Gsata3

[Dean1970]

I have run out of sata ports. I have just bought another 1tb Seagate ST31000524AS. Can I use the Gsata3 port without doing anything in the bios?

 

[foscooter]

Gsata3??? Do you mean SATA II 3G?

What motherboard?

 

[alvine]

i have not heard of a gsata
do you mean esata?

 

[COLGeek]

Yes. You install the adapter and boot your system. Chances are that generic drivers will be loaded for the adapter. If not, load the drivers when prompted and set up your HDD.

Have fun!

 

[Dean1970]

Gsata3??? Do you mean SATA II 3G?

What motherboard?

Hi Its a Gigabyte mother board the ports are grey in colour and have Gsata written on them.
Best regards
Dean

 

[Dean1970]

i have not heard of a gsata
do you mean esata?

Hi Its a Gigabyte mother board the ports are grey in colour and have Gsata written on them.
Best regards
Dean

 

[Dean1970]

Yes. You install the adapter and boot your system. Chances are that generic drivers will be loaded for the adapter. If not, load the drivers when prompted and set up your HDD.

Have fun!

Hi Its a Gigabyte mother board. So do i just plug and play the 1tb hard drive in via the Gsata port and away I go. I am a bit of a newbie. I dont understand the manual when it goes on about marvel this and that and Raid this and that a bit blinded by science
Thanks for your help
Dean

 

[COLGeek]

Ok. Power down the system. Disconnect all power sources (monitor, power cable, powered speakers, etc). Press the power button to discharge any residual power (not kidding). Install the adapter. Connect the adapter to the HDD. Be sure to connect the power cable to the HDD as well. Reconnect the items removed earlier. Power up the system. Wait for Win 7 to load the drivers. Partition/format your HDD and you'll be done.

You don't need to do anything in your BIOS.

 

[Dean1970]

Many thanks so is Gsata3 unique to Gigabyte motherboards?

 

[COLGeek]

Yes. Ignore the part about installing the adapter. Make sure your GSata3 ports are enabled in the BIOS. They likely are. Also, use the black (usually) GSata3 cables that came with your motherboard.

 

[Dean1970]

Thank you very much

 

[COLGeek]

If you notice, just to be clear, the GSata3 ports look slightly different than a normal SATA port. Make sure you have the Gigabyte installation CD/DVD handy or download the latest drivers for the GSata3 ports from the Gigabyte website in the event that Windows doesn't load the drivers automatically.

Should be a no-brainer. Good luck!

 

[Dean1970]

Thanks again. I didnt know they were different. They are dark grey in colour and sit next to the sata ports. I didnt know the cables were different.
Best regards
Dean

 

[COLGeek]

As I recall (at least on a Gigabyte mobo I have), the GSATA connector has a straight connector where a standard SATA connector has an "L shaped" connector.