Adding DVD ROM drive?

[aclivity]

I built my son a pc 18 months ago, finally thought about adding a new DVD ROM drive. Had one from an old pc, so thought I would add that in.

Only problem is that the new mother board doesn't appear to have the cable connection for a dvd drive? Is there a new format dvd drive connection- thinking SATA type? Do I need a new drive as well?

[emperorburger]

Motherboards and DVD drives moved from IDE to SATA years ago, so the short answer is yes, a new drive is required.

Edited by emperorburger on Sunday 7th March 16:23

[ApexCult]

Honestly I would just get a good quality USB CD/DVD Drive to use whenever it's need. Good for laptops and small factor PC cases too.

I've been using an Apple SuperDrive for almost the last 10 years, works across Windows and OSX quite nicely.

[aclivity]

Thanks for that - thought about getting an external one but will look into a new data dvd drive. I should have spotted it when we built the machine to be honest but I was trying to make sure my son was involved in his pc build!

[sgrimshaw]

USB 3.0 external ones are cheap as chips, I bought this in 2017 and it's been fine. Only gets used very occasionally but not had any issues:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/External-Patuoxun-Hairlin...

[mcflurry]

emperorburger said:

Motherboards and DVD drives moved from IDE to SATA years ago, so the short answer is yes, a new drive is required.

IDE was replaced by SATA well over a decade ago. How old is the drive?
Does it have a 40 pin ribbon connector or a small clip in connector that's about 1cm in length?

If you do need a new one, £20 at ebuyer will get you running

https://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=dvd+drive

[Lucas Ayde]

aclivity said:

I built my son a pc 18 months ago, finally thought about adding a new DVD ROM drive. Had one from an old pc, so thought I would add that in.

Only problem is that the new mother board doesn't appear to have the cable connection for a dvd drive? Is there a new format dvd drive connection- thinking SATA type? Do I need a new drive as well?

You can get a ATA>SATA adapters that plug into to the interface on the back of the drive but they are quite pricey and last time I needed one, pretty hard to find.

They do work, though. Currently, I have a DVDROM and DVD burner in my PC, using two adapters to connect the pair of them to the SATA on the motherboard and no issues. I used adapters as a good few years ago I swapped out an old mobo with ATA connectors on the motherboard to a newer one with SATA only and wanted to keep the drives which were already installed in the case.

I guess you could also look around for a PCI express ATA board, they must exist, but that would be pretty messy cable-wise. (ribbon cables - ugh).