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How many hard drives can my PSU support?

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Go to solution Solved by hawthorne,

Hard drives don't use a lot of power, to make a decision whether you need a new power supply we would need to know what other parts you have. However if the problem is that you have run out of sata power connectors, you could just purchase molex to sata power adaptors.

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Hello everyone,

 

 

I currently have two hard drives installed in my desktop computer. One of which is a SSD, and the other a normal HDD. I'm also have a 1TB hard drive that I have yet to install in my computer,

 

because I don't believe my PSU (not my motherboard) can support it. I have two extra sata cables, and like four extra ports on my motherboard, but when I checked to see if I had power cables

 

to power the hard drive, I couldn't find any. I've read forums on how to install more than two hard drives in one desktop, but everyone seems to only say that you need a sata cable, and enough

 

sata ports. They don't even mention powering the drive. So, my question is, can my computer really only have two drives in it? with six sata cables on the motherboard, I find it hard to believe.

 

I'm not gonna install Windows on the drive, so would a sata cable just be enough?

 

Thanks for reading 

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Just get one that connects via molex, also do you need to have the text like that?

 

Edit: Like a converter

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RAM: 8GB DDR3

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PSU: EVGA SUPERNOVA NEX650G

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Drive 1: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM

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You need a power cable to power a drive. You could SATA from psu or 4 pin molex. 

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Get a molex --> 4 SATA splitter, they cost like $5

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Just get a converter to the interface the HDD supports (molex or whatever). You can even get a spliter from 1 molex to 2 molex. Depends how much power your PSU has? How much does your system draw?

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  • Solution

Hard drives don't use a lot of power, to make a decision whether you need a new power supply we would need to know what other parts you have. However if the problem is that you have run out of sata power connectors, you could just purchase molex to sata power adaptors.

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What PSU do you have?

430 watt Corsiar PSU. I don't think the issue is if I have enough watts to power it though.

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Just get a converter to the interface the HDD supports (molex or whatever). You can even get a spliter from 1 molex to 2 molex. Depends how much power your PSU has? How much does your system draw?

430 watts

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Get a molex --> 4 SATA splitter, they cost like $5

Could you link me to one of them? Thanks

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As long as you have enough cables you can support quite a lot.

Our Grace. The Feathered One. He shows us the way. His bob is majestic and shows us the path. Follow unto his guidance and His example. He knows the one true path. Our Saviour. Our Grace. Our Father Birb has taught us with His humble heart and gentle wing the way of the bob. Let us show Him our reverence and follow in His example. The True Path of the Feathered One. ~ Dimboble-dubabob III

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Molex to SATA. a la :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Internal-Power-Splitter-Cable-Adapter/dp/B0048OHTGM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1400338119&sr=8-3&keywords=molex+to+sata+convertor

 

87 P(say $1.48) mind you it is only two way. Sure Amazon for the US will have the same.

 Two motoes to live by   "Sometimes there are no shortcuts"

                                           "This too shall pass"

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