What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer?

ryan29121 · 02-27-08, 10:08 PM

I heard somewhere that you are only able to have 2 disc drives installed in a single computer. Is it possible to have up to 4 drives installed and working? The computer that I want this for is set up with two drives currently installed with both connections being IDE. Could I install two more drives with those both being SATA connections? Thanks in advance for your help.

einstein_314 · 02-27-08, 11:10 PM

Lol, you definately heard wrong. Each IDE channel on your motherboard can support 2 hard drives. So if you have 2 IDE connectors on motherboard, you can have 4 hard drives/optical drives.

There is no limit as far as I know for a maximum number of drives. Just keep plugging them in. Buy more SATA PCI controllers and keep adding drives. I've currently got 3 SATA hard drives and 1 SATA DVD-Burner.

ryan29121 · 02-28-08, 07:57 AM

Thanks for the help. I guess I figured you could have as many as you want because of the amount of hard drives you can have.

Tr1cK · 02-28-08, 08:09 AM

I'm guessing as many as you want as long as you can suitably run the drive controller and have open drive letters for assignment. Anybody know what happens in Windows OSes when you go past Z:?

stncttr908 · 02-28-08, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tr1cK

I'm guessing as many as you want as long as you can suitably run the drive controller and have open drive letters for assignment. Anybody know what happens in Windows OSes when you go past Z:?

You can mount drives to folders, but there is a strict 26 drive limit. Linux of course does not have this problem (hda1, 2, 3 or sda1, 2, etc.) Linux does have a limit, but it's very high. I don't know it off hand.

EciDemon · 02-28-08, 08:35 AM

Keep in mind, ide drives tend to get hot, so too many of then without some cooling or good airflow would raise ambient temperatures in the chassi. S-ata is much cooler running.
Edit: 160gb Seagate IDE around 40-45c and 500gb S-Ata Seagate around 20-25c in my chassi, there are plugins for Rivatuner to see this info for S.m.a.r.t enabled drives. Handy!

Tr1cK · 02-28-08, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EciDemon

Keep in mind, ide drives tend to get hot, so too many of then without some cooling or good airflow would raise ambient temperatures in the chassi. S-ata is much cooler running.
Edit: 160gb Seagate IDE around 40-45c and 500gb S-Ata Seagate around 20-25c in my chassi

huh?

I don't see what the interface has to do with the temperatures. It seems to me that the newer one would most likely have FDB which, I think, cause it to run cooler.

EciDemon · 02-28-08, 08:42 AM

Dunno why actually, it just is. My two sata discs are cool to the touch, my old IDE discs are not. A friend of mine told me this as I figured Sata would get even hotter as they are faster.
Edit: Btw what is FDB ?

**nekrosoft13** · 02-28-08, 08:45 AM

friends system, yes you can stick quite a few

Tr1cK · 02-28-08, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EciDemon

Dunno why actually, it just is. My two sata discs are cool to the touch, my old IDE discs are not. A friend of mine told me this as I figured Sata would get even hotter as they are faster.
Edit: Btw what is FDB ?

Fluid Dynamic Bearing

EciDemon · 02-28-08, 08:51 AM

Ah Gotcha, I knew that lol

now where the heck is that slap me on my forehead smiley?

-=DVS=- · 02-28-08, 02:01 PM

This much

02-27-08, 10:08 PM	#1
ryan29121 mmmkay Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: United States, WI Posts: 297	What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? I heard somewhere that you are only able to have 2 disc drives installed in a single computer. Is it possible to have up to 4 drives installed and working? The computer that I want this for is set up with two drives currently installed with both connections being IDE. Could I install two more drives with those both being SATA connections? Thanks in advance for your help. __________________ \| Cooler Master Cosmos \| Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (F13C BIOS)\| \|Core 2 Quad Q6600 GO @ 3.40GHz w/ Zalman CNPS9700 NT \| EVGA 8800GT 512MB @ 700, 1025 w/ AC Accelero S1 \| \|OCZ GameXStream 700W \| 8GB G.SKILL DDR2 800 @ 1066, 4-4-4-12\| Seagate 7200.10 320GB & 7200.11 1TB \| \| Creative X-FI Platinum Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E \| x2 Samsung 245BW 24" \| \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| \| Logitech G15 \| Logitech G5 Ver.2 \|Logitech z5500 5.1 \| \|\|3dMark 06: 15003\|\| \|\|Games I'm Playing: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 dead 2, Dragon age, Borderlands\|\|

