[SOLVED] Piggybacking SATA Y power connectors?

[dg27]

Running Win 7 Pro 64X on a Dell Studio XPS 9100.

I'm in the process of reconfiguring my SSDs, HDDS, amd ODDs that are connected internally. Until I pull out my machine and open it tomorrow (it's in a computer desk and hard to get at) I'm unsure of how many SATA power connectors I have and how many I've used.

Right now I have 2 SSDs, 2 HDDs, and 2 ODDs connected to the PSU. I want to add another SSD.

I'm pretty sure I'm already using at least one SATA power Y connector. Is it safe to piggyback these, meaning plug a Y connector male into another Y connector female? I don't think I'll have to, but I'm curious in case I get stuck.

My PSU is 525 W.

 

[USAFRet]

All depends on how many power connections come off your PSU.
You already have all these drives connected?

 

[dg27]

Thanks for your reply.

I have 2 SSDs, 2 HDDs, and 2 ODDs connected to the PSU. I want to add another SSD. (I'm unsure till I get inside how many power connectors I have total.)

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your reply.

I have 2 SSDs, 2 HDDs, and 2 ODDs connected to the PSU. I want to add another SSD. (I'm unsure till I get inside how many power connectors I have total.)

Open it up and see what you've got.
But adding a Y between a couple of SSD's should not be a problem.

 

[dg27]

Open it up and see what you've got.

That's the plan tomorrow a.m.

But adding a Y between a couple of SSD's should not be a problem.

That's what I was hoping to hear. At most I think I must be using one Y connector (I think there are 5 power connectors and I've got 6 drives). So I think just introducing another Y connector will do the trick.

One thing that might be relevant is that at no time will more than 3 of these drives be in use at the same time.

Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

One thing that might be relevant is that at no time will more than 3 of these drives be in use at the same time.

Thanks.

Unless you've specifically told those drives to power down, they are on.
Whether 'you the user' are using them or not.

 

[dg27]

Good to know; thanks.

I wasn't sure whether they consumed power when you're not writing to them (or consume more when you are).

 

[USAFRet]

Good to know; thanks.

I wasn't sure whether they consumed power when you're not writing to them (or consume more when you are).

They are spinning, and the OS is doing lots of things behind the scenes.
But, drives, especially SSD's, are not really power hungry.

 

[dg27]

But, drives, especially SSD's, are not really power hungry.

That's what I thought. Thanks for all your help!

 

[dg27]

So it turned out I had enough SATA power connectors so I only had to use another Y. (I didn't have to piggyback a Y.)

All went pretty smooth. Now I've got a Samsung 840 Pro 512 GB boot, a Samsung 850 Pro 256 GB dedicated to Pro Tools active project files, a Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB for Pro Tools archived files, and 2 WD Caviar Black 2 TB HDDs for storage. I moved my two ODDs to a PCIe SATA card.

Only hiccup was that I had to change the boot order settings in the BIOs.

Thanks for your help!