Trying to use a 3 TB hard drive in my W7 PC

[BBOC]

I have a PC with Windows 7 ultimate, which has a Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 motherboard. I have two 3.0 tb hard drives, one is my primary, the other, I back up to using Acronis.
My system will not allow me to use 746 MB, so I am limited to about 2.0 TB. My board is (apparently) not supporting UEFI. The Sata controller on the board is a JMicron JMB362 chip. all partitions, including the unusable portion show up as GPT. Is there any way around this, without having to resort to a windows re-installation or a different MB? Can I add on a different Sata controller?

 

[RealBeast]

I don't believe that Gigabyte included that chipset in its workaround for 3TB drives HERE. You can add a SATA controller to use the drives, but you may not be able to boot from the drives. I would simply upgrade the motherboard before buying a controller though.

 

[BBOC]

I don't believe that Gigabyte included that chipset in its workaround for 3TB drives HERE. You can add a SATA controller to use the drives, but you may not be able to boot from the drives. I would simply upgrade the motherboard before buying a controller though.

But, if I replace the motherboard, would I be able to do it without reloading windows and all programs?

 

[Calvin7]

Windows can only boot a GPT partition on a type of BIOS called UEFI. An old style legacy BIOS is limited to boot from MBR formatted drives which top out at around 2.2TB.

You wrote, "The Sata controller on the board is a JMicron JMB362 chip". Actually, JMicron JMB362 chip:
controls 2 x eSATA 3Gb/s connectors on the back panel supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices.

SYBA SI-PEX40064
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124064
Bootable
The card actually uses a PCI-Express 2.0 - X1, X4, X8, or X16 slot. Do not use a PCIe 1.0 x1 slot or data rate will be reduced by 50%.
Data Rate: PCIe 2.0 = 500MB/s, PCIe 1.1 = 250MB/s

Q: How do I boot through this card to a connected drive utilizing a Windows OS?
A: A reinstall/repair of the OS is necessary to boot through this card to a connected drive. You will need to perform an advanced install, load the drivers from an external device, then select the HDD/SSD to install Windows onto.

Q: will this controller support drive over 2TB? (4tb 6tb etc)
A: The current limit for supported drives is 6TB

 

[RealBeast]

But, if I replace the motherboard, would I be able to do it without reloading windows and all programs?

Not likely, but there is a chance, although slim. I've done it often *but* with very similar boards such as going from a Z68 to Z77 Intel board. Plan on having to reload so have all data backed up.

 

[BBOC]

I just checked out the SYBA card on NewEgg....could this be the answer to my being able to use the 3TB HD without UEFI? Some of the reviews seems to suggest that, but I didn't see mention of UEFI/MBR. Thanks!

 

[RealBeast]

UEFI is not your issue unless it is a boot drive (booting from a GPT partition requires UEFI).

You must use GPT partitioning format rather than MBR because MBR is limited to 2TB drives and smaller.

The SYBA board will allow you to use the entire 3TB drive for storage, and although it can be used to install a boot drive requiring a new install of Windows with input of the drivers at the F5 stop during the install I do not know that it will allow you to boot from a 3TB drive with your current motherboard -- actually I doubt that it will.