What's the best way to add a SATA drive

[Dazzer]

What is the best way to add a 3rd SATA drive, when the Motherboard only has sockets for two? I've a 250Gb SATA and nowhere to put it.

I bought a SATA USB Icy Box, but it just didn't work with the SATA drive either direct into one of the MB's SATA sockets or via USB.

Can SATA drives work via a USB external?

Do PCI SATA internal/external cards work ok? Or could anyone suggest a reliable alternative for mounting internally or externally an extra SATA drive?

Dazzer

[LeftyAce]

The external enclosure option ought to work, and is probably the easiest. Plus you get a portable harddrive in the bargain. By "one of the MB's SATA sockets" I assume you mean an eSATA port? Is the drive recognized if you plug it in in place of one of the other internal SATA drives?

I would get an Apricorn external enclosure such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817362002

Mine does USB and eSATA just fine, and they come with Acronis backup software, should you want to use it.

[Cricket]

Here's another option. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816104004)

:) Cricket

[Dazzer]

In answer to LeftyAce, I put two SATAs in the ICY BOX, a I and a II and neither worked, not via USB or direct, but both worked fine in the PC itself.

I'm getting a refund on the ICY BOX as this is the second I've had that hasn't worked properly. The other was a USB/firewire, that's never worked via firewire bar once.

So should the SATA enclosure work via USB?

Which option would be faster SATA via USB or IDE?

Are the Arpricon enclosures available in the UK. I can't seem to find a retailer.

Dazzer

Thanks Cricket, BTW

[Cricket]

So should the SATA enclosure work via USB?Which one? The Apricorn SATA enclosure in LeftyAce's link houses a SATA HDD and it connects to the computer by SATA cables...no USB involved. Apricorn does have SATA/USB external housings available though.Which option would be faster SATA via USB or IDE?IDE? You can't connect an external housing to the IDE interface. Your choices would be (depending on the housing you're using) USB 2.0, IEEE1394 (FireWire) or eSATA. I'm not sure which one is fastest. Are the Arpricon enclosures available in the UK. I can't seem to find a retailer.Sorry, can't answer that question.

:) Cricket

[LeftyAce]

Actually, the one I linked to has eSATA and USB interfaces (the newegg description is wrong. GLC and I both have these units, and both got usb+eSATA).


As far as the UK, I'm not sure.....I seem to remember they are hard to find, but I'm not sure if they're totally unavailable.

[Freakitchen]

When I was looking to replace my horrible no-brand enclosure with another, I did a LOT of searching for Apricorn housings here in the UK. As far as I can tell, they are totally unavailable. In fact, I was unable to find a housing that had the specs and the quality I was looking for - so I bought a Western Digital MyBook external drive.

Since you already have the drive, I appreciate that comment doesn't help much! You might consider a PCI SATA controller card, like this one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117642

[Dazzer]

Thanks to all I returned the ICY BOX as it was cleary broken.

Dazzer