I want to install a second hard drive in my laptop, need some advice.

[burstfyre20]

Ok, I have a Asus R500A-RS52 I bought almost a year ago. Its a pretty great laptop despite the fact it doesn't have very good graphics. Surprisingly, the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics isn't too bad for gaming. I can play skyrim at medium/'high' at 30FPS or better and other games like that. Currently, it has a 750GB 7200RPM hard drive in it and that's fairly big for a laptop but considering the size of my steam library and physcal disk library, its barely enough for steam alone. I want to get a 1TB Hard drive for my games and perhaps a SSD for OS and other programs. I'm not sure how to go about putting a second hard drive in my laptop. My first assumption is that I'd have to get rid of the optical drive but whenever I go into the bios, it says that SATA 0 is my hard drive and SATA 2 is my optical drive. Does that mean that SATA 1 is a second drive bay that's available?

 

[i7Baby]

You'd have to check what's what with your laptop yourself. Open it up and have a look.

 

[burstfyre20]

I have but I didn't really see anything that looked like a second drive bay. Though, I wasn't really looking for another drive bay when I opened it up a month ago, I was just dusting the heatsink and the fan out. I'll open it up again tomorrow when I have a chance, its kinda late right now.

 

[Syntax42]

Most laptops don't have room for a second hard drive. You can replace what you have and migrate your OS or reinstall your OS. If you need extra storage for media, get a NAS or a decent external drive.

I highly suggest using a SSD for your OS and games. This may require some uninstalling of older games, but the performance difference is worth it.

 

[burstfyre20]

Mmm...I agree but disagree. If it were a desktop, I'd easily go for a SSD without a second thought because I know I can have multiple drives in it. A laptop is generally limited to one, maybe two if the optical drive is interchangeable. Assuming the optical drive is removable, I'll get a 120/128GB SSD for OS and non-game related applications and a large mechanical drive for all my games and large file storage.

 

[Kris Degruytere]

The asus sports a 5400 rpm drive according to the website. I'm still baffeled why companies put these lower running disks in their machines, for a few dollars more of costsavings. Compare the responsiveness between a 5400 and a 7200 disk and you ll know.

The fact that its using sata 0 and sata2 doesnt mean a thing. Its just the way asus has been using the available port connectors. You will not have room for another disk in the chassis.

 

[burstfyre20]

Yeah, I did have a 5400RPM drive in it but I took one of the 750GB 7200RPM drives from my desktop. I have four 2.5" drives in my desktop so I wanted to take advantage of them. I got a three 750GB drives from nnewegg awhile back cause they were on sale with free shipping.

Anyways, so that means I'll have to ditch my optical drive if I want a second Hard drive. Where could I get a drive converter? I assume I'll need one.

 

[1shado1]

http/www.amazon.com/Protronix-Optical-Drive-Caddy-Universal/dp/B004XIUQYA#productDetails

Can be had in 12.7mm or 9.5mm high versions, depending on what you need.

 

[burstfyre20]

Awesome, thanks ^-^

 

[1shado1]

You're welcome.