Installing an extra hard drive

[MylesS]

Hi Guys,

I had the following system built for me by OverClockers in 2016. At the time I thought that a 1TB hard drive would be enough, but it seems I was wrong!

be quiet! Silent Base 600 Midi Tower Case - Silver
MB-531-GI Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX
Motherboard
CP-582-IN Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor -
OEM
MY-445-CS Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15
3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)
HS-013-RT Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black
HD-190-SA Samsung 120GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D
V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E120B/EU
HD-257-SE Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gbs 64MB Cache HDD - OEM
(ST1000DM003)
CD-162-SA Samsung SH-224FB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) -
OEM M disc compatible
GX-290-EA EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SSC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Graphics Card (04G-P4-3967-KR )
CA-074-BQ be quiet! Pure Power L8 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply -
With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in

I'm going to fit a 3TB drive and have opted for the BarraCuda Internal Hard Drive (ST3000DM007) Unless there are recommendations for better drives within budget. (Under £80)

Up until now I've only replaced various cards and fans, so fitting an extra drive is new territory for me. It looks pretty staightforward, but there are a couple of things I'd appreciate some advice on.

I have two power connectors accessible, as shown in the following pic. The one on the left, circled in red, appears to be Molex, and the one circled in Blue is SATA.

It looks like I'll have to undo the cable ties to access the SATA connection, as it's facing the wrong way, and is a bit inaccessible. That's not a problem, but just wondering on the best power cable to get? OverClockers have suggested this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-sata-power-splitter-ak-cbpw05-30-cb-058-ak.html

However, it seems a built bulky, and I'm a bit cramped for space on that side of the case. As I only need one power connection, I'm thinking this might be more suitable - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akas...ension-cable-30cm-ak-cbpw04-30-cb-057-ak.html

I won't be fitting any additional drives in the future, but wanted to check there are no other advantages of using a splitter cable? I've also found this cable on eBay that seems like it would do the job, and looks like it might be even less bulky than the Akasa - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30cm-12-...296831&hash=item2cd1421a47:g:p-sAAOSwYGFU035G

My second enquiry is in sorting out the drive letters after installing the extra drive. Currently I have Drives C: D: and an external drive E:.

I would like the new 3TB drive to become Drive D, my existing Drive D to become E, and the current Drive E to become F. Is it just a matter of reassigning the drive letters after the drive is recognised, using disk management? Running Windows 10.

Hope someone can advise.

 

[MylesS]

If you rearrange the existing cables from the power supply you should be able to connect directly to the new drive without any additional cables.

Either of the extension cables you linked should be okay if that's how you want to do it.

At the moment I have one cable connecting the SSD, and another one going to the existing SATA drive. There don't seem to be any other cables that can plug directly into anything, so I think I'll have to have an extension cable. The PSU specs say that there are five SATA connections, so there must be another two hiding somewhere.

Yes.

Depending on what's on the drives changing drive letters can cause software issues.

All my software is installed on the C: drive, and data files on the D: I'll move all the data onto the new drive, so I think I should be ok.

 

[MylesS]

The plug you circled is designed to plug straight into a drive. At the moment it happens to be bundled up with the rest of the cables.

If using an extension cable is easier then use one.

The cable feeds through into the machine and powers my DVD drive. So the connector is out of action, as far as plugging it into something directly. Here's a better pic from a different angle - I've circled the connector in red this time as it shows up better.

I'm now wondering if a 30cm extension cable is going to be long enough! Here's a pic showing the location of where the drive is going to be positioned. Measuring with a tape it's looking very touch and go!

I can't move the Sata connection down without disconnecting the DVD.

I've not been able to find any SATA extention cables longer than 30cm. I'm thinking maybe I should go for a splitter cable after-all. Then if it doesn't reach, I can at least connect it to the cable that's powering the existing HD and power both drives. Does that sound like a plan?

 

[MylesS]

Ok, cheers. Thanks for the advice. I'll get a spltter cable.

 

[MylesS]

As the existing drive is so small I’d be tempted to replace it rather than adding to it.

I'm planning on using the existing 1TB drive for backups. My external drive is only 500GB so not big enough for everything I've got. Between the two, I should be pretty well covered.