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[Grakelin]

My desktop PC broke down, and I think I will have to replace the RAM or the GPU. But I want access to my files.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2150406_data-broken-computer-new-one.html

I found this, which seems easy enough, but I don't know what an External Drive Enclosure Kit is.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=2784&name=5.25

Is this a Drive Enclosure Kit?

If anybody can help me out (or knows a better way for me to get my files), your help would be appreciated.

[Grakelin]

I popped the baby open. I probably won't be needing to reformat after all. The issue is almost certainly the Graphics Card. All the big metal nodules have burst open. The worst part is that I listened to it happen, too, and assumed it was something else.

Always scared the shit out of me whenever it happened, though.

[Nolor]

Well, I'm not exactly an engineer, but I fail to see why you'd need an external drive enclosure at all. Surely you can just tear out the hard drive and plug it in to a different computer -- you don't need SATA to USB connector if you just use SATA. Unless your computer is like 8 years old you shouldn't have an issue.

[Grakelin]

Because a $30 enclosure kit is cheaper than a $1,000 computer, herp derp

[Nolor]

So, uh... your computer broke down, (likely GPU-related) and you could no longer use it. You wanted to access your files and considered buying a hard drive enclosure. I'm asking what's preventing you from popping your hard drive into whatever computer you're using right now (most computers have more than one SATA hookup) bypassing the need for an enclosure altogether.

I hadn't considered the possibility that you're on a laptop, though, which seems pretty obvious in retrospect. That's the only situation where an external enclosure would really make sense, so my condolences. Yes, what you linked to is an external drive enclosure that will probably work for your purposes. I don't recommend using external hard drives for long periods of time as they have a tendency to fail faster than internal ones.