Little help plea

SpaceFish

SpaceFish

SpaceFish

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Joined
7 Jan 2004
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95
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UK
Little help please

Hi sorry for the multiple requests but ive got a couple of questions. First off. Ive got an oldish mobo with only 2 sata conections is it possible to get an addon sata card for it so i could attach another HD as I already have 2? I dont have a lot to spend so could someone recommend one? Also would it just plug in or would I have to reinstall windows etc? Thanks.

The next is a bit more specific. Does anyone use the thermaltake xaser 3 case? Ive got one but cant find any of the screwless plastic mounting clips for the hard drives can anyone enlighten me as to where to get some spares for my ne HD? Thanks again.

Final question....phewwwwww.

I want to go for around 400gigs but not exacly sure which to go for ive always used maxtor and never had a problem, should I stay with them or get a shiney new WD. Thanks so much.
 
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Add on SATA card - yup, no problem with one of those, some to choose from here. Take a look at the Highpoint or Adaptec ones. No need to reinstall windows as it will continue to boot from the existing disk, the new card will need drivers installed and then you'll be away.

No idea on the case question I'm afraid

400Gb HDD? Seagate 7200.10s are the large disk of choice at the moment.
 
Thanks for the quick response guys. New question for u though.

Is there much difference between mounting the seagate internally and externally if not its gonna be around the same price to do it externally If so could u recomend me an enclosure. Also how reliable are they? Thanks again in advance.
 
SpaceFish said:
Thanks for the quick response guys. New question for u though.

Is there much difference between mounting the seagate internally and externally if not its gonna be around the same price to do it externally If so could u recomend me an enclosure. Also how reliable are they? Thanks again in advance.
Click to expand...
Not much - external means you will be limited to the transfer interface used. i.e.

USB: ~30-35MB/s
Firewire: ~35-40Mb/s
eSATA: ~ 150 or 300MB/s depending on specs.

Remember this is max transfer. The Seagate 7200.10 can sustain read of about 65-70Mb/s for info and a normal longitudinal HDU will hit about 50-55Mb/s sustained. So by using USB or firewire, you won't get max performance but it won't be noticeable I can assure you.

Reliability - something Seagate are renowned for - they are the only company to offer a 5 year warranty as standard.
 
smids said:
Reliability - something Seagate are renowned for - they are the only company to offer a 5 year warranty as standard.
Click to expand...

Thanks that was quick.

Sorry I meant will I notice any reliability loss by sticking it in the external box as apposed to leaving it in the pc? Also are there any u could recomend?

Its mostly coz im running out of space so for downloads, music and film type stuff?

Thanks.
 
SpaceFish said:
Thanks that was quick.

Sorry I meant will I notice any reliability loss by sticking it in the external box as apposed to leaving it in the pc? Also are there any u could recomend?

Its mostly coz im running out of space so for downloads, music and film type stuff?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
No - in fact, so long as you turn the external box off when not in use, the drive will be more reliable as it will have less accessing etc. The only thing to worry about is heat - this is a killer (albeit slow) of HDU's so you want an enclosure with a decent cooling spec. IcyBox's are very popular - personally I've never used an enclosure but I'm sure I will in the future sometime but that means I can't comment; I can only go on what I hear. The CoolerMaster enclosure is also good - and I would personally buy that, but that is becauseI like how it looks and the fact that it is made by a manufacturer I trust.
 
Thanks again.

Not to question your godly knowledge but ive seen other people questioning weather the icy boxs are any good and weather they corrupt the hdd in the long run? any validity to this? If so whats the most reliable?

Thanks again.
 
Hmm, not heard that - I only based my recommendation on number of sales - as I say, I have no personal experience. If that is the case, get a CoolerMaster X Craft (IIRC). I trust CM (bit biased as I own a Stacker [case]) but I generally trust their build quality.
 
K thanks again for all the help think im gonna go coolermaster and 400 gig seagate.

And hay its always better to have someone biased for all the good reasons;)
 
Nice one - if you are worried about heat though - you can get a fan cooled enclosure. It will be pretty silent without the fan so if this is important to you, then a fanless one should be fine.

Might be worth it investing in the firewire (if you have a port) one or the eSATA one if your mobo is quite new and has eSATA ports (not the same as SATA connectors) but some add-on cards now have eSATA ports.
 
Yeah will go firewire dont have a new enough mobo for eSata dont even have sata2 on mine. I wouldnt even be bothering with the enclosure if I could find those stupid bits of plastic that hold in the hdd in my case. LOL.

Well my pcs pretty quiet and left on most of the time even when im sleeping next to it but guess i'll look into the fan cooled ones, not really worth killing the thing early over a few dbs.

Thanks
 
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OK apparently im blind but i cant find the coolermaster on this site to buy or any of the other sites ive used.....Am I just blind or does anyone have any tips ofr finding one? Thanks again.
 
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