Intel X79 and hdds

[Raduque]

I'm at the limit on my server's internal bays and ports so I'm supplementing with 2 and 3tb externals. I was thinking of pulling a coupe of my 1 and 1.5tb internals and replacing them with a 4tb, then moving the 3s from the external boxes into the case.

Can the intel X79 chipset support 4tb internal HDDs?

 

[deustroop]

No problemo .Depends on the partition scheme and windows version.
In windows, if you partition a disk using MBR, you can generally only access up to 2TB space no matter how large the hard disk is. Where an MBR disk is using 512B sector or 512e sector, Windows will only recognize 2TB space. But if the disk is partitioned using GPT you can totally ignore any hard disk size limit. Since you run a 3TB drive now, this should not come as a surprise.

If you run windows 10 (32 or 64bit) you can access the GPT volumes but will need an UEFI board to boot from one.

 

[Raduque]

If you run windows 10 (32 or 64bit) you can access the GPT volumes but will need an UEFI board to boot from one.

My server runs Windows Home Server 2011, which I believe is based off the same core as Windows 7 and Server 2008. I boot off a 1tb MBR drive and would be using the 4tb drives as storage, replacing my 1.5s.

I actually have two 2tb and two 1.5tb internals, 3 3tb and one 4 tb externals. What I really would like to do is pull all the internal drives and replace them with 3 4tb drives and pull the external 4tb from it's case and install it internal. Then I can get rid of the externals and their power-heavy 12v bricks.

 

[Billy Tallis]

Then I can get rid of the externals and their power-heavy 12v bricks.

I got fed up with the power brick situation and got one of these, which powers most of the 12V devices in my office: https://www.ebay.com/itm/161858667969

Windows Server 2008 and later can boot from GPT disks, if you're using UEFI and 64-bit Windows. GPT for non-boot disks is supported all the way back to XP x64 Edition and Server 2003 SP1, so don't hesitate to get the largest data drives that are cost-effective for you: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-and-gpt-faq

 

[Raduque]

I got fed up with the power brick situation and got one of these, which powers most of the 12V devices in my office: https://www.ebay.com/itm/161858667969

That's a neat thing. Will it run 4 external HDDs during startup?

 

[Billy Tallis]

That's a neat thing. Will it run 4 external HDDs during startup?

I assume so, but I don't actually have many external hard drives at the moment. The wires are certainly thick enough to handle the current, and the 75W that GPUs expect to pull from the PCIe power connector should be enough to handle four drives spinning up, unless they're unusually power-hungry enterprise drives. In practice, you should be able to pull much more than 75W through the connector without it becoming a fire hazard or tripping any overcurrent protection.

 

[extide]

I'm at the limit on my server's internal bays and ports so I'm supplementing with 2 and 3tb externals. I was thinking of pulling a coupe of my 1 and 1.5tb internals and replacing them with a 4tb, then moving the 3s from the external boxes into the case.

Can the intel X79 chipset support 4tb internal HDDs?

Yes X79 supports 4TB and larger just fine. I am typing this on an X79 machine with 2 4TB drives in it right now.