The most convenient way is to add extra storage so that you might keep your favorite files.
Eventually, a question might poke you about the number of hard drives your pc can handle.
Lets dive into it.
What are The Factors Affecting Hard Drive Numbers on a PC?
If you got some extra bucks, it will be a wise decision to obtain a new hard drive.
That way, you could store your favorite copies of games or movies.
However, there are some factors that affect the number of hard drives on your rig.
So before spending more, you oughta find those.
Here are the factors to determine how many hard drives you need on a PC:
1.
Depending on the form factor, most modern motherboards containfourtoeight L-shapedSATA ports.
This number indicates how many SATA-connected hard drives you’re able to attach.
Besides, most modern Mobos integrate M.2 slots, which are much faster than SATA.
The availability of this port can help you to pile up your storage number.
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Windows Partition Style
Your Operating System also influences how hard drives will be addressed.
Windows consists of two partition styles: one of which is MBR & the rest is GPT.
MBR style uses 32-bit address space.
For this reason, the max sector count gets limited by 232x512 (around 2TB).
Additionally, it puts a cap on primary partitions to four.
However, the GPT style conquers this limitation & allows you up to 128 primary partitions.
Though the total consumption is not big, the number of cables can be a limiting factor for you.
One of my friends bought two HDDs, but his PSU lacks an extra power cable for hard drives.
Dont be like my friend & verify you have enough power connectors available.
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A compactmini-ITXcomputer casing is very limited to extra hard drives due to its nature.
However, from a mid-tower casing, you’re able to add several storage drives.
Usually, there is a cage for hard drives in front of the casing.
Here are the steps to verify how many hard drives your PC can support:
1.
If you are hesitant about your motherboard model, dont worry.
Here are the steps to check your motherboard model:
From there you will find your motherboards model.
Search online with the model name to find out about the number of SATA ports from the specification.
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you’re able to check your available SATA ports from the BIOS menu too.
As Im usingAorus b560MElite motherboard, I will show the steps to verify SATA ports from BIOS.
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Unscrew your PCs side casing from the back side.
initiate the side panel carefully.
Find SATA ports that look identical to L-shaped.
Count the physical ports & you will get your answer.
Latest motherboards include M.2 slots for NVME SSDs.
you could find that too near PCI-e x16 slots.
you’re able to install hard drives for the total number of M.2 Port & SATA ports.
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What Are The Consequences of Multiple Storage Drives?
When you are lacking disk space, extra storage drives help your workflow smooth.
But the forthcoming results may make you think twice.
So what can be some alternate ways if you dont want to use any internal HDDs or SSDs?
There are some backup solutions too to back up your data in extra space.
Most laptops usually have only one hard drive slot due to the nature of its portability.
However, modern laptops started to add one M.2 slot.
Without these, you’re free to also use the alternate backup methods as mentioned before.
FAQs
What is RAID?
What Mobo has the most SATA ports?
Onda B250 D32-D3motherboard has up to 32 SATA ports.
That can be the ideal solution for storage shortage.
