Make a solid state drive
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TECH FEST SERIOUS ABOUT HARDWARE ¤ GIGABYTE G45 MOBO ¤ YOYOTECH WARBIRD ¤ RADEON 4870 X2 ¤ CENTRINO2 LAPTOP Set up a streaming media network! Video and music wherever you are… FREE PERFORMANCE BOOST OVERCLOCK YOUR RIG Tech guide! Everything you need to get more from your hardware HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOLID STATE HARD DRIVE Get out your hacksaw! p62 PLUS! Special report: Will Intel’s new graphics cards rule the roost? 2009’s hottest games revealed 2009’s hottest games revealed Empire Total War exclusive ISSUE 219 NOV 2008 The best way to build a DIY rig – top systems tested from £97 PERFORMANCE GEAR & GAMING BA EBONE PC S: ULTIMATE GUIDE! ISSUE 219 IT’S A FORMIDABLE SCENT Diablo Top tweaks for Diablo2 WOW: WIN AT EYE OF THE STORM! SPORE: MASSIVE TACTICAL GUIDE IT’S A FORMIDABLE SCENT WWW.PCFORMAT.CO.UK Issue 219 Nov 2008 £4.99 Outside UK & ROI £6.49 FREE PERFORMANCE BOOS T ISSUE 219 NOV 2008 The best way to build a DIY ri g – top systems tested from £97 IS IS S IS S S S S IS IS S S S S S S SSU S SU S SU SU U U U S SU S SU SU S SU SU U SU U U S E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E 2 2 2 2 2 21 21 2 2 21 21 21 21 21 21 1 1 2 2 21 21 1 2 2 2 21 21 2 2 21 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 21 2 21 2 2 2 2 2 21 21 21 21 2 2 21 2 21 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 21 2 21 2 2 219 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 IT IT T IT T T IT I T T’S ’ ’S ’ ’S ’S S ’S ’ ’ ’ S ’ ’ ’ A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR O OR O OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR R O O O OR R OR O OR OR O O O OR OR OR OR OR OR O O O O OR OR O O O OR O OR O OR R R OR R R R R R OR R R OR R OR R O O O O O O O O MI MI MI MI MI MI M MI MI MI M MI MI M MI MI M MI M MI I I MI MI M MI MI MI I MI I MI MI M M MI I I MI M M M M M M MI I M MI M MI MI MI I M M MI MI I I M M M M MI M MI M M M M M MI MI MI M M M M M MI M D DA DA DA DA D D DA D DA DA D DA DA DA DA DA A D D DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA A DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA D D DA A DA A A D D DA A A DA DA DA DA DA A A D D D DA A DA DA DA D D DA DA D DA DA DA A DA DA A DA D DA DA D D DA DA D D D DA DA D DA DA D DA D D D DA DA D D DA D D D D DA A D D D D DA A D D D D DA D DA D D D D DA A DA A A A A A D D DA A A A A ABL BL B B BL L L BL BL B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B E SCENT W A R W W E R R B O B I R D 2 T O P
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Most of the conversations that take place in the PC Format Sofa Fort don’t yield much more insight than the number of marshmallows Dave James can cram up his right nostril, but occasionally the odd nugget of brain goop does ooze forth and form a seriously useful idea. One such cranial fart erupted from a conversation about running a RAID 5 arrays over USB flash drives; something that is actually possible, but thus far, only with Linux. The offshoot was the discovery of some damn handy SATA- and PATA-to-Compact Flash adaptors, from this came the realisation that this made it easy to create your very own solid state drive.
Transcript of Make a solid state drive
TECH FEST SERIOUS ABOUT HARDWARE ¤ GIGABYTE G45 MOBO ¤ YOYOTECH WARBIRD ¤ RADEON 4870 X2 ¤ CENTRINO2 LAPTOP
Set up a streaming media network!Video and music wherever you are…
FREE PERFORMANCE BOOST
OVERCLOCK YOUR RIG Tech guide! Everything you need to get more from your hardware
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOLID STATE HARD DRIVE
Get out your hacksaw! p62
PLUS! Special report: Will Intel’s new graphics cards rule the roost? 2009’s hottest games revealed2009’s hottest games revealed Empire Total War exclusive
ISSUE 219
NO
V 2008
The best way to build a DIY rig – top systems tested from £97
PERFORMANCE GEAR & GAMING
BA EBONE PCS: ULTIMATE GUIDE!
