Big drives

[Don Phillipson]

IBM 8113 desktops (M52 Thinkcentre) were sold with only a single
hard drive for reasons of ventilation (the manual says) i.e. cooling.
They have a a single IDE connector and four unused SATA connectors.
The manual lists approved PATA and SATA drives up to 250 Gb
capacity.

How about putting a terabyte drive (WD Caviar Green) into this unit?
What harm could it possibly do? I am thinking that when this PC
went on the market there were no terabyte drives, let alone
"Green" (supposed to use less power than other colours of Caviar.)
Advice please.

 

[RayLopez99]

IBM 8113 desktops (M52 Thinkcentre) were sold with only a single
hard drive for reasons of ventilation (the manual says) i.e. cooling.
They have a a single IDE connector and four unused SATA connectors.
The manual lists approved PATA and SATA drives up to 250 Gb
capacity.

How about putting a terabyte drive (WD Caviar Green) into this unit?
What harm could it possibly do?   I am thinking that when this PC
went on the market there were no terabyte drives, let alone
"Green" (supposed to use less power than other colours of Caviar.)
Advice please.

Well how much heat does the WD Caviar Green generate? If more than
your original drive, then possibly you can overheat. If so, just add
an extra fan.

As for the original design, it sounds pretty crappy by IBM, for them
only to have designed for one drive.

RL

 

[Paul]

IBM 8113 desktops (M52 Thinkcentre) were sold with only a single
hard drive for reasons of ventilation (the manual says) i.e. cooling.
They have a a single IDE connector and four unused SATA connectors.
The manual lists approved PATA and SATA drives up to 250 Gb
capacity.

How about putting a terabyte drive (WD Caviar Green) into this unit?
What harm could it possibly do? I am thinking that when this PC
went on the market there were no terabyte drives, let alone
"Green" (supposed to use less power than other colours of Caviar.)
Advice please.

Many drives have datasheets. Compare the active power numbers, and
see how bad each candidate can get.

You'd start by getting datasheets for the approved ones, to get
+5V and +12V current numbers. Then compare to the same kind of
numbers on your terabyte drives.

*******

I doubt your machine has good enough expansion slots, to make
it practical to add an ESATA add-in card, and support a couple
of external self-powered ESATA drives. That would be another way
to do it. I'd look for a PCI Express x1 SIL3132 based card, with
two connectors on it, something like this. But if your machine
doesn't have the slots, then this isn't the right way to go.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816215155

Chances are, you're already using the best slot in there, for
a graphics card to replace the 945G.

Paul

 

[Flasherly]

IBM 8113 desktops (M52 Thinkcentre) were sold with only a single
hard drive for reasons of ventilation (the manual says) i.e. cooling.
They have a a single IDE connector and four unused SATA connectors.
The manual lists approved PATA and SATA drives up to 250 Gb
capacity.

How about putting a terabyte drive (WD Caviar Green) into this unit?
What harm could it possibly do? I am thinking that when this PC
went on the market there were no terabyte drives, let alone
"Green" (supposed to use less power than other colours of Caviar.)
Advice please.

250G and running x4 larger...no more harm than x10 at 2.5G.

With a 754 socketed AMD there's absolutely no harm optionally running
up to a 1.5T;- biggest I got, since the 1T Samsung green won't run in
it, either.

For now I've an open USB docking station, although no doubt PCI
controllers for beyond huge are just around the corner (way cheaper
than $40 and what the hell's SATA3 yet/already?)

What they really need to do is get the show together and put a mini
controller chip on the end of SATA cable, like those $6USD PATA>SATA
spud converters via Ebay's Hong Kong to-your-doorstep market.

 

[Al Dykes]

250G and running x4 larger...no more harm than x10 at 2.5G.

With a 754 socketed AMD there's absolutely no harm optionally running
up to a 1.5T;- biggest I got, since the 1T Samsung green won't run in
it, either.

For now I've an open USB docking station, although no doubt PCI
controllers for beyond huge are just around the corner (way cheaper
than $40 and what the hell's SATA3 yet/already?)

What they really need to do is get the show together and put a mini
controller chip on the end of SATA cable, like those $6USD PATA>SATA
spud converters via Ebay's Hong Kong to-your-doorstep market.

Done.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066

It comes in two flavors; eSATA+USB and SATA+USB.

 

[Flasherly]

Done.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066

It comes in two flavors; eSATA+USB and SATA+USB.

There's only one true flavor: free.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182221

Didn't pay nada on that done combo deal on a green drive.