Harddrives

boghead · Nov 29, 2004, 04:18 PM

Hi. I'm needing some help putting in a 3rd HDD. At the moment i have 2 in, both have power connectors in, and then theres a big grey cable with Master and slave connections, which go into the mobo. I'm wanting to know how i put in a 3rd, or even more, cause theres no more space on my mobo for another one of those master/slave cables, so do i need to buy a cable with extra slave connections on it? cheers

Matth · Nov 29, 2004, 04:44 PM

You can't have more than two drives on a normal IDE cable - ONE master, ONE slave.

The average motherboard has two IDE sockets, each supporting a 2-drive cable.
I can't think of any that have less than two - though some have more if they include a RAID controller.

The other way to add more drive ports, is to add a controller card - either IDE, or SATA if you prefer to add SATA drives.

Are you sure there's no space for a second cable - it can be pretty awkward, and if you can't see it, it's probably hidden under the run of the first cable - they really are a tight squeeze.

boghead · Nov 30, 2004, 07:37 PM

I checked, and there are 3 of them sockets. The one with the HDD cable in is blue, and the other 2 have the cable for my cd drive and dvd drive, and the other connects my floppy drive. So can you tell me more about using a controller card? cheers

Vampyromaniac · Nov 30, 2004, 07:45 PM

The one for the floppy is only for floppy drives. So you would need more IDE ports.
You can buy one of these: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...102-002&DEPA=0
Place that in a free PCI slot, then connect a nother cable to the controller card, and to the 3rd hard drive. That's abou it.

boghead · Nov 30, 2004, 07:47 PM

Sounds easy enough! thanks alot

mike2h · Nov 30, 2004, 08:53 PM

you might want to consider a sata controller. otherwise vamps link is the deal. got one of those around here somewhere, performance is as good as it gets for that kind of controller & very dependable.

Nov 29, 2004, 04:18 PM	#1
boghead DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Harddrives Hi. I'm needing some help putting in a 3rd HDD. At the moment i have 2 in, both have power connectors in, and then theres a big grey cable with Master and slave connections, which go into the mobo. I'm wanting to know how i put in a 3rd, or even more, cause theres no more space on my mobo for another one of those master/slave cables, so do i need to buy a cable with extra slave connections on it? cheers

Nov 30, 2004, 07:45 PM	#4
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	The one for the floppy is only for floppy drives. So you would need more IDE ports. You can buy one of these: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...102-002&DEPA=0 Place that in a free PCI slot, then connect a nother cable to the controller card, and to the 3rd hard drive. That's abou it. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Nov 30, 2004, 08:53 PM	#6
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 89 System Specs	you might want to consider a sata controller. otherwise vamps link is the deal. got one of those around here somewhere, performance is as good as it gets for that kind of controller & very dependable. __________________

Nov 29, 2004, 04:44 PM	#2
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,410 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	You can't have more than two drives on a normal IDE cable - ONE master, ONE slave. The average motherboard has two IDE sockets, each supporting a 2-drive cable. I can't think of any that have less than two - though some have more if they include a RAID controller. The other way to add more drive ports, is to add a controller card - either IDE, or SATA if you prefer to add SATA drives. Are you sure there's no space for a second cable - it can be pretty awkward, and if you can't see it, it's probably hidden under the run of the first cable - they really are a tight squeeze.

Nov 30, 2004, 07:37 PM	Thread Starter #3
boghead DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	I checked, and there are 3 of them sockets. The one with the HDD cable in is blue, and the other 2 have the cable for my cd drive and dvd drive, and the other connects my floppy drive. So can you tell me more about using a controller card? cheers

Nov 30, 2004, 07:47 PM	Thread Starter #5
boghead DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Sounds easy enough! thanks alot