02-27-08, 11:10 PM	#2
einstein_314 w00t!! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Victoria, BC Posts: 2,905	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? Lol, you definately heard wrong. Each IDE channel on your motherboard can support 2 hard drives. So if you have 2 IDE connectors on motherboard, you can have 4 hard drives/optical drives. There is no limit as far as I know for a maximum number of drives. Just keep plugging them in. Buy more SATA PCI controllers and keep adding drives. I've currently got 3 SATA hard drives and 1 SATA DVD-Burner. __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.2GHz (9 x 355) w/ Swiftec APOGEE GTX Waterblock\|\| Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi Edition eVGA 8800 GTX Superclocked Edition @ 675/1150 w/ DangerDen 8800GTX Waterblock\|\| 4x1GB Mushkin XP2 PC2-8500 X-Fi Fatal1ty 64MB \|\| PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W \|\| Seagate 7200.10 320 GB \|\| Dell 2407WFP Logitech Z-5300 Speakers \|\| Sennheiser HD555's \|\| Logitech G7 \|\| Logitech G15 \|\| Windows Vista Ultimate x64

02-28-08, 07:57 AM	#3
ryan29121 mmmkay Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: United States, WI Posts: 297	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? Thanks for the help. I guess I figured you could have as many as you want because of the amount of hard drives you can have. __________________ \| Cooler Master Cosmos \| Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (F13C BIOS)\| \|Core 2 Quad Q6600 GO @ 3.40GHz w/ Zalman CNPS9700 NT \| EVGA 8800GT 512MB @ 700, 1025 w/ AC Accelero S1 \| \|OCZ GameXStream 700W \| 8GB G.SKILL DDR2 800 @ 1066, 4-4-4-12\| Seagate 7200.10 320GB & 7200.11 1TB \| \| Creative X-FI Platinum Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E \| x2 Samsung 245BW 24" \| \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| \| Logitech G15 \| Logitech G5 Ver.2 \|Logitech z5500 5.1 \| \|\|3dMark 06: 15003\|\| \|\|Games I'm Playing: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 dead 2, Dragon age, Borderlands\|\|

02-28-08, 08:09 AM	#4
Tr1cK not coming back Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 4,872	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? I'm guessing as many as you want as long as you can suitably run the drive controller and have open drive letters for assignment. Anybody know what happens in Windows OSes when you go past Z:?

02-28-08, 08:35 AM	#6
EciDemon Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,423	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? Keep in mind, ide drives tend to get hot, so too many of then without some cooling or good airflow would raise ambient temperatures in the chassi. S-ata is much cooler running. Edit: 160gb Seagate IDE around 40-45c and 500gb S-Ata Seagate around 20-25c in my chassi, there are plugins for Rivatuner to see this info for S.m.a.r.t enabled drives. Handy!

02-28-08, 08:42 AM	#8
EciDemon Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,423	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? Dunno why actually, it just is. My two sata discs are cool to the touch, my old IDE discs are not. A friend of mine told me this as I figured Sata would get even hotter as they are faster. Edit: Btw what is FDB ?

02-28-08, 08:45 AM	#9
nekrosoft13 I'm Geralt Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Chicagoland, once a year in Poland Posts: 24,364	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? friends system, yes you can stick quite a few __________________ Windows 8 the next big failure, right after Windows ME

02-28-08, 08:51 AM	#11
EciDemon Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,423	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? Ah Gotcha, I knew that lol now where the heck is that slap me on my forehead smiley?

02-28-08, 02:01 PM	#12
-=DVS=- .:. Lafiel .:. Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Outerspace Posts: 3,009	Re: What is the maximum amount of disc drive you can have in a computer? This much __________________ *.:. Lian Li X500FX .:. i7 2600k* .:. PNY GTX 680 .:. Corsair DDR3 8GB .:. Silverstone 800W PSU .:. Asus P8P67-M Pro .:. Crucial M4 SSD 512GB .:.**

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
New Western Digital drive performance	Nemesis	General Hardware	6	08-15-02 07:29 AM