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Thread ID: 110948 2010-07-08 00:47:00 Upgrading Internal Hard Drive Bobh (5192) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1117069 2010-07-08 00:47:00 I currently have a WDC WD800BB-00JHA0 ATA 80 Gigabyte internal hard drive. I am wanting to upgrade this with a higher capacity hard drive. I'd expect to spend up to $200.

I have a pentium 4 motherboard.

Would the more modern hard drives be compatible? I am worried about making the mistake of buying a new drive that does not slide into the old slot in the case (wrong size) or has new type plugs that are incompatible with my older machine.

I have in latter years found it a simple matter to install a hard drive.
Bobh (5192)
1117070 2010-07-08 03:55:00 The hard drives are still the same size so you should have no problems. Just be sure to get an ATA drive, unless your motherboard has sATA ports, in which case you could get a sATA hard drive. You will need to buy a sATA cable if you go this way. FoxyMX (5)
1117071 2010-07-08 04:19:00 If you don't wanna reinstall everything - create an image and reload this onto the new HDD. Nomad (952)
1117072 2010-07-08 04:26:00 Or just leave everything where it is and use the new drive for data only. FoxyMX (5)
1117073 2010-07-08 04:33:00 You may have problems putting too large a hard disk into your computer. In the P4 era, you often had to flash your bios to get it to recognize larger hard drives. Do you know the make and model, and bios version of your motherboard. McRuff (12291)
1117074 2010-07-08 04:40:00 Thanks for your advise. I think that I am now on the right track. Got this reply from Computerlounge;

"It seems the hard drive you currently have is a ATA or IDE hard drive.

This is different to the SATA hard drives used today;

You would have to see if your motherboard has SATA connections on board"

I think that Computerlounge have quite a few ATA Western Digital internal drives.
Bobh (5192)
1117075 2010-07-08 04:45:00 I think that Computerlounge have quite a few ATA Western Digital internal drives.

You might like to compare their prices with Ascent (www.ascent.co.nz).
FoxyMX (5)
1117076 2010-07-08 08:09:00 You may have problems putting too large a hard disk into your computer. In the P4 era, you often had to flash your bios to get it to recognize larger hard drives. Do you know the make and model, and bios version of your motherboard.
Board and BIOS details

3.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 05/24/2005
Board: Springdale
Hyper-threaded (2 total)
Bobh (5192)
1117077 2010-07-08 09:30:00 Sorry but that tells us nothing much at all.

You need to actual board model number, Springdale is simply the codename for the Intel 865PE Chipset.

A program such as Everest will be able to find this for you. You can download a trial 30-day version from their website (www.lavalys.com)
Agent_24 (57)
1117078 2010-07-08 10:37:00 Sorry but that tells us nothing much at all.

You need to actual board model number, Springdale is simply the codename for the Intel 865PE Chipset.

A program such as Everest will be able to find this for you. You can download a trial 30-day version from their website (www.lavalys.com)
Motherboard Name Albatron PX865PE7 (Pro) / PX865PE7C (Pro) /
Motherboard ID 05/24/2005-Springdale-6A79BBK6C-00
PX865PEC Pro
Motherboard Chipset Intel Springdale i865PE
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 3200 MHz (16 x 200)
Computer Type ACPI x86-based PC
Bobh (5192)
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