eSATA hookup

[yogart]

I'm thinking of getting an external drive for video that connects by eSATA, but my PC only has interal SATA 300 connections. How would I install an external eSATA jack (that can plug into the cable to the external drive)?

[mrswla]

Check this out.

[Bjs]

Read toms hardware review ... This will help you with deciding what hardware is required in order to connect an esata unit to you current system

Note : Pci cards while they provide the interface do not provide full esata transfer speed due to pci bus restrictions

[redwudz]

I use several of those SATA PCI backplane adapters and they work great. If you don't have enough free SATA connections on your MB, then a X-1, PCI-E or PCI SATA adapter card is another way to go. Some have external eSATA connections to make it even easier. There are lots of options. The best thing is the eSATA drives will run at the same speed as your internal drives.

When using a PCI backplane adapter, you are generally limited to about a 1 meter eSATA cable. Regular eSATA is good for about twice that distance. Something to consider. Otherwise eSATA and SATA are basically the same.

You should also pick up a hand full of eSATA cables as they use a different connector than SATA and have better shielding. Your external eSATA devices would need the same connector.

[KBeee]

Sometimes you can be lucky and the SATA-eSATA bracket will come with the kit. I bought 3 Icydock external eSATA drives about a year ago, and ended up with 3 of these backplate brackets, only one of which I needed.

[redwudz]

I have also recieved the brackets with a couple of my Gigabyte MBs.

[yogart]

So once if I plug one of thess adapters in my MB to create an eSata connection, is it necessay to flip swithes or is it ready to go (just plug and play?)

[redwudz]

Just plug and play most times. Depends on your MB. One MB that I use I have to reboot for the drives to show. Most times you can hot plug the add on drive and it will show right away, just like when you plug in a USB thumb drive. Either way, there's no setup. The eSATA drives will operate the same as a internal drive once they are available on your 'Computer' page.

[Bjs]

Beware of the mechanical differences in the sockets ... SATA has an L shaped key where as ESATA dose not

[yogart]

I plan to buy an external hard drive to capture AVI files, then edit, and then compress, again all on the external drive.

1) Will an USB 2.0 or FireWire 400 connection really slow things down as compared to an eSATA connection?

2) Is it ok to use an external drive capture, editing, and compresseing?

[redwudz]

Depends on what you are capturing. If it's a high bitrate file, USB may be problematic. FireWire a bit less as it's more suited to large files where USB is better for smaller files and has more 'interference' from the OS.

I would be surprised if a USB or FireWire connection could sustain a ~80MB/S transfer rate that a SATA or eSATA connection easily can.

[yogart]

I need to get a esata port added to my pc. Once the cable is conected to the motherbaord, can the esata drive just be hooked up and ready to go, or are there complicated setting need to be done to the bios?

[roma_turok]

I need to get a esata port added to my pc. Once the cable is conected to the motherbaord, can the esata drive just be hooked up and ready to go, or are there complicated setting need to be done to the bios?

Just be hooked up and ready to go
Edit:Try connect cable to last sata port in motherboard
If you connect to first sata port, motherboard will may try boot from Esata drive