Just wondering what will be quicker:
1) Internal upgraded 7200 rpm disk (Do it yourself after purchase)
2) External FW800 disk such as NewerTech miniStack v3
FW800 PowerBook -- PowerBook G4/1.67 connected to a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB PATA drive via the FireWire 800 Port (and Wiebetech SuperDriveDock+)
FW400 MacBook -- MacBook Pro 2.0 connected to a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB PATA drive via the FireWire 400 Port (and Wiebetech SuperDriveDock+)
Internal 7200 -- MacBook Pro 2.0 using the Configure-To-Order 7200RPM internal SATA 2.5" Seagate ST910021AS drive
Internal 5400 -- MacBook Pro 2.0 using the stock 5400RPM internal SATA 2.5" Seagate ST9100824AS drive
To me, it looks like the performance of the 7200 RPM Firewire 800 drive is pretty good. There are also some good RAID 1 external FW800 drives that make going the external route somewhat compelling...
That test is over two years old when notebook drives were not that great. Here are two new drives that I have connected to my old Mini (2 gHz gma950, 1.5 gbps SATA interface):
1. Samsung 2.5" 500 gb 5400 rpm 8 mb cache internal SATA drive and 1.5 gbps interface on the Mini (Mac Mini HT)
2. Seagate 3.5" 1.5 TB 7200 rpm 32 mb cache drive in a FW400 enclosure (Blu-Ray)
The internal Samsung is the better performing drive overall. It takes a hit on large random reads because of its small cache. The new Mini has a 3 gbps SATA interface, so it should be substantially better, even compared to FW800.
Wow those are pretty good rates off of a 5400 RPM drive - I'm impressed.
I would imagine that FW800 would probably be in the 50 - 60 - 70 mbs range depending on operation - so it shouldn't be too far behind in most things.
It's more a function of platter density and improved caches in notebook drives.
With the 9400m controller in the new Minis, I suspect that same Samsung drive would top out around 150 mbps. It only has a 1.5 gbps interface, so the newer drives with 3 gbps interfaces should top out close to 200 mbps in a new Mini.
It was my understanding that most of these drives top out around 100 mb/s. The only drives that I have seen coming close to 150 mb/s have been SSDs and SAS drives.
What would be the best FW800 HD to get?
I'll be moving HD-video so it should be fast. Also it must be almost silent so no fan (and otherwise silent). I've looked at different reviews but haven't found proper comparisons.
Any tips?
Mike,
Thanks for your help with both of my questions! Too bad I had to call the whole thing of. -sigh-
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7247599/
That is a shame. Is it true that the monitor issue would not be a problem if you just let the screen go into a screen saver instead of going to sleep? I used to have my monitor go to sleep, but for some reason I am having issues with Vista not waking it up at all - so now I just use a blank screen saver instead of having the monitor go into sleep mode...