ISSUE 219 IT’S A FORMIDABLE SCENT
Diablo Top tweaks for Diablo2
WOW: WIN AT EYE OF THE STORM!
SPORE: MASSIVE TACTICAL GUIDE
IT’S A FO
RM
IDABLE SCEN
T W
WW
.PCFOR
MAT.CO
.UK
Issue 219 Nov 2008 £4.99 Outside UK & ROI £6.49
FREE PERFORMANCE BOOST
ISSUE 219
NO
V 2008
The best way to build a DIY rig – top systems tested from £97
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PCF219.cover Sec1:3PCF219.cover Sec1:3 5/9/08 16:46:215/9/08 16:46:21
62 November 2008
Most of the conversations that take place in the PC Format Sofa Fort don’t yield much more insight than the
number of marshmallows Dave James can cram up his right nostril, but occasionally the odd nugget of brain goop does ooze forth and form a seriously useful idea. One such cranial fart erupted from a conversation about running a RAID 5 arrays over USB fl ash drives; something that is actually possible, but thus far, only with Linux.
The offshoot was the discovery of some damn handy SATA- and PATA-to-Compact Flash adaptors, from this came the realisation that this made it easy to create your very own solid state drive. With current SSDs still costing hundreds of pounds, in comparison a top of the range 8GB CF card costs under £70 and the adaptors can be snapped up from eBay for a mere £5. That means you can put together your own SSD for less than £80; or if you opt for a slower model or a 4GB option, just £40. If you happen to have a 4GB card hanging around, it’d cost you next to nothing to do. This project isn’t as pointless as it sounds either, the adaptors can fi t standard laptop drive caddies, as they measure a mere 90mm long with the CF card in place, so it’s perfectly possible to consider this as an option! ¤ Neil Mohr
Make a solid state driveNo, seriously! Get a CF card, adaptor and some sticky-backed tape to make your very own…
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Make this!
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What you will need¤ Suitable CF card¤ SATA or PATA CF adaptor¤ Cables¤ Spare backplate¤ 3mm bolts¤ Workmate¤ Hacksaw¤ Pliers
PCF219.h_make 62PCF219.h_make 62 5/9/08 1:41:48 pm5/9/08 1:41:48 pm
November 2008 63
How to make a solid state drive (1) You’ll want a workmate for this project as it involves cutting that backplate with a hacksaw; as we’re not total peasants, we want our card mounted securely inside the PC. (2) The adaptor has several handy 3mm mounting holes. With the CF card installed inside a PC, it needs to sit above the mobo by around 10mm to avoid components and expansion slots. This means the bottom of the CF card needs to be around 30mm from the bottom of the backplate. Line everything up and mark off the hole positions. (3) Once you’ve marked the positions, cut two 3mm wide slits through which the bolts can go to keep the adaptor in place. (4) Leave a few mm each side of these slits and cut into the centre of the backplate. This enables you to bend the newly created support arms out. Be careful here, as the backplate metal will fl ex a lot. (5) Before mounting everything, don’t forget to insert the CF card! (6) It’s now time to screw the adaptor to the freshly constructed backplate. (7) Screw the whole assembly securely into your PC and attach the cables. (8) Power up and check that the BIOS spots the new drive; you’re now free to install Windows. (9) If benchmark numbers gives you thrills, feel free to test out just how fast your new SSD is. This high-speed Kingston 266x card purrs along at 43MB/s, which is hugely fast for a CF card. (10) As you can see, the adaptor plus CF card is easily small enough to fi t most common laptop HDD caddies, meaning you could drop in your own laptop SSD with even less hassle.
Solid state drive
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“The high-speed Kingston 266x card purrs along at 43MB/s – hugely fast”
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