Time for more HDD! More SATA?

[s_inman]

I am thinking about taking the plunge and backing up my entire DVD collection on a 1.5tb hard drive. My HTPC has 2 hdd's at present and my motherboard only has 2 sata ports. How would I get more ports without spending a fortune? Would it be more cost effective to install a new motherboard?

Regards.
Stuart.

 

[andy1249]

You can add more ports via expansion cards , they come in all flavours and for as cheap as £10

I would imagine you would have at least one PCI or PCIe slot free , so something like this ,

dabs.com - StarTech.com 2 Port SATA Controller Card (PEXSATA22I)

There are many variations on this , for both types of slot , so have a search , what you are looking for is called a SATA controller card.

 

[s_inman]

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately I dont have any free PCIe slots. I have a ati 2600pro in one and tommorow hopefully a 7010ix tuner card in the other . Is there a normal PCI solution? Will I notice a difference between 3Gbps and 1Gbps?

Regards.

 

[devo]

A pci sata controller will be fine

 

[Maxamus]

Get 2x WD 2TB drives.

Job Done.
My 1.5Tb (1.3Tb after format actually) is becoming full so i think i will invest in a 2TB very soon.

 

[andy1249]

PCI version here

dabs.com - StarTech.com 2 Port Serial ATA & 1 Port ATA IDE PCI Card (PCISAT2IDE1)

Comments on the above say it only does sata I , most drives can be jumpered to work with this ,

for a little more money , this one is SATA II compatible

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...d=11141&NavigationKey=11141,47480000,47420000