Solved! Will an old SATA 1 hard disk work with a new SATA 3 motherboard?

[Craig C]

I have a 80GB, 7200rpm Segate Barracuda (SATA 1.0, 150MB/s) from 2001 and I'm getting a new motherboard soon (Asus WS Z390 Pro). I'd like to use the old disk drive for a few months while I test out the new components I buy (I know it will be a severe bottleneck), but will it boot 64-bit Linux? Are hard disks even 32 vs 64 bit?

 

[UsandThem]

Maybe? SATA3 is backwards compatible, but a hard drive that old, who knows without trying it out.

I mean you are buying a $400 motherboard, so maybe spring for a cheap $30 SSD for your "testing" period if you're not ready to buy a permanent drive?

 

[pcgeek11]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That times 1000. SSD drives are cheap these days.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Strictly speaking, you don't even need a disk to run Linux. A Linux live CD/USB can boot and run without.

I can understand wanting to save a few bucks here and there, but 120GB SSDs are pocket change today.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, buy one of those $17.99 120GB-class SSDs off of Newegg for your build, even if just for "testing". No reason to run an ancient HDD like that, well, unless you really want to, I guess. LOL.

 

[killster1]

nah do what you want.. ssd will just get better, your drive will work fine since it will not read or write to it much anyway. As others have said linux runs off a usb flash drive or cd even so not need worry about SSD first thing.

rather pick out a faster 1tb down the road then having cheap spare parts that will be obsolete (120gb ssd? pffft) Guess you can recycle it into a flash-drive if it was a 120gb nvme ssd..
Wonder when they jump to 4000mb/s+ drives maybe they already have?

 

[mindless1]

The thing about a HDD that old is, it might seem viable at first then you start putting time into installing an OS and apps and POOF all your work is gone because the HDD is shot by now and dies before you're done trying to use it.

 

[piasabird]

You could try it and see. It might fail and you would lose all your data. Using old hard drives is a very bad idea for the long run.
You can probably get a 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive for close to $50. For high capacity storage a Hard drive might be a good purchase. They make some high capacity hard drives from 2 TB to more than 10 TB. More storage is just more money. The more drives you have the greater the chance for drive failure.

The last hard drive I ordered I had it shipped separately. Less chance of drive damage that way. This is my personal opinion. In a box with other parts it might shift around and get damaged.

A 500 GB 2.5 SSD Can be purchased for around $50.00 to $70 depending on the sale. Look for sales.

1 TB Hard Drive WD Blue $47.00
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16822235014

The Samsung SSD's come with good cloning software. If this is a new computer, a new drive does not need to be cloned.

SSD Samsung 860 EVO 500GB $78
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-500gb/p/N82E16820147674

Crucial 2.5 SSD MX500 500GB The M.2 SSD same cost $60
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-mx500-500gb/p/N82E16820156173

 

[Shmee]

As mentioned, I would toss a drive that old, as long as you don't need any data from it. Get a cheap SSD for testing with, much less hassle.