Mount a 2.5hdd on a controller card?

[matt062869]

I am looking for additional internal storage solutions that don't require either a saw or a drill...
From what i remember, years ago mounting a hdd onto a conroller card was commonplace (486's and prior, amigas, etc)...

What i am looking for is a PCI-E SATA contoller that i can mount a 2.5" hdd onto.
I have scoured the internet as best as i can and have come up blank. I do not need the system to boot from this drive, i just need it for additional storage

My antec case only has two 3.5" bays
c: is 320gb for Win7 plus apps (office, etc)
d: drive is 1TB which is dedicated solely to MCE

thanks,
matt

 

[saaiello]

If you have a spare 5.25 bay you can get brackets to mount one there.

 

[matt062869]

the case has only one 5.25" bay which is currently a bluray rom

for reference, here is the case i use on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129053&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Cases+(+HTPC/Media+Center+Cases)-_-Antec-_-11129053

 

[LePhuronn]

What about an e-SATA caddy?

Do you have e-SATA on your motherboard? Do you have a spare SATA port you can plug an e-SATA backplate into?

Do you need the extra storage for regular use or just archiving?

What about getting a new, larger hard drive and just copying everything over?

 

[matt062869]

i have extra usb, firewire, SATA, and even unused IDE... but i am looking for an internal solution.
this is something i found, but its PCI (not PCI-e) and is not win7 supported. https://secure1.sonnettech.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_39&products_id=243&osCsid=5910f4d1974268bd9795c873ac526f28

i could even go with standard pci, but it has to work with win7 x64.

 

[LePhuronn]

i have extra usb, firewire, SATA, and even unused IDE...

So, to clarify, what's wrong with putting another hard drive onto the spare SATA port?

 

[matt062869]

sure, it would be great to connect an SSD to a SATA port on the mainboard...
but there needs to be a place to mount it inside the desktop.

is there such a thing as a card (either pci or pcie) that i can put a HDD on and run SATA & power cables to?

 

[saaiello]

sure, it would be great to connect an SSD to a SATA port on the mainboard...
but there needs to be a place to mount it inside the desktop.

is there such a thing as a card (either pci or pcie) that i can put a HDD on and run SATA & power cables to?

No there is no such thing as what you are looking for what you could do is go on ebay buy an old cheap PCI card that is big enough to mount it on. drill a few holes in it and mount the drive on it. Make sure you put masking tape on the PCI connector on the card itself so its not actually getting power.

 

[LePhuronn]

The only thing I can think of is mounting the SSD to the case itself - they're metallic cases so with some tiny rubber standoffs glued to the case and SSD you'd be OK.

But one way or another you're looking at DIY expansion now though - SAAIELLO's idea is a good one.