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Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
Thinking about doing this since i don't actually use that much of my 160gb 7200rpm HD and a 10000rpm Western Dig Raptor 74GB 3.5" Hard Drive sounds an awesome addition that will make my iMac that bit faster - i can only see myself using max 60gb tbh.
So anyone done it?
And the potential heat issues are worrying me a bit, given the enclosed iMac case. My Present 7200rpm drive gets as hot as 60 degrees celsius...i can imagine that the 10k one will probs go near 70, could this be dangerous for my iMac?
appreciate any advice or anyone with experience in this matter
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
Ok put it this way, i will have at least 20GB free from the 74GB so i am sure OSX will run better, at this present moment with 10gb of music i only use 30Gb of my hard disk. It is the heat issues i am most worried about
 

Mav451

macrumors 68000
Jul 1, 2003
1,657
1
Maryland
Fredstar said:
Thinking about doing this since i don't actually use that much of my 160gb 7200rpm HD and a 10000rpm Western Dig Raptor 74GB 3.5" Hard Drive sounds an awesome addition that will make my iMac that bit faster - i can only see myself using max 60gb tbh.
So anyone done it?
And the potential heat issues are worrying me a bit, given the enclosed iMac case. My Present 7200rpm drive gets as hot as 60 degrees celsius...i can imagine that the 10k one will probs go near 70, could this be dangerous for my iMac?
appreciate any advice or anyone with experience in this matter

I personally wouldn't do it. Those Raptor drives not only get hot, but are also alot louder than your typical 7200 HD. And I'm not sure how much of a speed gain you are expecting.

If you load large files, alot, then perhaps you will see a difference. But everday speed? I doubt its that big a difference. You don't mention game/content creation, which typically involve opening large files (where a faster HD would have a large impact).
 

ZildjianKX

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2003
1,610
0
I have a raptor as my boot drive in my G5, boots faster, doesn't run too hot, and no problem with noise. I'm actually really happy I did it.
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
Yeh i have read that it works fine in Powermacs and noise is not an issue, i mean i don't mind a bit of scratching. I have read of people installing it in iMac's but i haven't really found a proper review of one.
ZildjianKX - what kind of temperatures does it meet? And are these hotter than the 7200 one before?
thanks guys
Fred
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
If i am going to bother replacing the hd i do want it to be noticeably faster ie the Raptor that outperforms 7200 hd's by a lot. As i said noise issues is not a problem at all, i don't mind hearing the hd working now and again.
I emailed Western Union about fitting it in my iMac G5 and they said it would be fine and work well, they said that there was ventilation either side of the hd, but then they also stated that the top recommended temp for operation is 55 degrees celsius...
Now i know after a bit of heavy use with Lossless itunes files constantly playing, opening v big website projects (near to 500mb) and doing general work i notice (not only slow down) but that the hd temperature gets very hot, using temperature monitor (reliable?) i get figures close to 50 degrees celsius and sometimes even more after a long stretch of work.
Now i don't know if this is so much the hd spinning, i reckon it is more to do with the heat dissipated from the G5 chip, so even if i got the Raptor the top temperature shouldn't change around the hard disk - given the iMacs design all the hear is dissipated through the top vent...where the Hard disk is located so i think this is a very reasonable explanation.
So i am still undecided whether i should go for this or not, it will probs be around when i get Tiger, to do a clean install of everything would be awesome. Again has anyone read a personal review by someone who has fitted these into an iMac G5?
This with 2GB ram (1Gb prices are decreasing a lot every month!) should make my iMac just that bit snappier.
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
They're fine in a G5 PowerMac

I know you've got an iMac but just wanted to let you know that we've had 3 74gb raptors running in 3 x 2.5 PMs since August without any probs.
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
Blue Velvet said:
I know you've got an iMac but just wanted to let you know that we've had 3 74gb raptors running in 3 x 2.5 PMs since August without any probs.

Could you possibly tell me what temp's you are getting mate using Temperature monitor application?
thanks mate,
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
Fredstar said:
Could you possibly tell me what temp's you are getting mate using Temperature monitor application?
thanks mate,

It's mate-ess to you ;)

Unfortunately, Im a little too busy at work right now to download, install and run this.

The fans only really kick in when doing major Pshop stuff.
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
Ok matess :p, if you could some time then that would be great, i am monitoring the heat on my imac's hd and it doesn't seem to be budging past 51 celsius and trying to work it hard :p
I am sure i will be fine getting the Raptor, i guess even if it runs at say 57 celsius it isn't going to melt or anything
 

andrewfee

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2004
467
2
I really wouldn't recommend it. For starters, you're voiding your warranty by doing this, as you'll have to take the bracket off the old drive, which is held in place with regular screws. (you're only able to remove the brass ones and not void the warranty)

Secondly, the drive the iMac comes with runs far too hot as it is, and I had two drives die in mine due to heat related issues, I doubt a raptor would last long in there at all. With my old iMac G5, I had to wait 5-10 minutes for the drives to cool down before I could handle them; something I've never had to do in the past when working on any computer. (and I used to build / repair machines for a living)
 

Fredstar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 3, 2004
595
0
Near London
But doesn't it reach such high temperatures because of the high temperatures inside the iMac and not because of increased acitivity of the driver? As in if i just had the HD doing it's stuff it wouldn'r go over 40 celsius?
And also i would expect that the Raptor will actually cope better under the high temperatures because it has better venting than, what appears in the iMac's HD and designed to cope with more heat.
Also how are you meant to add a new Hard drive without removing the bracket? For example if you just want to upgrade?
I have also heard a lot of people adding it to Pmacs, would that also void the warranty of them?
appreciate the comments guys, if i void the warranty there is no way i am going to do it
Fred
 

andrewfee

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2004
467
2
Fredstar said:
But doesn't it reach such high temperatures because of the high temperatures inside the iMac and not because of increased acitivity of the driver? As in if i just had the HD doing it's stuff it wouldn'r go over 40 celsius?
And also i would expect that the Raptor will actually cope better under the high temperatures because it has better venting than, what appears in the iMac's HD and designed to cope with more heat.
Also how are you meant to add a new Hard drive without removing the bracket? For example if you just want to upgrade?
I have also heard a lot of people adding it to Pmacs, would that also void the warranty of them?
appreciate the comments guys, if i void the warranty there is no way i am going to do it
Fred
The two hard drives I had in my iMacs were regularly going over 65C, which I believe is why I've had two of them die in a 6 month period. (both after about 3 months actually)

The Raptor runs hotter than these drives, and I already think the drives they've got in them are putting out too much heat.

Powermacs are designed so that you can add RAM, Hard Drives PCI cards etc easily, on the iMac G5, the only thing you're allowed to change yourself (unless it's a replacement part from Apple) is the RAM. With the Powermacs it's just a regular mounting bracket, but with the iMac it's a custom designed thing that you would have to transfer onto another drive, and like I said, doing so will void your warranty.
 
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