ASUS M3A - How many hard drives?

I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any reason
why it would be better to make the new drive external than internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as
the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't
remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to run
a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to have a
second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters of
hardware so forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files if
that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

"Rhino" wrote in message
...
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any
reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than
internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as
the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't
remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to
run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to
have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters
of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files
if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

Your board supports 2 IDE (flat ribbon) drives. Also 4 SATA drives. Your new
drive will be SATA and will work fine.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD...specifications

Chris

On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.

HTH,
--
Rob

In article , Rob wrote:
On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any reason
why it would be better to make the new drive external than internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as
the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't
remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to run a
second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to have a second
ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters of hardware so
forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files if
that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.

HTH,
I agree about the warning of needing to possibly buy a power cable and
possibly a data cable. But i have yet to buy a retail Seagate or Western
Digital drive in the box that didnt come with the data cable.

Rob wrote in :
On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.

I'm not sure why you both said the new drive would be SATA; PATA drives
still are available, and indeed I had to buy one just last week. There
may even be cases where PATA is preferable to SATA, though the OP's case
probably is not one.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin

On 30/11/2011 17:11, Mike Andrews wrote:
Rob wrote in :
On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.

I'm not sure why you both said the new drive would be SATA; PATA drives
still are available, and indeed I had to buy one just last week. There
may even be cases where PATA is preferable to SATA, though the OP's case
probably is not one.


1TB or above PATA drives don't exist. Largest PATA you can get is 750GB.

--
Rob

"Chris S." wrote in message
...

"Rhino" wrote in message
...
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any
reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than
internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable
as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and
can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I
need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even
possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very
weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very
foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files
if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

Your board supports 2 IDE (flat ribbon) drives. Also 4 SATA drives. Your
new drive will be SATA and will work fine.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD...specifications

Perfect! Thanks Chris. I'd found that same page but I'm so hardware
challenged that I wasn't sure if I was understanding the information
correctly.

Any thoughts on the pros and cons of getting an internal drive vs. an
external one?

--
Rhino

"Rob" wrote in message
...
On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any
reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than
internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon cable
as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a while and
can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable - or would I
need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is it even
possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? I am very
weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which may be very
foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data files
if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.


Good catch, Rob. I didn't know whether I could take it for granted that a
new drive would come with everything I needed to connect it.

Do you have any thoughts on the pros and cons of an internal vs. an external
drive? I'm leaning toward internal because I've got lots of room in the case
and it's going to cost less than the same sized drive in an external format
but maybe there are some cons that I'm not considering.

--
Rhino

Rhino wrote:

"Rob" wrote in message
...
On 30/11/2011 14:16, Rhino wrote:
I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are
nearly full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a
3 TB drive since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an
internal one.

Are there any negatives associated with adding a third drive to this
computer, especially one that is larger than the others? Is there any
reason why it would be better to make the new drive external than
internal?

Also, would I put the third drive on the same 80 conductor ribbon
cable as the existing two drives - I haven't had the case open in a
while and can't remember if there is a third connector on the cable -
or would I need to run a second ribbon cable from the motherboard? Is
it even possible to have a second ribbon cable from the motherboard?
I am very weak on matters of hardware so forgive my question, which
may be very foolish.

The main thing I'm storing on these drives is large standalone data
files if that makes any difference.

I'm running Windows XP with no immediate plans to upgrade to Win7.

--
Rhino

As Chris said, you should be fine, but the new drive will be SATA.
You do need to open the case and check that the power supply has
spare SATA type drive power connectors.
If not, you'll need a converter cable like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812104652

and don't forget a SATA data cable, if you don't already have one -
new drives don't often come with one.


Good catch, Rob. I didn't know whether I could take it for granted that
a new drive would come with everything I needed to connect it.

Do you have any thoughts on the pros and cons of an internal vs. an
external drive? I'm leaning toward internal because I've got lots of
room in the case and it's going to cost less than the same sized drive
in an external format but maybe there are some cons that I'm not
considering.

--
Rhino

It would depend on whether the drive was for primary storage,
or was a backup device. Considering the reliability of
large drives like that, a second large drive wouldn't hurt.
Then, one could be internal, and one external. You unplug the
external one, after the backup operation is completed.

Unplugging the backup, protects the backup drive from lightning.
The contents of the computer can be destroyed by a direct lightning
hit (following along the power wires). If your backup drive is
disconnected at the time, it might survive.

If the data is really important, you keep the backup drive off-site
completely. That's to protect against fire or other disasters.

If the drive is being used for primary storage, then having it inside
the computer makes a lot of sense. Then, there is less wiring and
need for physical space, outside the computer case.

Paul

On Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:16:23 -0500, "Rhino"
wrote:

I have an ASUS M3A mainboard with two 750 GB hard drives. Both are nearly
full so I'd like to add a third, larger hard drive, probably a 3 TB drive
since they have become fairly affordable at $150 for an internal one.

Interesting price--I haven't seen them that cheap for the last month
or so. Remember, if you want to be able to access all of the 3TB, you
will have to format it under GPT rather than FAT. And I don't think,
with the M3A, that you will be able to use it as a boot drive.