Can I connect multiple HDDs and ODD to a single PSU connection?

[MarkP15]

Hi,

I've just bought another Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD and want to connect it to my custom PC (obviously :L).

I've only got one SATA power cable, but it has the capacity to connect three drives off it. Currently, it has the original HDD and an ODD on it. I want to know if you can safely connect three devices to one SATA power cable, and so one connection in the PSU? Would it overload?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Barman58]

It depends on the rating of the power supply and the requirements of the drives as a total - check the documentation for the drives you have and the PSU to be sure. I have a 256GB SSD,1TB, 2TB, 3TB drives on my current system and also a DVD writer without issue - on a 750w PSU

 

[MarkP15]

Well, I have a 730W PSU, but there will only be 2 2TB HDDs and one ODD connected to it, but they will all connect through one connection on the PSU. I'm assuming yours aren't connected to the same connection on your PSU...?

 

[Barman58]

My PSU is a modular unit and I've segregated the outputs to balance things, all the drives are connected to a single output from the PSU, which has plenty of spare capacity, with fans off another and dedicated supplies for the motherboard main power and the GPU ETC

 

[AddRAM]

You should be fine, your PSU wouldn`t have a connector setup like that if it wasn`t safe.

It`s a little odd that a 730 watt psu will only let you connect 3 sata devices.

Could you post a link to the PSU please ?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

As already stated, it would depend on the PSU. Most likely, it can handle four drives on a single connection but you may need to make a beefed up cable for it (something I normally do not recommend unless you know exactly what you are doing since one tiny mistake can fry a lot of expensive hardware). If you are connecting three HDDs and an ODD to one cable, you may be able to get away with using a SATA power splitter on one of the existing SATA power connectors but, again, that would depend on the PSU you are using. We need specific information on what all four devices will be, including part numbers, and the brand and model number of the PSU to be able to safely advise you.

 

[MarkP15]

My PSU is also modular, and I have the option of using another SATA power connector, but I don't have any spare. I'm not going to use four drives off one connection, but two of the Barracudas below and the one Lightscribe ODD, so three in all.

PSU: Thermaltake - Global - Smart SE 730W - SPS-730M

HDDs: Seagate Barracuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive - ST2000DM001 - Scan.co.uk

ODD: It's a Lightscribe ODD, Model: DH-16A3L-CT2, Serial Number: 237834424064
Quite old, can't find a website for it.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm sorry; I had gotten the impression that you wanted to run four devices off one cable with three sockets. That's not the greatest PSU on Earth but even the crappiest PSUs can handle devices on all of the sockets on single SATA power cable. You should have no problems running two HDDs and an ODD on that one cable. Thermaltake wouldn't have put multiple sockets on that cable if it couldn't handle the load.