data on all your drives!

 

[whs]

I never had a heat problem with any one of my 3 open docks. They are ideal for stationary use. For travel, the USB powered closed docks are better.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I never had a heat problem with any one of my 3 open docks. They are ideal for stationary use. For travel, the USB powered closed docks are better.

I agree on all counts except I never ran HDDs continuously in a dock.

I have three of these, one as a spare and the other two I now use for backups for my notebook when on the road.

It comes with a single USB 3.0 A to mini-B cable. Since my notebook only has USB 2.0, I wasn't able to get enough power to run the 2.5" 500GB WD Blacks I wanted to run in the enclosures so I had to rustle up some USB 3.0 Y-cables.

The second USB A connector steals power from a second USB 2.0 port so the HDD can get enough power to run. If my notebook had had one USB 3.0 port, it would have had enough power to run the HDD by itself.

I used to use open docks for my notebook's backup drives but feel the enclosures will be more convenient. Since I don't need the docks anymore, the drives take up less room in my notebook's case.

 

[whs]

For the on-the-road backups I got this stick - I also use a 64GB MicroSD card.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

A stick is compact but, until they come with 500GB sticks, methinks I'll stick to the HDDs. I keep a clone of the SDD in my notebook on one so, if the SSD goes completely belly up, I can pull the clone out of the enclosure and pop it into the notebook. The other HDD has images of the OS partitions, the recovery partition, and the data partition so I can easily restore the SSD if it should ever go wonky. I backup any data I generate while on the road to the clone HDD using FreeFileSync. Since the added data is confined to a single folder, it is easy to transfer the data to my desktop when I get home.

 

[whs]

For my Transformer the stick is ideal because my Macrium images of that system are only 6.2GBs. So I can fit plenty on the 128GBs. I also backup my data from the MicrpSD card. But that is only a few GBs - at least now.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For my Transformer the stick is ideal because my Macrium images of that system are only 6.2GBs. So I can fit plenty on the 128GBs. I also backup my data from the MicrpSD card. But that is only a few GBs - at least now.

LOL! You realize comparing your Transformer to my Lenovo is like comparing a Ford Focus to a Ford F150? My notebook System images are 16.2GB. My notebook is also my spare computer should my desktop go down so I expect a bit more form it than you would from your Transformer.

 

[whs]

The Transformer is a neat little system for travel. Small, light and plenty fast. And you can use it like a laptop or as a tablet. We use it only for travel. For the rest we have 2 desktops and 4 laptops.

My images from this system are also mighty big - around 40GBs. But for those I use stationary disks 640GB and 1TB plus a 360GB partition on one of the internal spinners. The laptops have their own dedicated external backup disks - 500GB each. I am an imaging fanatic. LOL

 

[trendy]

waw,I've learn't quite a bit here today with all the replies and useful info regarding hdd's.
maybe before we close is it possible to have some good tips on using the hdd enclosure and good simple methods on backing up etc.
Many Thanks Once Again.
Dai from south wales uk.

 

[whs]

There are no special tricks. An external disk is just another 'folder'.

For periodic backups, I recommend free Macrium. Read and view the tutorial carefully and burn the recovery CD linked (twice) in the first blue information box.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html?ltr=I

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The Transformer is a neat little system for travel. Small, light and plenty fast. And you can use it like a laptop or as a tablet. We use it only for travel. For the rest we have 2 desktops and 4 laptops.

My images from this system are also mighty big - around 40GBs. But for those I use stationary disks 640GB and 1TB plus a 360GB partition on one of the internal spinners. The laptops have their own dedicated external backup disks - 500GB each. I am an imaging fanatic. LOL

I'm not far behind you. In addition to the system images I keep on the external HDD for my notebook, I also keep duplicate copies on my desktop (which also gets backed up). I also image data only on the notebook. If I were to do that on my desktop, I would die of old age (I'm already closer to that than I care for).

I mage my boot SSD once a week and just before I make any major changes to my computer, such as adding a program. I prefer imaging to System Restore (and have it turned off). I don't image the data, however. I use FreeFileSync to back up my data drives. It's much, much faster than imaging or cloning, enough so, I can backup daily. The backup is usable as is. Since my boot drive images are stored on a data drive, they also get backed up. I keep two backup drives for each HDD in service at home and two more in a safe deposit box at my credit union.