Mac mini > will newer hd increase speed?

[grassy]

Hoping to keep Mini awhile longer but not happy with the speed. Would a new HD increase speed?? Currently mini = Processor 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 1GB. What is the max HD I could but in it??

All suggestions greatly appreciated..

[Tallest Skil]

Anything ATA (NOT SATA) works, so... 320GB is your maximum, I believe. I could be wrong, and if I am, your max is 250.

[Satori]

Hoping to keep Mini awhile longer but not happy with the speed. Would a new HD increase speed?? Currently mini = Processor 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 1GB. What is the max HD I could but in it??

All suggestions greatly appreciated..

It would increase the speed a little but not a great deal - you would need to get a drive with faster spin and data exchange rates (most G4 mini's had a 4200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 drive). Everymac.com has good advice and guides to upgrading all macs.

P.S. I though the G4 mini never went beyond 1.42GHz?

[Tallest Skil]

P.S. I though the G4 mini never went beyond 1.42GHz?

Nope, the last was 1.5.

[J&JPolangin]

...its still gotta be faster than my old Dell Dimension 8100 1.3 Ghz P4:D

[timmoore46]

...its still gotta be faster than my old Dell Dimension 8100 1.3 Ghz P4:D

Surely any Unix based OS will increase speed with more Ram ?

Or is it a disc intensive orientated application you use most ?

:)

Tim

[grassy]

Surely any Unix based OS will increase speed with more Ram ?

Or is it a disc intensive orientated application you use most ?

:)

Tim

I really only use Quickbooks pro and WORD. How can I check to see what else is taking so much space?? I've an external plugged in and trying to dump more apps in it and deleting on the mini but still something is on??
Did put 1GB memory card to max it out, but using about 70GB of it's 80GB capacity. :(

[flopticalcube]

I really only use Quickbooks pro and WORD. How can I check to see what else is taking so much space?? I've an external plugged in and trying to dump more apps in it and deleting on the mini but still something is on??
Did put 1GB memory card to max it out, but using about 70GB of it's 80GB capacity. :(
That's your problem.

[GimmeSlack12]

That's your problem.

Agreed. Try to free up another 5 to 10gb. Other than that, installing a new HDD will do nothing to increase the speed of the machine (i.e. so negligible it won't matter). Sorry.

[CubeHacker]

It might also help if we knew what kind of "speed" you were after. If you are expecting a new hard drive to make your flash video's run smoother, or make your video's encode faster well... thats just not going to happen. A new hard drive will help applications launch faster, however.

[Decrepit]

Hoping to keep Mini awhile longer but not happy with the speed. Would a new HD increase speed?? Currently mini = Processor 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 1GB. What is the max HD I could but in it??

All suggestions greatly appreciated..

I have the 1.42 GHz, and I use a 7200 rpm external FW400 drive as my OS/boot drive. The internal drive was way too slow.

You might see a big boost in performance if you get an external HDD to use as your boot drive instead of the internal. It was a big boost for me and I didn't have to open my chassis to make it happen.

[dubhe]

The only two issues I can see are the extra heat kicked out by a faster drive and if it will physically fit in the case, by means of any increased height.

[grassy]

Just found 30GB in Retrospect 6.1 (older HD backup folder) that was using 30GB space.. IT'S GONE! Already big improvement in performance and will stave off getting a new mini for another few months..

Thanks for all the suggestions
Bryan

[adamfishercox]

Yeah try to keep drives as empty as possible for speed.