2TB WD Caviar Green hard disk for Power Mac G5

[Jethryn Freyman]

Just got a new Power Mac G5 (1.8GHz June 2004) model. Wondering what to do about a new hard disk...

I'm not expecting this computer to be lightning quick, it's nearly 7 years old, but I don't want a hard drive so slow that it becomes a constant bottleneck. I also need a decent amount of storage, 1TB at least, even more would be nice, though I'd settle for a faster 1TB drive now and think about adding a slower larger hard drive for media later (I already have 500GB of music in iTunes.)

I've found the Western Digital Caviar Green Series (2TB, ~5,400 rpm, 64MB cache, 3 year warranty) for sales for AU$100. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with this drive or has any recommendations.

Also found a 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 7,200 rpm drive for $80, though the reviews I've seen actually seem to indicate it being slower than the Caviar Green.

Quick question: got a June 2004 Power Mac G5 which uses the SATA II standard for connecting hard drives.

Would a SATA III hard drive (Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX) work in this Mac?

Thanks!

EDIT: Nevermind, the Power Mac uses SATA I. Can't use the drive.

OK, the choice is as below:

****

Western Digital Caviar Green, $100, 2TB, ~5,400rpm, 64MB cache

and

Seagate Barracuda, $80, 1TB, 7,200rpm, 32MB cache

****

The price difference is a non-issue. Straigh up I will be using ~600GB of the drive, but I'm unlikely to come close to filling it anytime soon.

If the 2TB ~5,400rpm drive is only marginally slower than the 1TB 7,200rpm drive, I'll take the 2TB one, given the fact it has double the capacity. If however there is a significant different in everyday computing tasks I'd go for the 1TB drive and possibly re-asses the situation in a year or so when I have more cash to play with.

Again thanks for your help !

 

[sirozzy]

EDIT: Nevermind, the Power Mac uses SATA I. Can't use the drive.

Did you actually test it? I remember that Sata2 will work on Sata 1 easily. Just on speed of 1.5GB/s not 3GB/s so i assume is the same with Sata3. I might be wrong as i never used Sata3 so far but logically it should be backwards compatible.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Did you actually test it?

Nah don't have my hands on the new G5 yet.

I remember that Sata2 will work on Sata 1 easily. Just on speed of 1.5GB/s not 3GB/s so i assume is the same with Sata3. I might be wrong as i never used Sata3 so far but logically it should be backwards compatible.

From what the specs say, 2 is compatible with 1, 3 is compatible with 2, but 3 is not compaitible with 1.

 

[zen.state]

Just jumper the drive to SATA 2 and it will work on 1 and 2 just fine.

I have a SATA 3 WD Black in my G4 tower on a SATA 1 PCI card.

Edit:

I would get the WD Green if performance isn't a major concern. They are actually 5900rpm. If speed may later be a concern then rather than the Seagate I recommend a WD Black.

Seagate used to be the best drive maker but since 2008 or so I would say WD is the best and Hitachi is 2nd.