G3-710 Hot Swap drives G3/G6

Hesster56
Hesster56 Member Posts: 8

Tinkerer

edited March 2020 in Predator Desktops
Hello everyone!

I’m thinking of getting a Predator, and had a question about the front drive bays. 

I’m hoping I can basically drop in like a spare 1TB hard drive and basically double the HD space. Is that accurate, or am I way oversimplifying? 

Thanks!

Best Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    Well, dropping another drive in is different than 'hot swap'. Hot swap implies you can change drives without powering the system down. :)

    Now to answer your actual question... Most Predator models do support inserting more hard drives. Look at the spec to verify, or give us a model number and we can likely check for you. Typically a second drive would give you the additional storage, but it'd be under a different drive letter. If you want to put a second drive and and make C: bigger you have to jump through a lot more hoops.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Coldrake
    Coldrake Member Posts: 3 New User
    Answer ✓
    I just installed a new HDD this afternoon in my Predator G3 710. The SATA cable was already hooked up. All I had to do slide the bracket with the new HDD in, initialize the drive in Disk Management and I was good to go, all in about 5 minutes. Needless to say it's the fastest I've ever installed a HDD. =)

    Gotta love the easy swap bay!







Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    Well, dropping another drive in is different than 'hot swap'. Hot swap implies you can change drives without powering the system down. :)

    Now to answer your actual question... Most Predator models do support inserting more hard drives. Look at the spec to verify, or give us a model number and we can likely check for you. Typically a second drive would give you the additional storage, but it'd be under a different drive letter. If you want to put a second drive and and make C: bigger you have to jump through a lot more hoops.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Hesster56
    Hesster56 Member Posts: 8

    Tinkerer

    Thanks! Yeah, my terminology is way out of date. And I was just hoping for a C: and a D: or whatever for the extra storage. 
  • Hesster56
    Hesster56 Member Posts: 8

    Tinkerer

    Okay! Hello again all. Happy new owner of a Predator G3-710 model. I've opened up the expansion bay, slotted in a Seagate Firecuda 3.5" 1TB drive, restarted the system, and...no drive. Is this a bios issue that I need to search for, or am I missing another step? Thanks again!
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    We'll start with the easy one... did you connect a SATA cable between the drive and the motherboard? How about the power cable for the drive?
    ;)
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Hesster56
    Hesster56 Member Posts: 8

    Tinkerer

    billsey said:
    We'll start with the easy one... did you connect a SATA cable between the drive and the motherboard? How about the power cable for the drive?
    ;)
    I had not! I had assumed that those cables had been already set up and I just needed to insert the drive. 

    Feel free to make witty comments about people who make assumptions. 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    Heheh, you would be surprised to find out how many people call tech support because their new computer doesn't turn on, only to discover they forgot to actually plug it in... PEBKAC
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Coldrake
    Coldrake Member Posts: 3 New User
    Answer ✓
    I just installed a new HDD this afternoon in my Predator G3 710. The SATA cable was already hooked up. All I had to do slide the bracket with the new HDD in, initialize the drive in Disk Management and I was good to go, all in about 5 minutes. Needless to say it's the fastest I've ever installed a HDD. =)

    Gotta love the easy swap bay!







  • kevinish
    kevinish Member Posts: 1 New User
    i have an Acer Predator AG3-710-UR53.  It looks like 3.5" SATA III drives will work fine, but are 2.5" SSDDs supported?  If so, is there an adapter bracket out there?

  • Sterbenz
    Sterbenz Member Posts: 4 New User
    Look at YouTube under Acer Preditor G3-710 for videos on adding memory and installing SSD in drive cage.  You have to hook up ssd to both data and power cables.  Note I installed a 4 TB HD in front drive tray slot (under the DVD/CD slot).  connections to the HD (or SSD) power and data are already in place in the tray at the back.  Make sure that you push the tray with finger to seat the device into the connections before shutting the front latch.  MS OS 10 recognized the HD without any input from me.
      However I can not find where I can get additional trays.  Acer is no help.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    This is what I see in the FRU list:
    I'm thinking the top one might be what you're looking for? Or is that only the plate the second one is attached to?
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • zxxBENJINAxxz
    zxxBENJINAxxz Member Posts: 4 New User
    I don't have that great of Pc Knowledge so i was wondering if i bought this would it fit okay?
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 31,436 Trailblazer
    @zxxBENJINAxxz sure, that will work fine and give you a bunch of storage.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • DavidRConnell
    DavidRConnell Member Posts: 3 New User
    Hi Guys I have had the G3-605 with 30GB of Memory since 2016.
     I have now 5 drives on this PC, C: being an SSD (what a difference that makes) I had to fit an extra SATA card and leads and cut an edge off the motherboard metal plate for fitting 2 of the Phanteks 2 x 3.5 internal HDD carriers plus some internal red/white small wiring. everything for the last 4 years has worked very well. This enabled me to take a large load (Photos Vids & Music etc) off the C: drive. Also, it allowed me to do backups on the 4TB swap bay drive before I turned to Acronis and a separate External 6TB drive. If this has worked so well I don't see why it would not work on the G3-710.
    I would add here that the one annoying thing I could not do was remove the gubbins of the headphones carrier such a waste of space for me personally.
    I hope this post helps someone.