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Internal HD as External

S

slick1o1

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
308
I really don't know A LOT, but know this and that.

Just wondering about using a internal drive, i.e. Caviar Black or Seagate Barracuda, as an external?

I know I will need a enclosure, which one though, I would like USB 3.0 and firewire.
 
Also, does it matter about the rotational speed? Would it be better to get a 5900rpm vs 7200?
 
Why would you use an internal as an external if it's not an existing drive? The only times people really use external inclosures is to convert an existing internal they have into an external. If you haven't bought a drive yet, you might as well directly buy an external drive, though a USB 3.0 drive isn't cheap. Firewire is pretty much obsolete, and some newer MoBos don't even support it, so avoid it if you want future compatibility.

RPM wise, higher is better. You want a drive with high RPM and a decent Cache.
 
Well, the drives come with 3+year warranties and the externals only 1 year-2.

So it wouldn't be worth it even if I got a great deal on a internal?
 
You'd have to tack on at least another $20 or so for an external enclosure, you might as well buy an extended warranty for that. But if you really find a great deal on internal right now (like $100 for 1TB 7200 RPM), go for it.
 
It's good to see this information in your post, i was looking the same but there was not any proper resource
 
Tsuyoi said:
Why would you use an internal as an external if it's not an existing drive? The only times people really use external inclosures is to convert an existing internal they have into an external.
Click to expand...
Not really. Another main reason to use an internal as an external drive is that you won't void the warranty if you take the drive out of the external enclosure for diagnositics or faster transfers. There are some occasions where it's the enclosure that's the issue, not the drive. Many manufacturers will void the warranty on their true external hard drives if you open up the enclosure to take the drive out. At least with the internal drive to external drive conversion, you'll still have warranty on the drive if the enclosure is dead or dying.

Tsuyoi said:
RPM wise, higher is better. You want a drive with high RPM and a decent Cache.
Click to expand...
Again, not necssarily. There are many new 5400RPM/5900RPM drives out there that can actually outperform older generation/versions 7200RPM drives. Even if there's only a year difference. So in other words, it depends on which 5400RPM, 5900RPM, or 7200RPM drives you're talking about. Yes there are 7200RPM drives that are significantly faster than 5400PRM or 5900RPM drives but not always the case.

But I do agree with you on one thing: if you see a good deal for an internal drive, go for it.
 
Tsuyoi said:
Why would you use an internal as an external if it's not an existing drive? The only times people really use external inclosures is to convert an existing internal they have into an external. If you haven't bought a drive yet, you might as well directly buy an external drive, though a USB 3.0 drive isn't cheap. Firewire is pretty much obsolete, and some newer MoBos don't even support it, so avoid it if you want future compatibility.

RPM wise, higher is better. You want a drive with high RPM and a decent Cache.
Click to expand...

Please read Danny's post for the real answer. ;)
 
Danny Bui said:
Not really. Another main reason to use an internal as an external drive is that you won't void the warranty if you take the drive out of the external enclosure for diagnositics or faster transfers. There are some occasions where it's the enclosure that's the issue, not the drive. Many manufacturers will void the warranty on their true external hard drives if you open up the enclosure to take the drive out. At least with the internal drive to external drive conversion, you'll still have warranty on the drive if the enclosure is dead or dying.


Again, not necssarily. There are many new 5400RPM/5900RPM drives out there that can actually outperform older generation/versions 7200RPM drives. Even if there's only a year difference. So in other words, it depends on which 5400RPM, 5900RPM, or 7200RPM drives you're talking about. Yes there are 7200RPM drives that are significantly faster than 5400PRM or 5900RPM drives but not always the case.

But I do agree with you on one thing: if you see a good deal for an internal drive, go for it.
Click to expand...



Sweet. This is the answer I needed.

And thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind.
 
+ also, some external HDDs have the USB/firewire circuits ON the hdd pcb itself, so you can't even get access to the SATA connectors to use it as an intetrnal drive
 
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