Adding hard drive on my Dell inspiron 580

I want to add an additional hdd on my pc since i am running out of space. Is this hard drive going to work on my dell inspiron 580? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002P3KO7O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_p... I want the HDD mostly to install games and some programs. Also i have never added an hdd before what do i need to do

Edit: I have also found those two:

Seagate 500GB Internal Hard Drive SATA 3.5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-500GB-Internal-Hard-Drive-SATA-3-5-ST500DM002-7200RPM-16MB-Cache-6-0Gbs/152595075489

Western Digital Blue 500GB SATA II 3.5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Western-Digital-Blue-500GB-SATA-II-3-5-Desktop-Hard-drive-7200RPM/221874814952

The one is Sata 3 and the other one Sata 2. My motherboard only supports Sata 2. Is it worth to install the Sata 3? If yes, will my motherboard support Sata 3 data cable?

csandreas1

Posted 2017-07-24T07:12:03.210

Reputation: 184

Answers

The WD 500 gig is the best of a very bad bunch of options. It should perform more reliably, and a lot faster then the WD Green drive. Likefor-like the WD drives of that era are more reliable then Seagates, but they are both crap because of age and the reduced precision caused by factory changes in the aftermath of the Flood in Thailand. (The WD blue and Seagate Barracuda are the same class drives)

( The WD Green drive should work OK in the system - but its not a great choice of drive for most uses. Its a low-end drive, small (so older - indeed likely 4 years old old stock and probably refurbished - which means even lower reliability - you should check), slow. Note that while they do work, these drives are not designed for use in a PC. If you are wanting scratch space to store copies of movies you are torrenting they may be OK, but I would not use them for much else. )

I've installed drives in plenty of Dell computers, but not this specific one.

The general overview is:

Turn off and unplug the computer [ there is minor controversy over unplugging it or leaving it plugged in for better grounding]
While continually touching a metal part of the case with some part of your body open up the case, insert/mount the drive (may or may not require screws and SATA cable - so you may want to look first / get these in case ),
Connect the power and SATA cables
Close the computer, start computer and load into BIOS.
Make sure hard drive is detected and set boot order as appropriate.

Done !

davidgo

Posted 2017-07-24T07:12:03.210

Reputation: 49 152

i mostly want the hdd to install games and some programs – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:01:04.927

what low budget drive you suggest under 500 gb. Mostly i want it to install games – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:04:09.147

1Unless you have a REALLY tight budget, I think this drive is a mistake. Have you worked out how much space you need ? Games and programs really benefit from faster disks - I'd typically put them on an SSD - but a WD Blue or Black drive would give you higher reliability and better performance. What is the maximum you are willing to spend, and the minimum amount of disk you need ? Why does it need to be under 500 gb ? – davidgo – 2017-07-24T08:04:59.097

because i do not need more. Anyway i am whilling to spend ~30-40 euros – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:05:57.983

can you format a bit the steps on how to install the hdd with 1)... 2).. and some bolds and break lines? – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:08:38.460

My motherboard doesn't support sata 3. Only sata 2. 3 gb / s – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:10:28.357

WEll this hard drive is wd why you say it is bad? – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:15:59.113

A SATA 3 drive will work fine with a SATA2 motherboard. Smaller hard drives are typically older and less reliable then large ones - unless you go for SSD's - which are way more expensive per gig but worth every cent (5-15 times the speed and reliability). I'll look for some suggestions. – davidgo – 2017-07-24T08:18:22.463

2Hard drive is bad because WD "Green" drives are the slowest drives and are, I think, the lowest end drives WD sell. They are designed for use in DVR recorders, not PC's. This drive is also old - which means old technology - there was a major flood in Thailand that caused a dip in drive quality from both WD and Toshiba for this era drive. The drive you are seeing is probably refurbished - and refurbished does not equate to vendor melted down drive - they are not as good. – davidgo – 2017-07-24T08:21:37.400

Do i need to purchase data cable? – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T08:29:05.097

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

– davidgo – 2017-07-24T08:29:15.607

It being a "Green" drive shouldn't make much of a difference - levels may take a little longer to load in games, but once loaded the gameplay is going to be no different than if you had an SSD in the same system as it is all loaded into the RAM (assuming you hav enough RAM.) The typical user, even a gamer doesn't hit the HDD enough to justify a premium for reliability (like enterprise server drives for example) – Baldrickk – 2017-07-24T16:17:20.990

@davidgo I have edited my question, feel free to add additional information to your answer. – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T19:21:12.297

Will it work? Yes.

Is it a good choice? No, for several reasons.

First, it's a "Western Digital Green" drive. These drives are designed to maximize power savings, at the cost of being much, much slower than other drives. You say you're going to install games on this drive: picture what your game experience would be like if you had to wait ten seconds for the hard drive to power itself up every time you changed maps.
Second, it's an "OEM" drive: the package contains the hard drive and nothing else. It's intended for computer builders and others who have things like spare SATA cables and mounting screws just lying around in their parts box. Someone who has never installed a hard drive before probably won't have any of these parts.
Third, it's old. It's quite likely that this hard drive was manufactured in 2012 or so, and has been sitting around in a warehouse ever since. Things with moving parts don't do too well just sitting in storage.

Given your budget, you're pretty much stuck with getting an old drive, but the other two points can be avoided. Look for a hard drive in retail packaging: it will cost you an extra 5-10 euro, but it will come with all the parts you need to install the drive in your computer. And get something -- anything -- that isn't a Western Digital Green drive.

Mark

Posted 2017-07-24T07:12:03.210

Reputation: 1 304

I have edited my question, feel free to add additional information to your answer. – csandreas1 – 2017-07-24T19:21:01.117

Both the drives you found are also OEM (no screws or cables). – Mark – 2017-07-25T20:58:46.197

i bought this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LNJBA2I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

– csandreas1 – 2017-07-25T22:10:25.747

Yes it will work. Nowadays the most common connection is SATA and as long as the form factor is compatible you can use them on any computer. Desktop PC like your can accomodate 3.5" and 2.5" drives, while notebook only 2.5" ones. Newest computer can attach also M2 drives, but on desktop computers you can mix almost everything.

The Hard Disk you are linking is very common so you can safely go for it. I don't recall if they come with a sata connector included so, if you don't have a spare, better buy it also.

Federico Galli

Posted 2017-07-24T07:12:03.210

Reputation: 248

1Of the hundreds of drives I've bought I've never seen one come with an included SATA connector (or screws for that matter) - but there are often screws/mounting brackets and SATA connectors in the case. – davidgo – 2017-07-24T07:56:12.557

As @davidgo says you could prefere a different hard drive. On budget ones go for a wd blue or a newer wd green. – Federico Galli – 2017-07-24T08:02:16.913