Adding 2nd Hard drive to a Dell E510

Question

Hello!  I have a question that the Dell tech rep couldn't give me a firm answer on.  My system came with the 160GB SATA hard drive.  I want to add another drive into the extra bay - I see I have an extra SATA power point on the mother board.  I also see I have a power cable and a gray ribbon cable (IDE?) attached to the hard drive frame.  It appears these cables were placed there in case of adding an extra drive.   Has anyone added an extra hard drive?  Is it better to stick with SATA performance wise?  What is the best type of hard drive to get (in the 7200rpm area)?   Thanks in advance for the help!   Joe

ejn63 · Answer

The system will handle only two EIDE devices.

The hard drives need to be Serial ATA and you will need a data cable for the second drive; there is not one in the system.

Seagate, WD, Hitachi and Samsung all make good EIDE drives. The Maxtor-designed drives have been problematic, but note that the newer ones now appearing are rebadged Seagates, and except for the shorter warranty, should be fine (Maxtor is now part of Seagate).

ibcop2 · Answer

So, if I have the factory SATA drive, I can add an EIDE drive?   Thanks for the response.

ejn63 · Answer

Only if you have just one optical drive - if you have two, you can't. Even if you have only one optical drive, you'll likely need 5.25" adapter, since the hard drive and optical drive will need to be mounted very near each other for cabling purposes.

You are much better off buying a SATA drive for this system.

ibcop2 · Answer

Hmmm......I do have 2 optical drives (both burners).  Why would Dell place the power cable and gray cable right next to the 2nd hard drive bay?  It seems to me they put the cables there for the extra drive capability.  I wonder if I can upload an image of what I am talking about?

ejn63 · Answer

I know newegg.com will ship to US overseas military bases; you might also consider having someone making a trip there buy for you in the US and bring you the drive.

ejn63 · Answer

The second hard drive bay in that model is at the very bottom of the system, on the left as you remove the side panel.

It sounds like you're talking about the IDE ribbon cable that runs at the top front of the system. There's a bay there for a floppy drive, not for a hard drive.

The SATA data cable and power cables run very close to the hard drives. There should be an unused plastic carrier for the drive, but there's no data cable there. You will need a right-angle SATA data cable, as there is almost no clearance between the drive bay and the sheet metal cover to the case.

If you have two optical drives, you CANNOT add another EIDE device unless you install a controller card or use an EIDE to SATA converter, which will make the cost of an EIDE drive higher than it would be to get the SATA drive in the first place.

The other issue is that if you plan to have the ability to move the drive to a newer system, you should note that support for EIDE drives is very rapidly disappearing from new systems - the new Dells use SATA optical drives as well as SATA hard drives, and have no support for EIDE drives at all.

Within a few months, EIDE will have totally disappeared from new systems.

ibcop2 · Answer

Yes, you have hit the nail on the head.  I do have another slot for a floppy. I have the media reader installed, but no actual 3.5' floppy drive.   Okay, I will go with a SATA drive.  Those are somewhat hard to find here (I am in Germany - US Military).  Do you know of a good place to order from?   Thanks for the inform on the cable, too!   Happy Thanksgiving.   Joe

ibcop2 · Answer

OK, hopefully this will be the last question:  Are the SATA drives the same as SATA II drives?  Is the cable the same?

ejn63 · Answer

They're not the same, but SATA3G is backward compatible with SATA 150.

neoncoax · Answer

Ok just to be sure here.  The E510 has the capacity for two EIDE devices and two SATA devices.  Regular SATA will work.  Though I'm a little confused about whether the other formats will.   There is a power cable in the box for a second hard drive, however there isn't a data cable.   If I remeber correctly SATA drives tend to come with a data cable, however there could be issues with physically getting it to fit depending on it's shape (could this issues prevent installation or just make it difficult). Message Edited by neoncoax on 11-23-200611:30 PM

shesagordie · Answer

neoncoax wrote:

Ok just to be sure here. The E510 has the capacity for two EIDE devices and two SATA devices. Regular SATA will work. Though I'm a little confused about whether the other formats will.

Both SATA 150 and SATA 300 should work. SATA 300 hard drives are backwards compatible.

There is a power cable in the box for a second hard drive, however there isn't a data cable.

Correct.

If I remeber correctly SATA drives tend to come with a data cable, however there could be issues with physically getting it to fit depending on it's shape (could this issues prevent installation or just make it difficult).

Maybe.

If you buy an OEM [Bare] hard drive, the cable is not included. The retail boxed version SATA hard drive has a cable, but it will be an 18" 180* x 180* [straight] SATA data cable and you will need a 90* [right angle] x 180* x 22" or longer SATA data cable.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

ibcop2 · Answer

Great info.  WIll all that being said, where is the best place to buy the drive/cable(s)?   Thanks again for everyone's help!  :smileyhappy:

shesagordie · Answer

ibcop2 www.newegg.com   Bev.         Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

ibcop2 · Answer

Bev.   Thanks for the info.   Best,   Joe

shesagordie · Answer

Joe.

Pleased to have helped. :)

Have a great weekend.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

Storage, Drives & Media

Adding 2nd Hard drive to a Dell E510

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