eSata External HDDs

.Lethal · 4 Nov 2007 at 18:57

Western Digital MyBook Premium ES 500GB eSATA 3Gbps / USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-122-WD&tool=3

So this requires a eSATA cable to connect to the PC in order to get very fast transfers. My question is if anyone knows what cable exactly I need? and do I need a specific/compatible motherboard?

As far as I am aware the cable I would need is eSATA (which plugs into the External HDD) and the other end being regular USB no? I seem to be getting confused not knowing what I connect this lead to and what lead I need.

If I need to connect eSATA to the external HDD and the other end into a regular SATA slot that would be weird would it not? since the SATA connector is on the motherboard inside my PC's case.

Can anyone shed some light? Also why is this HDD cheaper than the FireWire and USB 2.0 HDD on this site? the FireWire is even slower than the regular USB 2.0 connection.

shine · 4 Nov 2007 at 19:02

To use eSATA you need to have an eSATA connection on the back of your PC via motherboard (near your USB slots) or via an add on card.

You would need an eSATA cable like this one.

.Lethal · 4 Nov 2007 at 19:17

Ah I was hoping it was not like that. But it makes sense. Do most motherboards support eSATA now? I have taken a quick look on the mobos on this website and didn't see any!

Thanks.

rpstewart · 5 Nov 2007 at 08:40

Damonic said:
Do most motherboards support eSATA now?

Most of the new P35 based boards have eSATA due to the fact that a second controller is needed to supply the IDE port, this comes with SATA ports for free and rather than adding to the 6 internal ones that the Intel Southbridge provides they route them out the back as eSATA.

Even if you don't have eSATA ports you can get adapters like this which route an internal SATA port outside as eSATA. Most of the build your own caddies come with one of these - I use one with my IcyDock and it works fine.

.Lethal · 5 Nov 2007 at 10:43

Thanks for your reply.

I figured there would be an adaptor such as the Akasa. To be honest I will just hold out until I upgrade in the next month or so. I will get the same External HDD and use the USB 2.0 port for now.

I plan on getting one of the P35 mobos around feb 08 so I can wait it out until then. eSATA does not seem to be promoted much from what I managed to find on google, yet it is just what external HDDs need for a good transfer rate.