Re: [LUG] Another hard disk question

On 9 October 2013 22:03, Martijn Grooten <dcglug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I've decived to buy a new hard disk for my desktop PC. An internal hard-drive, that is. PC is a few years old and is otherwise fine.

I know very little about hard disks (or hardware in general). Anything I should be looking out for? Anything to avoid? Anything to check to make sure it's compatible?

Hi Martijn,

Would need a little more info.

1. Is this to go in addition to your existing hard drive, or to replace it? (Space or speed!)

2. Do you know if your motherboard supports Pata or Sata. The former has either a big ribbon cable, or a fat round cable (which spreads to ribbon at the large connectors), and the big molex four-pin connectors. Sata has thin, flat cables and tidy little plugs and sockets and a similarly tidy power connector. Unless it's really quite old (6+ years?) then it's probably sata and your life just got easier. Google for images of the connectors if this description isn't enough.

3. Then - what do you want? If speed is your thing and it's sata, then SSD will knock your socks off. If it's space, then it would be worth trying to spot the motherboard's model number printed on it somewhere and check for compatibility - some bioses may have problems with the larger drives. What size do you have in mind?

IMO, actual manufacturer for a desktop makes little difference. There are some differences, notably green drives which are slower, but quieter and use less power.