Adding additional storage (e.g. HDDs) without PCIe slots

[Adi88Tm]

Hello,

 

I have bought an old used gaming pc running:

• AMD Ryzen 5 2600 CPU
• GTX 1660 SUPER GPU
• A320M-A PRO Max motherboard
• HDD 320GB

with the goal to install unRaid running HomeAssistant, Plex Media Server, Frigate from 4 video cameras and since it was second-hand it was rather cheap.   

 

Well, it has been more than 15 years since I checked the market, but it seemed after 2 movies and 1 tv series I ran out of storage  had no idea nowadays movies are so space consuming beasts.

 

I would like to understand what my options are to add additional storage HDDs to the system. 

 

Unfortunately, the motherboard has only 2 PCIe slots and 1 is used by the GPU and the 2nd one is so close-by that is completely covered by the GPU, it is very annoying that I cannot use it. 

 

Thank you! 

[Veah]

A riser cable and a SATA expander (I've read they are recommended against) might get you there.

[JonathanM]

Look into an adapter like this.

[ConnerVT]

The A320 Motherboard only has 4 SATA connectors and no M.2 connectors.  The available slot is PCIe x1 2.0.  So your options are extremely limited as to adding drives (forget USB - You will have nothing but issues).  The A320 chipset really doesn't have much for configuration or expandability.

 

I see two options:

-- If you don't wish for more than 4 drives (and you will want one to be SSD for cache and Docker/VM use) buy the biggest drives you can afford, and accept that will likely be the limit to your storage capacity.

-- Upgrade the motherboard to one with at least 6 SATA connectors, a M.2 slot, and additional PCIe slots (preferably at least one additional PCIe x16 or x4).  This will give you more options for expansion.  The good news is that with the new AM5 socket CPUs released, the B450M/B550M boards are now being discounted (or you can find them used with folks starting to upgrade).

[JonathanM]

23 minutes ago, ConnerVT said:

no M.2 connectors

?

[ConnerVT]

None listed in the product's details page:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/A320M-A-PRO/Specification

 

edit: Missed it was the "max" version.  Regardless, a first generation, lowest level motherboard chipset A320M is not a platform to be building on.

Edited April 23 by ConnerVT

[Adi88Tm]

Thank you for the hints, guys. There`s been much change in the technology in the last years I wasn't aware, and I made a wrong purchase which doesn't suite my needs.

 

I have decided on short term to:

• sell  A320M-A PRO Max motherboard 
• re-use the CPU, GPU, power supply (current 600W), HDD, memory
• buy another second hand motherboard which supports the existing CPU  - Asus Prime B450 Plus AM4 ~65 euro
  • 6 SATA ports
    • SATA 5/6 are shared with M.2 device, im not yet sure if I would be using that, the format is new for me.
  • 1 additional PCIe lane x16 
• buy the cheapest enclosure I can find Gamemax Fortress TG -> ~40 euro
• buy a PCIe expander SAS/SATA to get 4 more additional HDD slots

If my understanding is correct that would get me 6+4 => 10 HDDs. 

 

The 10HDDs as storage + the GTX 1660 SUPER hopefully will be sufficient to stream 4k on Plex + transcode for Frigate cameras, reaching my end-goal.

 

I kindly ask for a feedback from the community before I made any changes, thank you! 

[JonathanM]

5 hours ago, Adi88Tm said:

buy a PCIe expander SAS/SATA to get 4 more additional HDD slots

Expander is not quite the right terminology.