Serial ATA card for dual 2.3 powermac

If Apple hadn't hampered the FW800 implementation in the G5 you wouldn't need to go that route unless you had a lot of burst transactions that can take advantage of SATAs write to cache advantage.

Otherwise remember to take a look at...

http://www.barefeats.com

Since he does testing every now and then with internal and external SATA PCI cards.

But you'll still want to talk to people here how well certain cards work in everyday use.

I use the Sonnet Tempo-X 4+4 which has four internal and four external ports. This way you can hook up the drives mounted on the bracket to the internal ports, and if needed, you can get external enclosures like the Firmtek SeriTek to hook up even more drives. I now have 4 300GB drives, 2 400GB drives, my stock 250GB, and a Raptor 74GB drive all hooked up.

I'm using the same type of internal bracket but mine is made from aluminum.

*note: there are certain Maxtor drives that don't work well with the Sonnet cards. Read this blog for more info http://www.hdforindies.com/2005/05/more-experience-with-sonnet-8-port

The ones I like are the Firmtek Seritek series
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/

You can also get an external drive bay for 2 x SATA drives, which eliminates the need for the internal bracket mod. I am really nervous of the heat implications of the extra internals.

CanadaRAM said:

The ones I like are the Firmtek Seritek series
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/

You can also get an external drive bay for 2 x SATA drives, which eliminates the need for the internal bracket mod. I am really nervous of the heat implications of the extra internals.

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I second Firmtek. I have a Firmtek card in my machine. Never any problems with it. Firewire 800 was so unstable that I switched completely to SATA. It's been 100% functional. Firmtek's prices are also pretty reasonable.

lazyboy922 said:

Thanks guys.

Ras- Where did you get your bracket from and how much did it cost?

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I actually bought mine on eBay and cost $100. It is the same kit as the SwiftDATA 200, but without all the cables. I think the guy on eBay is now only selling a plastic version. The original aluminum version is available as a kit http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2490 but is more expensive.

CanadaRAM said:

The ones I like are the Firmtek Seritek series
http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/

You can also get an external drive bay for 2 x SATA drives, which eliminates the need for the internal bracket mod. I am really nervous of the heat implications of the extra internals.

Click to expand...

I use both the internal bracket and the Firmtek Seritek external enclosures. I wouldn't worry about the heat. The fans in that zone of the G5 will just spin faster if needed...

here is a little page I made a while ago on installation instructions.
http://homepage.mac.com/rasjudah2/HDsetup/Accessories.html

here are some pictures of my setup from last year. I have added a few more SATA drives including 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB drives. I would recommend these instead of the Maxtor.
http://homepage.mac.com/rasjudah2/PhotoAlbum3.html

FWIW:

LaCie is now offering external SATA drives that come with a 2 port (external) SATA+power PCI card. By one of those drives, use the second SATA port for a build-your-own SATA external. The card provides power to the d2, so no extra power brick.

I mention this only because the cost of the external drive + dual-port SATA card is pretty reasonable to get a LaCie d2 - and I've always had good experiences with the d2's.