Serial ATA port on motherboard?????

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@m1whitey wrote:

Ok . . .I'm another noob!!  But I need help . . . I recently purchased a Maxtor 250GB Serial ATA/150 hard drive to replace the original Quantum Olympus HD on my Dimension Lxxxxr computer.  (Note:  The computer is only about 3 years old with a 733MGz processor.)  However, the instruction guide for the new HD said I needed to locate an available Serial ATA (SATA) port on my motherboard or on on a SATA PCI card.  I cannot determine if it's on the motherboard or not, so would I need to buy the SATA PCI expansion card instead??  My Dimension L reference book says that there are "two EIDE interfaces on the PCI bus that support ATA 33/66 Ultra DMA for hard drives, cd-rom,etc."  First of all, I could not find any specific info on the PCI bus (was not in my book) so I don't know quite what that is.  The only reference I found was for the PCI expansion cards.

Also, the new HD is equipped with a 4-pin legacy power connector.  My primary EIDE says it has 1- 40 pin connector on the PCI bus.  Is that going to be a problem? 

Thanks for any help anyone can provide!!  (Can you tell this is my first time installing a new HD? ha ha)

Thanks again!

Michelle

No SATA port, your computer is way too old for that, only in the past year or so.  You would need to buy the SATA card.

The 4 pin legacy power connector is for power.  The 40 pin PCI bus connector is for an IDE drive's DATA cable...

You bought a Cadillac drive for a old computer...

Thanks for the info!  But  . . . uuum, is the cadillac drivable with the old computer??  (Told ya I was a noob!  :))

Thanks.  Unfortunately, I am now discovering just how expensive this has been.  I figured, if I went for the largest drive I could get, I could get miles out of it so to speak.  I checked out just getting a new computer all together, but once I tacked on some different upgrades, (bigger hard drive, etc) it would have cost me more.  In retrospect, maybe that was the route I should have went after all. 

 

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@m1whitey wrote:
Thanks for the info!  But  . . . uuum, is the cadillac drivable with the old computer??  (Told ya I was a noob!  :))

Driveable, yes.  But way overspending...

You need a SATA drive controller.    Some of the drive kits include them, but think you may be able to purchase one for about $50.00.   You need a power coverter cable, since the SATA drive has a different connector and power requirements, think this is cheap.      

 

You may need a SATA cable if your drive did not include this cost 8.00 - 12.00 I am guessing. 

Not sure on the OS requirements.   May want to check with the Controller specs for that.

 

 

Message Edited by TomXPS on 08-19-2004 12:51 PM