scottw@hcx1.SSD.HARRIS.COM (05/07/87)
I am considering making changes in my PC and would like any information which a knowledgable person could give. I have a true IBM PC (purchased 3/82) that I would like to upgrade. Currently I have 640k, 2 360k disks, a Hayes modem, cga, and printer. All five slots on my machine are full. I definitly want to add a 20 Mbyte hard disk. If I still have money left over then possibly an accelerator card. The question that I have is this: Does the power supply in my PC have enough power to run a hard disk in addition to all the rest of the equipment? If I buy an external hard disk does this help the situation? I know that most external disk drives have their own power supply. If I add an accelerator card does this require more power? Some advertisers claim that their hard disks on a card can run on a stock PC without adding a new power supply. Is this claim true? In the latest issue of PC magazine I saw a board advertised which allowed you to put two half length cards in one slot. This would free up a slot so that I could put in an accelerator card or hard disk on a card. It would seem that placing two cards in the place of one would require more power (6 cards instead of 5). Is this true? If anyone out there has added a hard disk to their stock PC (with no open slots) succesfully please let me know how you did it. I know that this is a rather long note but my hope is to try and anticipate any possible problems. Please send e-mail directly to me or if you feel your comments are general enough then reply to this note. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scott L. Wiegel Harris Computer Systems Division 2101 W. Cypress Creek Rd. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 UUCP:slwiegel@hcx1.harris.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
alab@ur-tut.UUCP (Daniel F. Luna) (05/10/87)
In article <47200004@hcx1> scottw@hcx1.SSD.HARRIS.COM writes: > > The question that I have is this: Does the power supply in my PC > have enough power to run a hard disk in addition to all the rest of > the equipment? If I buy an external hard disk does this help the > situation? I know that most external disk drives have their own > power supply. If I add an accelerator card does this require more > power? > The PC power supply produces a mere 63.5 watts. It will support 2 drives and 5 slots. Any two drives are ok, I think. I have put a 20MB hard disk on mine, but had to get rid of the second floppy. > Some advertisers claim that their hard disks on a card can run on > a stock PC without adding a new power supply. Is this claim true? A hard disk on card seems to follow the rule. It is a card... > If anyone out there has added a hard disk to their stock PC > (with no open slots) succesfully please let me know how you did it. A power supply upgrade is possible for some $ (under 80 I think) which will allow more drives, etc. Another possible alternative is the externally powered device, or an expansion chassis. The chassis gives several more card slots, and room for a hard disk. It uses the expansion port on the back of the floppy adapter (as I recall) so no additional card slots in the PC will be taken. -- Daniel F. Luna PC-Person. uucp: ...rochester!ur-tut!alab arpa: ur-tut!alab@rochester Standard Disclaimer. If it don't work, it ain't my fault.