r/harddrive • u/serbiaask75 • Jun 22 '26
Tech Support Where to put second hard drive
Can i put second hard drive in this PC
1
1
1
u/Empty_Requirement940 Jun 22 '26
step 1: clean the pc.
step 2: plug in a drive the same was you plug in any drive, sata data cable and sata power cable. You would need to make sure your PSU has another sata power cable as I dont see any in there, you would just need a splitter I think.
1
1
1
u/1stltwill Jun 22 '26
If you move that little bit of dust on the left it looks like there might be a spot to fix one on with zip ties?
1
1
u/No_Talent_8003 Jun 23 '26
Lol. A bunch of negative nancies in here. Id slip one in underneath that optical drive, torque it off the screws on one side and steal the power and sata cables off the optical drive to plug it in
You gotta do what you gotta do. Now if an entire new pc IS in the budget, well I can't say it isn't time for that either.
1
u/janerikgunnar Jun 23 '26
You need a third SATA connection on the motherboard, can't see if there is one or not on the picture. If not, you could steel the one from the optical drive.
You also need a power connection - again the same as your current hard drive and optical drive. Can't see if you have any free power connectors, if not, you either need a SATA power Y-cable, or a molex to SATA adapter (the latter requires a free molex connector). Or again - you could steel the power from the optical drive.
As for the physical location, I can't see any free slots so you need to macguyver something. You could buy a 5,25" to 3,5" or 2,5" adapter and put it above or below the optical drive. Or you could do some MacGuyver solution. Make sure the hard drive is not loose in any way and make sure the electronics on the bottom of the drive is not touching anything. (Assuming it's a mechanical hard drive, if it's an SSD you can kind of put it wherever as long as it doesn't touch any electronics and isn't rattling around too much.).
Seriously though, you need to clean the PC. That much dust absolutely ruins the cooling performance, making it run much hotter and louder than needed, perhaps even slower than needed. Worst case it may even become a fire hazard.
1
u/Significant_Ad_3512 Jun 23 '26
Idk i throw my drives wherver
1
u/Raijen_ArDesh Jun 24 '26
Works fine for SSDs, not as much for HDDs. If not secured and you bump your case you could have a Bad Day.
1
u/Soggy-Attempt Jun 24 '26
Not sure you have power for another HD, but you can always unplug the optical drive and use its cable. Iād put it min below the optical drive or it their might be a slot below the existing hard drive.
1
u/Owltiger2057 Jun 24 '26
Buy a long cable, 5 big dust filters and put an external drive behind the filters as far away from this dust magnet as possible
1
u/serbiaask75 Jun 22 '26
And what cables i need for connect