Connecting a SATA drive to an EliteDesk 800 G4
Oct 17, 2024 • elitedesk
My EliteDesk didn’t come with a caddy, but I still wanted to use a SATA drive. Instead of spending over $20 on a caddy, I decided to save some money by getting a cheap SATA cable and 3D print a caddy I found online. Keep reading to see how I put it all together :)
When I bought my EliteDesk, the seller mentioned it would come without a drive. I assumed the drive caddy would still be included, just without an SSD. Turns out that wasn't the case. For a week or two I ended up using the SSD with a SATA to USB adapter until the SATA cable arrived.
The items I used for this project:
- 1x EliteDesk 800 G4
- 1x SATA cable (part no. DD0F80HD020)
- 1x 3D-printed caddy
- 2x M3*10mm screws (if you use shorter ones, you won't need the nuts)
- 2x M3 nuts
- 2x M3 spacers
First things first, I opened the case to take a look at the motherboard. The caddy would usually be mounted on the three screw spots, as shown in the picture below.
Since I didn’t have a caddy, I searched for a suitable one on Thingiverse. Then I printed it out on my 3D printer:
The next step was to mount the SSD onto the caddy, with the SATA connector facing the side that has a single screw hole. I used two M3x10mm screws, as they were the shortest ones I had lying around. To fill in the gap between the caddy and the SSD, I screwed on some M3 nuts. Before attaching the caddy to the motherboard, I tried plugging in the SATA cable, but the plastic blocked it.
Rather than modifying the parts, I decided to use plastic spacers between the SSD and caddy. It was a simple fix, especially since the screws I had were a bit too long anyways.
After that, it was time to slap it on the motherboard. The SATA cable had to be plugged in first. For this, I lifted the white piece of the connector, then inserted the SATA cable. Last but not least, I screwed in the caddy and put the lid back on.
Done!