About serial ata drives, General drive installation guidelines – Dell XPS 720 H2C (Mid 2007) User Manual

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Removing and Installing Parts

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About Serial ATA Drives

Your computer supports up to four serial ATA hard drives and two serial ATA optical drives. Serial ATA
drives provide the following benefits by transferring data using serial technology and flexible cables that
are thinner and longer than IDE cables:

Improved cable routing facilitates more efficient airflow inside the chassis.

Compact cable connectors save space on the system board and on the hard drive, allowing for more
efficient utilization of space inside the chassis.

General Drive Installation Guidelines

SATA hard drives should be connected to connectors labeled "HDD" on the system board. Non-hard
drive SATA devices should be attached to the connectors labeled SATA, with the exception of a 5th
SATA hard drive installed in a 5.25-inch drive bay, which much be connected to the SATA0 connector.
IDE optical drives should be connected to the connectors labeled "IDE."

When connecting a SATA cable, hold the cable by the connector at each end and press firmly into the
connector. When disconnecting a SATA cable, hold the cable by the connector at each end and pull until
the connector detaches.

1

optical drive bays (4)

2

floppy drive/media card
reader

3

hard-drive bays (4)

1

3

2

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