Can I do this?

[George Hester]

I have an IO PCI card. It has two IDE channels. I want to attach 4 harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

 

[=?windows-1252?Q?Jan-Peter_R=FChmann?=]

I have an IO PCI card. It has two IDE channels. I want to attach 4 harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

Theoreticaly yes.

But the better way I Think is to use so called Y-Cables if your Power
Supply has enough Power.

I think thats Better Mainly because you dont have to Power down two
Power Units than and dont get the Risc of sidefects between them.

Since the Cables are Cheap, last time I buyed some the cost 75,€Cent per
Piece.That should be no Problem.

Till then,
Jan-Peter

 

[DL]

Messy/dangerous but yes.
Better to ensure your existing Pwr supply has the capacity, or buy a decent
brand new supply, and if neccessary pwr cable splitters.
PS ensure your case has sufficient cooling, sound like things might start
getting warm.

I have an IO PCI card. It has two IDE channels. I want to attach 4
harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do
not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the
Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the
hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO
itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

 

[Rob Stow]

I have an IO PCI card. It has two IDE channels. I want to attach 4 harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

Why not just get an external hard drive enclosure, with its own
built in power supply, and put the four drives in that ?

Do a search for "Network Attached Storage" and you should find
lots of products to choose from.

 

[George Hester]

Here is the Power Supply:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6755629584&category=3670

What do you think of a Y-Cable with that?

 

[George Hester]

Something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51234&item=5775488105&rd=1

I don't know all I want is a tin box with ledges to rest the harddrives on with a Power Supply in it and openings to run the IDE cables (2) to the PCI card. Maybe I could just make one with the setup I described earlier?

 

[Dan Seur]

This question as stated is a bit like asking "Can I eat more pie?"

The answer is yes indeed, but be sure you understand the consequences if
it turns out to be a bad idea given the unstated facts of your situation.

 

[DL]

No thats a server

Something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51234&item=5775488105&rd=1

I don't know all I want is a tin box with ledges to rest the harddrives on
with a Power Supply in it and openings to run the IDE cables (2) to the PCI
card. Maybe I could just make one with the setup I described earlier?

--
George Hester
_______________________________
harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do
not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the
Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the
hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO
itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

 

[DL]

Unfortunately that tells you v'little about the supply.
Not all pwr supplies are the same, a quality pwr supply is a must with
modern systems and their appetite for a clean stable supply
eg http://www.antec.com/us/pro_powerSupply.html

Here is the Power Supply:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6755629584&category=3670

What do you think of a Y-Cable with that?

--
George Hester
_______________________________
harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do
not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the
Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the
hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO
itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

 

[Colon Terminus]

Sure, not a problem.

You need to connect the green wires of each PS together.
You need to connect one of the black wires of each PS together.
Once you've done the above, plug 'em in and go fer it!


I have an IO PCI card. It has two IDE channels. I want to attach 4
harddrives to it. But each harddrive is going to take a power plug and I do
not have any to spare. I also have a Power Supply. Can I just plug the
Power supply into the wall? Plug the IDE Power connectors into the
hardrives? Plug in nothing else of the Power supply (ie to the MOBO
itself)? and be off to the races? Thanks. This will be with Windows 2000.

 

[George Hester]

Well I believe that gives you some idea of the system. It's not really very modern as it came with Windows 98. I do not want to burnout my MOBO by putting a "better" Power Supply in that it cannot handle. So even though that page did NOT explain very well what the specs were on the Power Supply it did give you a good idea of the system for that is what it is. So I would need to know what would be a "better" Power Supply for that system. Thanks.

 

[George Hester]

No it is not. Maybe to a pie eater it is but it is a legitimate question. I can do what I asked. My only fear was that somehow the connections of the Power Supply to the Mother Board are ncessary for succesful operation of the harddrives in the system. And it seems by the answers I have gotten the answer is no. That is sufficient for me. I would prefer to do it the right way but I'm having trouble finding the right way at a reasonable cost as suggested by an adjacent post.

 

[George Hester]

I hope you are not kidding Colon. No one else said that and I'm looking for those colored wires as we speak.

 

[George Hester]

Both I guess are refered to as NAS and so my difficulty is seperating the wheat from the chaffe.

 

[DL]

The type/size of the pwr supply is dependent on your cpu requirements and
the number of components you wish to use.
Your mobo, assuming correct pwr connectors, will not be compromised by the
pwr supply, nor is win* part of the equation.
If your sys case has no room to house the extra hd's you will need an
external hd enclosure.
If you can fit the extra hd's in your case it is likely you will need extra
cooling.
If you are going to the trouble, and I assume expense, of adding 4 hd's you
might want to rethink your options, starting with your sys box, then pwr
supply. At present you seem to be thinking along the lines of a compromise -
or dogs dinner - which will eventually lead to further compromises/expense
should you wish to further modify your sys.
BTW what current disk config do you have, what sizes do you wish to add?

Well I believe that gives you some idea of the system. It's not really very
modern as it came with Windows 98. I do not want to burnout my MOBO by
putting a "better" Power Supply in that it cannot handle. So even though
that page did NOT explain very well what the specs were on the Power Supply
it did give you a good idea of the system for that is what it is. So I
would need to know what would be a "better" Power Supply for that system.
Thanks.

 

[George Hester]

Here is the system:

http://support.gateway.com/support/srt/docs.asp

Would this handle the Y-Cables for what I want to do as suggested by the op?

 

[DL]

That only links to the support page wher you need to enter your serial
number

Here is the system:

http://support.gateway.com/support/srt/docs.asp

Would this handle the Y-Cables for what I want to do as suggested by the op?

 

[George Hester]

Crap. It does come up at the right place here. I gotta cookie. Well I can't give you the serial number here. Let's try this:

http://support.gateway.com/support/supinfo/content.asp?id=499577 or this

http://support.gateway.com/s//POWER/q00323/6500323nv.shtml

 

[George Hester]

OK why would the type and size of the Power supply matter to the CPU if I set it up they way I originally asked about? Yes I know if I - replaced - the one I have with a "better" one then it does matter.

I'm trying to find a Hard Disk enclosure but I keep coming up with servers or enclosures that only house only one harddrive with all kinds of bells and whistles. All I want is a fan and slots for harddrives and of course it's own Power Supply with 4 IDE cable Power connectors.

Really man I'm trying to do it right within reason of cost and with a minimum of system Hardware changes. Especially when it comes to anything to do with the MOBO. Since I'm MOBO challenged.

I already have the four harddrives. I use them like floppies. And no I don't have one of those hotswap trays. The configuration is just 3 hardrives 2 on Primary IDE Channel and the other on Secondary IDE Channel. All set up as Basic disks. All Partions Primary although none are really currently bootable except the one the system is booting from. The additional Harddrives in the system will just be Basic all Primary Partitiions but none actually bootable. Don't need that.

 

[DL]

200 watt - I'd say far too small, but as I said it depends on cpu wattage +
Vid + disks etc requirement.
If you use to lower pwr it can lead to all sorts of problems - blue screens,
vid corruption,hd corruption etc.

Since you have sys built by a major vendor you may find universal upgrade
components, eg mobo, pwr supply may not fit, as these sys builders tend to
source components specific to their sys.
Dell is the same, trying to fit a new non dell mobo into a dell sys is a
major pain!

Crap. It does come up at the right place here. I gotta cookie. Well I
can't give you the serial number here. Let's try this:

http://support.gateway.com/support/supinfo/content.asp?id=499577 or this

http://support.gateway.com/s//POWER/q00323/6500323nv.shtml