Out of SATA ports :/ ... options?

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:09

So i went to install my new hard drive and found i am out of sata ports, 5 are taken up by HDDs and one is taken up by esata front port.

what is the best option to sort this? ive come up with..

get a slow USB 2 caddy/dock
get an esata caddy/dock
swap motherboards.. do not want to do this cause of the hassle!

unless im missing something?

RJC · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:11

You could look at a controller card if you have any spare pci slots.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=49&subid=424

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:14

unfortunatly i have 2 6950s taking up 4 slots, a pci-e tv tuner and a pci wireless card .. all pci/E slots are taken, the only one i could remove is the pci wireless for a usb.. i doubt a pci would have the bandwidth would it?

RJC · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:17

How often do you use the esata port, could you give this up?

How critical would speed be needed on this drive, as you mention you could use USB.

spleenharvester · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:28

You sure the slots are deffo blocked off? On my brother's dual slot card setup, the card just about fits in tightly without flexing or anything. Didn't look like it would.

PhillyDee · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:29

Get rid of the raptors and buy an SSD. Much faster

Buy much larger hard drives.

Use en eSata to sata cable and loop cable into case. (I have done this)

Evoss · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:32

Buy bigger hard drives so you can fit the data from 2 onto 1

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:35

If i had an ssd it would still take up 2 sata slots, one for the SSD one mechanical for games etc, not convinced by SSD either

i already have 2x 1.5TB for media storage, the new drive is a 2 TB drive, cant really see much gain in swapping the 1.5s for 2s

i tend to use the esata to backup my OS drive to external

there literally is 2mm gap between the GFX cards

this drive is going to be a media storage drive only [ie music, blu rays etc]

best suggestion so far i think is disconect the front esata

PhillyDee · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:38

Time to go for a seperate server . . . .

Or a NAS box, or a drobo (Can also use firewire if your board has it)

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:38

also, am i right in thinking pci [not E] cannot support sata II? cant see any cards like that anywhere

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:39

PhillyDee said:
Time to go for a seperate server . . . .

Or a NAS box, or a drobo (Can also use firewire if your board has it)

i have been contemplating this.. would need a 4 bay box and they all seem very expensive.. would prefer NAS

panyan · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:42

you have five sata ports and obviously need a lot of storage

- ssd for booting
- 4x 2TB drives

that would be quick and have a tremendous amount of storage

413x · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:55

i find my 2x wd VRs are better than 1xssd and 1xmech for games, both take up 2 slots, and i dont like to mix storage with games, therefore i gain no sata ports.. the 2x VRs hold my OS, not as fast as an ssd but snappy, and all my games docs apps.

i would swap my 1.5s for 2s but the resale price is too small for 500GB extra

Defunkt · 17 Jun 2011 at 03:15

I had similar problem al4x. I found the easiest solution was to buy this case.. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-020-CS
It has 4 "Hot Swap" bays at the front and allows me to just plug in different drives as and when I need them. It's made life very, very much easier for me. It's another option you might want to consider. Best purchase I have made.

Clav · 17 Jun 2011 at 10:46

al4x said:
also, am i right in thinking pci [not E] cannot support sata II? cant see any cards like that anywhere

You are correct, pci sata controlelrs will only do sata-150

DWorrall · 17 Jun 2011 at 12:52

Take your wireless card out and get a decent connection >_>

Nigel014 · 17 Jun 2011 at 13:10

Consolidate all of your HDD's into one easily affordable monthly HDD

panyan · 17 Jun 2011 at 13:13

Nigel014 said:
Consolidate all of your HDD's into one easily affordable monthly HDD

hahaha! LOL

Kotu · 17 Jun 2011 at 13:49

you could get some sata->pata converters and move 2 of the storage drives to old ide ports.

Ch3m1c4L · 17 Jun 2011 at 16:45

drop thw wireless card and add a usb wireless card and a pci sata card. the storage drives wont mind being only on sata 1.5

Other option is to get a USB drive, which is fine for media storage, but it will take you a day of copying to get it filled up with stuff.

stop using your esata front port, and use your esata rear port + a cable so you can still backup to your other drive etc, and plug it into one of your 6 internal sata ports.

use a firewire drive, still not that fast, but better than usb.

get an esata caddy and have it plugged into your back port

stop using esata for backup (and just use usb) and use the esata for the new drive.

drop your blu ray drive and get an external one

Considering your board has 6 int. ports and a rear esata port, and you have 4 drives, an external and a blu ray and you want to add another drive, I dont see what your problem is, since thats 7 sata cables going into 7 ports. Did you simply forget you already have a rear esata port?