Adding another serial HD

[UncleMeat]

My XPS Gen III came with a pair of the WD Raptor 74-gig HD's running in a raid 0 configuration. I want to add another large serial ATA HD to the system for storage purposes. Couple questions...

1. There are 4 serial ATA connections (2 channels) on the XPS Gen 3 MB, correct? Adding a 3rd serial ATA HD should not be a problem, right?

2. Is there a spare unused serial ATA power connector on the XPS Gen 3 power supply or will I need to purchase one of those molex to serial power adapters ?

3. How difficult will the new HD be to mount? Can I just screw it into an open bay or will I need to get some of those green plastic Dell drive adapters?

TIA!

U.M.

[ejeanpierre]

1. You shouldn't have any problems as long as you have an extra SATA cable, my system didn't come with any extra cables or rails.

2. There is a spare power connecter. In my system, it was tucked into the spare drive bay.

3. The only problem with mounting is you need the green drive rails. My system didn't have it so I had to buy them. You can call Dell for the part number, sorry I threw mine out, and I used it to buy a set on eBay at a much cheaper cost than what Dell was offering. You can try just screwing them in but I don't think it'll be worth the hassle.

I ordered my system with two drives, the 74g 10k and the WD 250g drives, but I needed a separate drive for backup. So I brought a WD 320g drive from Newegg and everything works fine. Make sure once the new drive is in place you go into the BIOS and activate it. Good luck.