Is there really a hard drive capacity limit?

surfbunny2000 · 11-10-2006, 09:28 AM

Hi, im in the process of buying a 500gb hard drive for a dell dimension E310 and i been trying to assess if im going to have any probs in doing this. From the reviews it says it has 160gb capacity and uses RAID 0 to mirror drives, so my questions are is this true and if not whats the way around this? I know this is prolly silly but i dont want to go buy something than have to turn right around and return it....thanks

**The_Other_One** · 11-10-2006, 09:42 AM

I couldn't imagine a computer that age being limited to only a 160G HD... Are you sure the reviews weren't just complaining that a 160G was the largest you could order with the machine?

**Archangel** · 11-10-2006, 09:43 AM

I think the motherboard in that pc cant use HDD's bigger than 160Gb by the sound of it. there is no way around that as far as i know.. so i dont think you can go over 160Gb for that pc (I'm not 100% sure tough,. so dont take my word for it

)

edit: i think The other one's right.. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1918110,00.asp

by reading that full review,.. you the pc comes standard with a 160Gb HDD.. and you can add another one for RAID1 (Mirroring) so you wont loose your data if 1 drive fails,.. you dont have to set them in raid1 tough,.. so i think you can add a bigger drive to it without a problem.

surfbunny2000 · 11-10-2006, 12:01 PM

Thanks.. imma give it a go

Jet · 11-10-2006, 01:27 PM

The only reason that you couldn't put a big hard drive in is if you had an operating system earlier than Windows XP. They were limited to 132GB, I believe.

You have Windows XP, so you should be fine with a 500GB hard drive

**Archangel** · 11-10-2006, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet

You have Windows XP, so you should be fine with a 500GB hard drive

Some motherboards also have a maximum HD capacity they can support, no? But thats a 2006 pc.. i dont think that would be limited to 160Gb.. (now that i think about it, my old MSI K7T Turbo LE was limited to 160Gb... and thats a 2001 board iirc)

**The_Other_One** · 11-10-2006, 02:29 PM

I'm quite sure that computer came with XP SP2, considering it's age. And as I said, I can't imagine the hardware not supporting a larger drive.

Back in the day, when computers were limited to 504M drives

You could do something with a "Bios Extension" that would allow the computer to use larger drives. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like this around anymore, but I've really not looked...

[-0MEGA-] · 11-10-2006, 02:37 PM

As TOO said, as long as you have XP SP2 it should work fine. If it doesn't you should be able to split the hard drive up into separate 160GB partitions.

surfbunny2000 · 11-11-2006, 03:14 AM

It worked out just fine...i was just a paranoid shopper there for a moment...thanks a bunch for the help xx

11-10-2006, 09:28 AM	#1 (permalink)
surfbunny2000 New Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 3	Is there really a hard drive capacity limit? Hi, im in the process of buying a 500gb hard drive for a dell dimension E310 and i been trying to assess if im going to have any probs in doing this. From the reviews it says it has 160gb capacity and uses RAID 0 to mirror drives, so my questions are is this true and if not whats the way around this? I know this is prolly silly but i dont want to go buy something than have to turn right around and return it....thanks

11-10-2006, 09:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 23 Posts: 12,368	I couldn't imagine a computer that age being limited to only a 160G HD... Are you sure the reviews weren't just complaining that a 160G was the largest you could order with the machine? __________________ Desktop * Athlon X2 4200 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| 7600GT Laptop1 * C2D T5550 \| 3G RAM \| 120G HD \| Intel x3100 Laptop2 * C2D T5250 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| Intel x3100

11-10-2006, 09:43 AM	#3 (permalink)
Archangel Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Age: 21 Posts: 7,921	I think the motherboard in that pc cant use HDD's bigger than 160Gb by the sound of it. there is no way around that as far as i know.. so i dont think you can go over 160Gb for that pc (I'm not 100% sure tough,. so dont take my word for it ) edit: i think The other one's right.. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1918110,00.asp by reading that full review,.. you the pc comes standard with a 160Gb HDD.. and you can add another one for RAID1 (Mirroring) so you wont loose your data if 1 drive fails,.. you dont have to set them in raid1 tough,.. so i think you can add a bigger drive to it without a problem. __________________ Newton is dead, Einstein is dead, I don't feel very well either Xfire - Mirrari Intel Q6600 ( @3.6GHz) Asus Triton 79 Amazing 549/3200 4x 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 Asus Maximus Formula Asus & Sapphire HD3870 512Mb ( 850/1180 ) Corsair HX620W PSU

11-10-2006, 12:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
surfbunny2000 New Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 3	Thanks.. imma give it a go Last edited by surfbunny2000; 11-10-2006 at 12:15 PM.

11-10-2006, 01:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jet Diamond Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5,286	The only reason that you couldn't put a big hard drive in is if you had an operating system earlier than Windows XP. They were limited to 132GB, I believe. You have Windows XP, so you should be fine with a 500GB hard drive __________________ Macbook/Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz/2GB DDR2 667/60GB HD/OSX 10.4.11/160GB 3.5" Firewire External/160GB Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini External/

11-10-2006, 02:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 23 Posts: 12,368	I'm quite sure that computer came with XP SP2, considering it's age. And as I said, I can't imagine the hardware not supporting a larger drive. Back in the day, when computers were limited to 504M drives You could do something with a "Bios Extension" that would allow the computer to use larger drives. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like this around anymore, but I've really not looked... __________________ Desktop * Athlon X2 4200 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| 7600GT Laptop1 * C2D T5550 \| 3G RAM \| 120G HD \| Intel x3100 Laptop2 * C2D T5250 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| Intel x3100

11-10-2006, 02:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
[-0MEGA-] Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Concord, NH Age: 19 Posts: 27,069	As TOO said, as long as you have XP SP2 it should work fine. If it doesn't you should be able to split the hard drive up into separate 160GB partitions. __________________ Desktop // Laptop Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.0GHz // Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz Asus Rampage Formula X48 // Intel PM45 ATI 4870X2 2GB GDDR5 // 512MB GDDR3 9800M GTS 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2 940 // 4GB DDR3 800 750GB SATAII w/32MB // 200GB SATAII 7200RPM Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty SilverStone 750W +12V@60A 3DMark06: 21391 // 9179

11-11-2006, 03:14 AM	#9 (permalink)
surfbunny2000 New Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 3	It worked out just fine...i was just a paranoid shopper there for a moment...thanks a bunch for the help xx

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Changing the name of the drive...	aramp1	General Software	4	02-02-2007 05:06 PM
Can't Recognize New Hard Drive, only old hard drive.	PanicByte	Desktop Computers	3	10-28-2006 05:20 PM
MAJOR hard drive failure, please help ='(	y2keable	Desktop Computers	9	10-01-2006 08:43 PM
Compaq mother board again	exopforce	Motherboards	15	09-29-2006 01:05 AM
Slave hard drive not working properly.	Gtrance	Computer Memory and Hard Drives	2	02-03-2006 12:21 PM