I'm thinking of buying one of WD's raptor 10k SATA HDs...but my computer is an older Dell Dimension 8100. Will I need to buy anything else, or can I just install the hard drive like any other one?
You need to have a SATA controller on the motherboard. If you board does not have a SATA controller you can buy PCI cards that allow you to install SATA drives.
You need to have a SATA controller on the motherboard. If you board does not have a SATA controller you can buy PCI cards that allow you to install SATA drives.
Firmtek make gtreat SATA controllers ... I've got one ... works great.
I got WD 10,000 rpm drives for a G5 ... they didn't like being inside a G5 ... ended up putting them in a magma chassis with the firmtek sata controller ... dada ... works like a dream