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How to convert your IDE drive to SATA
Hey guy's, i just purchased an XPS 600 about a week ago and i'm currently awaiting it's arrival in the next coming days. As i was going over the system specs i became somewhat disapointed to find out that the system board only has one IDE connector, meaning i could only connect 2 IDE devices to my computer. This was kind of a bummer seeing as how i have about 5 other IDE drives that i commonly use in my existing system by swapping them in and out with the 2 drive racks i have. Well every system needs a CD rom drive so that means that i could only use 1 of the drive racks as the system is currently configured. So i started doing a little research and there seems to be a simple solution to my dilema, an IDE to SATA converter! I found several different models available online and i just purchased 2 of the smallest ones i could find on ebay. If anyone else is interested you can check them out here
IDE to SATA converter
This will allow me to connect my old IDE hard drive or CD-ROM drive to the several available SATA cables available in my XPS 600. Just wanted to share this with everyone on the board as i figured someone else out there might be wondering the same thing. Hope this helps!:smileywink:
anchovypaste
6 Posts
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October 7th, 2005 04:00
CTskydiver
932 Posts
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October 12th, 2005 04:00
anchovypaste
6 Posts
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October 12th, 2005 14:00
bfdzio
4 Posts
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October 13th, 2005 04:00
I'm having problems finding this item. I only need a power converter....any help would be appreciated.
I need to get my other hard drives working hooked up, one has all my photos of a long time on it!
CTskydiver
932 Posts
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October 13th, 2005 17:00
Most computer stores and places where you can buy components (such as CompUSA) I've found stock these simple adapters. Sometimes you might be stuck buying IDE Power (4 prong) splitters though if that's all they have (if the store only has a small selection of parts).
In my XPS 600, I have currently two SATA hard drives, one IDE DVD burner, the 9-in-1 media reader (and now they sell a 13-in-1, -sigh- ) and three IDE hard drives.
That's five hard drives for 1.3 TB of storage. Eventually I'll upgrade to higher capacity drives, I never seem to have enough room. But until then I'm using the biggest drives I had available from my Dimension 8250. I bought the 8250 with a 120GB IDE drive, to which I added an 80GB IDE drive which I'd previously had installed as extra storage in my previous computer. Along the way I'd added to the 8250 a 200GB IDE drive, a 250GB IDE drive, then a 300GB IDE drive, and finally, a 300GB SATA drive (I figured at the point I would be buying a new computer soon, so new I'd want an SATA interface). So - how did I fit the 5 hard drives in my 8250 (which only had 2 IDE channels)? When I bought the 200GB (Maxtor) IDE drive, it came with a free ATA-100 PCI Adapter card which had two more IDE channels.
When I bought the 300GB (Maxtor, again) SATA drive, this too came with a free PCI adapter card - but this one had only one IDE channel (allowing two devices at ATA-133) but had two SATA-150 channels (allowing two more SATA devices), which was perfect for my system in transition.
This later card is now in the remaining free PCI slot in my XPS 600. My current configuration is:
Motherboard IDE Channel Master: 16x DVD+/-DL Burner
Slave: 200 GB IDE ATA Hard Drive
Motherboard SATA Channel 0: 250 GB SATA-150 Hard Drive (Shipped with XPS 600)
SATA Channel 1: 300 GB SATA-150 Hard Drive (Aquired Retail w/ PCI card)
SATA Channel 2: [empty]
SATA Channel 3: [empty]
Maxtor PCI ATA/SATA Adapter Card:
IDE Channel Master: 300 GB IDE ATA-133 Hard Drive
IDE Channel Slave: 250 GB IDE ATA-133 Hard Drive
SATA Channel 4: [empty]
SATA Channel 5: [empty]
Of course, the IDE cable that comes with the Dell Systems is JUST long enough to connect to two CD/DVD drives in adjacent bays, so I had to scrap it. With 4 IDE devices I needed two cables, and cables with reach, too. I bought two MAD DOG premium "Dual Rounded Blue (ATA-133) Cable"s - an 18" one that stretches from the motherboard IDE connector to the IDE drive in the top of the 3" bay (under the green cover) and then to the DVD drive in the bottom 5" bay. Note that you'll need to cut the rubber end covers off the cables to be able to close the green fan hood over the hard drive bay.
I also need a 36" cable to reach from the PCI card at the bottom of the computer, along the bottom of the case, up around the motherboard, and up to a hard drive all the way in the top of the case (in the floppy drive bay) and then to another hard drive in the top 5.25" bay (Note: an adapter will be needed to mount a 3" drive in a 5.25" bay).
To power the 4 IDE drives, I just used two IDE power splitters (2 for $3.99). Doesn't seem to be causing any problems, but I guess I'd rather be able to find some SATA->IDE power adapters instead.
The round IDE cables are real nice for not blocking air flow. And they look cool.
Dell XPS 600
Pentium D 830 (Dual Core @ 3.0 Ghz)
2 GB 677mhz SDRAM (2 Dimms)
Windows XP MCE'05 w/ Remote
nVidia Geforce 6800 (256MB PCIe x16), Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS
2 x Dell 20" (4x3 FF) Digital Flat Panel Displays
1 DVD Burner, 5 Hard Disks (1.3 TB), 9-1 Media Reader, Emuzed Angel Dual TV Tuner
Message Edited by CTskydiver on 10-13-2005 02:52 PM
Dev Mgr
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9.3K Posts
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October 13th, 2005 17:00
This should work for you.
bfdzio
4 Posts
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October 14th, 2005 00:00
mrkatz
1 Message
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December 12th, 2005 18:00
Jasac
3 Posts
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January 7th, 2006 00:00
I simply unplugged my DVD Rom power and IDE in my new Deminsion 3100/E310, plugged in my Maxtor 80Gb IDE hard drive from my old computer to the connections from the DVD, rebooted, then transfered everything I needed from the Maxtor IDE onto the the newer SATA drive that came with my 3100/E310.
Hope this helps some of you.
Jasac
3 Posts
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January 7th, 2006 00:00
I simply unplugged my IDE DVD Rom in my new Dimension 3100/E310 and removed it, plugged in the Maxtor 80Gb IDE hard drive from my old computer, to the connections from the DVD bay, rebooted, then transfered everything I needed from the Maxtor IDE onto the the newer SATA drive that came with my 3100/E310, then reinstalled the DVD.
Hope this helps some of you.