Putting a mechanical HDD in a drive caddy in CD space

[wylde]

Hey guys.

I've got a 17" i7 Pavillion with a 2TB mechanical drive and I want to add an SSD as my boot drive. These lovely lappies only have one drive bay so I was going to add the 2TB mech drive as extra storage...

1/ If I put the SSD in a caddy and put it where the CD drive is located I assume it'll be a sata 3 connection which means it should be just as fast as using the main drive bay, can I get a confirmation on that, please? It's just that I've read that it may be slower for some reason...

2/ If I put the SSD in my main drive bay and put the mech drive in the cd caddy in the opposite corner to where the cooling fan is located, will it run too hot?

3/ If I do run the SSD from the CD caddy and use it as my boot drive, it's simply a matter of changing the boot sequence in the BIOS?

I guess most of those are already answered, but I just wanted a second opinion...


Thank you.

 

[trents]

I would not worry too much about the temp issue.

I think your assumptions are probably correct in the other matters.

You might do well to disassemble the laptop to the point where you can blow out the CPU HSF with compressed air to ensure efficient cooling.

 

[EarthDog]

1. Not sure, but you are likely right. Perhaps email toshiba to confirm?

2. Sata based ssds do not run hot. The hdd will also be fine.

3. That sounds correct, yep.

 

[trents]

Toshiba got out of the consumer laptop business a couple years ago but hopefully there are some schematics available that can provide a definitive answer about your first question. Another option might be to check with the motherboard manufacturer.

 

[wylde]

Thanks, guys. I lost my eyes and only just found them again... Oh, how beautiful the world is when you can see the bugger.

Great. As I thought.

A few things -

A Pavillion is an HP.

This mech HDD is cooking all the time. I just put a new fan in and did what was advised with cleaning out the system whilst apart.
Still, like I said, it cooks when worked (directly under the drive) - I guess I asked to see if anybody else had done it...

I really don't think the CD caddy will get enough air for the mech HDD so I'm seriously looking at any speed loss from running the SSD from the caddy.

But, thank you both trents & EarthDog, I'll get in touch with HP for their opinion. Straight from the horses mouth is the best advice. It's much better than phone a friend like I was hoping for.


I'm really grateful for your replies. I'm in country Australia and my nearest PC nerd/buddy (not wanting to charge $125 per hour) is 200ks from me.

It looks like the SSD will go in the caddy - no moving parts/ no heat - and I'll be checking with the OEM about the speed.

Thanks again, and if you guys have any further input, I'll be happy to listen.

 

[EarthDog]

A Pavillion is an HP.

We knew that...

This mech HDD is cooking all the time. I just put a new fan in and did what was advised with cleaning out the system whilst apart.
Still, like I said, it cooks when worked (directly under the drive) - I guess I asked to see if anybody else had done it...

Define the temperature of 'cooks' please.

I really don't think the CD caddy will get enough air for the mech HDD so I'm seriously looking at any speed loss from running the SSD from the caddy.

?? No air for HDD so SSD has a speed loss? Please explain what you mean here? Not sure I get it.

and I'll be checking with the OEM about the speed.

What do you mean here?