Ok, I have an old C521 that i got free that I have been using as a htpc. I'm running Plex on it and its just fine for this. It draws low power which is just what one wants for an always on htpc. A while back I put some 2gb ram sticks which cost me $20, a radeon 6450 that i got for $25, and a Athlon 4600 65 watt CPU which I got for $15. So for $60 this little pc just chugs along quite nicely, sips power and doesn't take up much room laying on its side in my video cabinet, so all in all it's a fine solution for this application.
I really don't want to get into the merits of using this pc for this versus a new one or a built one, I've built a few systems in my time and I'm quite happy with this set up. Using old hardware creatively is good for the planet and makes for a nice low risk project.
So, with that said, I am planning on getting a new ssd for my main system during the Black Friday Sales which means I'll have an extra 64gb intel ssd available. I'm thinking of dropping it into the c521 but I want to check with the experts here on my drive options. There are two sata ports on the motherboard, but I'm not sure if the bios etc. allows me to use them creatively.
I'm not worried about the physical installation per se, just the system compatibility issues.
Ideally I'd like to remove the existing hard drive and replace it with the ssd, keep the optical drive temporarily to reinstall vista onto the ssd as a boot drive, then remove the optical and put the hd back in. Leaving me with:
sata 0 ssd boot
sata 1 hd
The dell service manual just indicates two sata ports and does not say much else about them. On a modern mother board I'd just put the boot on 0 and the hd on 1 and not expect any issues, but this is a proprietary board so I don't know what I don't know, so to speak.
I'm pretty sure I can get the ssd running via installing vista from the optical, but I don't know if the system will accept a second 'hard' drive on the sata normally used for the optical.
The fact that this thing runs vista also scares me a bit. I'm afraid that between vista and the bios something unexpected might pop up.
So, does anyone have some experience with ssd's on this or similar systems, or knows enough about these units to make a educated guess about this little plan of mine?
I appreciate everyone's help and expertise.