Does my motherboard have slot for HDD and SSD? MSI B250 PRO VD

[tynastcod]

Hi,
I'm building my first PC and wanted to get a SSD to put my windows on, to boost the overall speed of the PC. My question is will I be able to have a 3.5inch HDD and a SanDisk SSD PLUS 120 GB working together? Is there enough slots on the MSI B250 PRO VD to support this? Will I have to buy extra cables?

Sorry that I'm such an idiot. This will be my first PC! 😀

 

[raisonjohn]

Yes, the MSI B250 PRO VD motherboard has more than enough slots (i.e., SATA ports) for your to able to plug in up to six (6) total SATA devices (whether 3.5" HDD, 2.5" SSD, 5.25" DVD/CD, or any combination of such).

Yes, you can have the SSD and HDD work together. I personally plug in the SSD first (solely the SSD), boot/install the necessary OS (e.g. Windows) and other programs, drivers, and utilities in there BEFORE I plug in another extra storage drive (in your case, an HDD) for general storage needs like games and other files.

These SATA storage devices need two connections EACH: a SATA data cable (connects to the motherboard on the said SATA ports); and a SATA power cable (connects to the power supply). Usually, your motherboard should come with two (or more) SATA data cables for you to use out-of-the-box (if not, you can easily buy these cables). The SATA power cable comes from your power supply (PSU), which is either a set of cables detached (in the case of a semi-modular or fully-modular PSU) or attached to the actual PSU (in the case of a non-modular PSU).

 

[tynastcod]

Yes, the MSI B250 PRO VD motherboard has more than enough slots (i.e., SATA ports) for your to able to plug in up to six (6) total SATA devices (whether 3.5" HDD, 2.5" SSD, 5.25" DVD/CD, or any combination of such).

My PSU will be the Coolermaster Masterwatt Lite 400W. To be honest, I'm on a severe budget right now and will be buying a 250GB SSD for use now and a 1TB HDD later. In order to use my SSD as soon as I get the PC, I don't need to buy any more cables? Everything should be included with the motherboard and PSU?

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Satan-IR]

Hey there,

We all started learning at some time. Yes that motherboard has six SATA III ports (6Gbps).

If you install an M.2 SATA SSD, that will disable one of the ports (namely SATA2) and would leave you with 5 SATA ports.

You can check here:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B250M-PRO-VD/Specification

 

[tynastcod]

We all started learning at some time. Yes that motherboard has six SATA III ports (6Gbps).

Thanks bud! My build will be a i5 7500, a 3GB GTX 1060, and the motherboard and PSU I listed above! Will I need any extra cables to use my SSD on the day of building my PC or will they all come with the Motherboard and PSU (coolermaster masterwatt lite)

 

[Satan-IR]

We all started learning at some time. Yes that motherboard has six SATA III ports (6Gbps).

Thanks bud! My build will be a i5 7500, a 3GB GTX 1060, and the motherboard and PSU I listed above! Will I need any extra cables to use my SSD on the day of building my PC or will they all come with the Motherboard and PSU (coolermaster masterwatt lite)

No problem, glad to help. It took me some time to type and had I seen raisonjohn's post I wouldn't have posted.

Actually there is no mention of included SATA data cables on the manufacturer's website, neither in the manual which lives here:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B250M-PRO-VD#down-manual

Some manufacturers's indicate what you find in the motherboard box. I couldn't find any pictures of the board with cables and box content on newegg either. It might have one or two. Some boards have as many cables as there are ports on the board and some even have a few extra.

I guess you can ask MSI support people.