SSD for Dual 2.5 G5?

[JesterJJZ]

Just wanted some thoughts a good SSD for a friend's G5. From what I remember they only had SATA I right? Getting a current SATA II or III wouldn't make much sense would it?

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by JesterJJZ

Just wanted some thoughts a good SSD for a friend's G5. From what I remember they only had SATA I right? Getting a current SATA II or III wouldn't make much sense would it?

I would get one with a Sandforce controller. Those last longer without TRIM than other SSDs do. OWC and Intel use Sandforce, along with some others. Also, you probably will not find any SATA I drives, but you can use SATA II just fine with it. SATA III has issues and should be avoided.

[SuperCyborg]

Get a Samsung 830.

SATA III has issues and should be avoided.

That is false information.

[Intell]

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

SATA III has issues and should be avoided.

Originally Posted by SuperCyborg

That is false information.

This is not false. There are many documented issues with SATA III drives in a G5. A few will work with a problem. Others need to be set to SATA II mode. But most will simply not work in any stable fashion.

[rabidz7]

Originally Posted by JesterJJZ

Just wanted some thoughts a good SSD for a friend's G5. From what I remember they only had SATA I right? Getting a current SATA II or III wouldn't make much sense would it?

You could get an expansion card for it.

[prvt.donut]

Originally Posted by rabidz7

You could get an expansion card for it.

But then you can't boot from it, which pretty much defeats the purpose of having the SSD.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by Intell

This is not false. There are many documented issues with SATA III drives in a G5. A few will work with a problem. Others need to be set to SATA II mode. But most will simply not work in any stable fashion.

I can confirm that the Corsair Force 3 SATA III drive fails over SATA in my G5 tower. Shows up in a USB enclosure, but that's it. SATA II OCZ Vertex + and OWC Mercury Electra drives work fine.

[SuperCyborg]

All Samsung, OWC and OCZ sata III drives work in G5s.

[Intell]

Originally Posted by SuperCyborg

All Samsung, OWC and OCZ sata III drives work in G5s.

Not all Samsung drives. I have some of their early SATA III drives and they refuse to work in my G5. I've even read about some OWC drives not working at one point. They even had a disclosure on their site stating that their SATA III drives were not G5 compatible.

[AtmChm]

Originally Posted by Intell

Not all Samsung drives. I have some of their early SATA III drives and they refuse to work in my G5. I've even read about some OWC drives not working at one point. They even had a disclosure on their site stating that their SATA III drives were not G5 compatible.

Yes, I can confirm the OWC 6G SSD drives (SATA III) do not work in a G5. I've tried one and talked with their tech support, who also confirmed they do not work in a G5. The OWC 3G SSDs DO work in a G5.

And yes, if you get a PCI SATA controller, I have found you can use any of the OWC SSDs. I've also found they boot, but I've only tried this in a G4 tower.

Finally, if you have the LAST generation of G5, which have PCI express slots, then you can use Sonnet's SSD controller card

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonne...es/TSATA6SSDE/

where you can mount the SSD on the card, and get much faster data rates according to their website. I'd love to try this, but I don't have any PCIe G5's.

[burnout8488]

FWIW: I was able to boot from a FirmTek SATA controller in my Dual 2.0 and Quad G5s.

[prvt.donut]

Originally Posted by AtmChm

Yes, I can confirm the OWC 6G SSD drives (SATA III) do not work in a G5. I've tried one and talked with their tech support, who also confirmed they do not work in a G5. The OWC 3G SSDs DO work in a G5.

And yes, if you get a PCI SATA controller, I have found you can use any of the OWC SSDs. I've also found they boot, but I've only tried this in a G4 tower.

Finally, if you have the LAST generation of G5, which have PCI express slots, then you can use Sonnet's SSD controller card

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonne...es/TSATA6SSDE/

where you can mount the SSD on the card, and get much faster data rates according to their website. I'd love to try this, but I don't have any PCIe G5's.

That sonnet card lists compatibility as snow leopard and above.

Not sure if it would work. Be awesome if it does, anyone wanna try?

Operating System Support
Mac OS X 10.6.8+
Mac OS X Server 10.6.8+

[SuperCyborg]

Originally Posted by Intell

I have some of their early SATA III drives and they refuse to work in my G5.

So you advise the OP not use a time machine to go back several years before buying an SSD?

[Intell]

Originally Posted by SuperCyborg

So you advise the OP not use a time machine to go back several years before buying an SSD?

I advise the OP to not get any SATA III drive for his/her G5 until multiple people have confirmed the exact same model drive to work in their machines. It's also possible that Samsung may start using incompatible parts in their drives again.