I have an AMD64 dual core at 2.6ghz, roughly equivalent to a core2duo e6300, with slower ram. i recently bought a samsung spinpoint F1 750gb HDD. this hard drive apparently ONLY works with SATA2 controllers. all of the SATA ports on my motherboard are fried so I run my hard drives from a PCI SATA1 controller.

So I'm screwed. My options:
1) RMA the drive and get a new one for more money cause this one was on sale. Cost: ~$25-30
2) Buy a PCI SATA2 controller and have two controllers in my ****ing case. Cost: ~$40
3) Buy a whole new ****ing motherboard, an e8400, and 4gb of ram. Cost: $417.

I'm having a hard time choosing because the first two are essentially wasted money and the last one isnt reeeeaaally necessary but at least I would get a significant upgrade. Help me choose!

when i built this computer i had to send my hard drive back because it was ****ed. they sent me another one which was ****ed. so i bought one in a local store which so far is not ****ed

it just occurred to me that i should probably plug the HD into another computer and use it to make sure it isnt ****ed anyway

I bet you had both of those ****ed hard drives shipped through a ground service.

Which shouldn't matter considering that the drive heads lock into place when powered off, meaning they can withstand high amounts of shock and G's.

Oh, and lets not forget that shipping companies have absolutely no reason to be drop-kicking boxes all over the place, but that's a rant for another day.

Yeah, but they do. I've known unloaders to throw packages against walls, jump on 'em, etc.

It doesnt make much sense to return the drive, going back to ide would be an annoying bottleneck for an otherwise decent computer.

I would get the SATA2 controller, the completel overhaul is a fun option though.

That was the point.

you guys should consider voting in the poll

I would return the drive for a different SATA2 (3.0gbps) drive which was properly backwards compatible with SATA150 (1.5gbps) controllers.

you know, even shipped through an air service theyed still travel most of the way by truck anyway..

also that costs like 30 dollars more, which is retarded

There should be a jumper on your drive to force SATA 150.

Ah I missed that. I think I would still get a SATA2 controller. Just to save time since the cost is ~ the same and it will prevent problems in the future.

it shipped with no jumpers on it. i did try adding one in the position samsung says will make it work in SATA150 mode. did not work.
samsung also has a "firmware patch" to force it into SATA150 mode. i used another computer to apply it. still doesnt work.

hmmm, you know i'm not even sure i can find a PCI SATA2 controller. They seem to all be SATA150, and SATA2 gets paired with PCI-express. My PCIe 1x port is blocked by my videocard.

I have resolved this issue.

I bought an external drive enclosure ( http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Antec-Actively-Cooled-Hard-Drive-Enclosure-MX-1/sem/rpsm/oid/193359/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do ) from Circuit City for $40. Works fine since I'm only using it for file storage. I also gave the hard drive a really terrible review on newegg.

There is no excuse for making a SATA2 drive that won't work on SATA1 controllers. GG Samsung.

What earned it the terrible review?..

Read it again, genius.

I misread that as the HDD enclosure copping the terrible review.

Tut tut, another angry massassian.