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2.5" 7200 rpm for G4 mini

R

ramlax13

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 20, 2008
47
0
Hey everyone, So I'm looking to get my hands on a 2.5" HD that runs at 7200 rpm for my G4 mini, which means it can't be SATA. I'm having trouble tracking down any 7200 PATA 2.5" drives because SATA is taking over. I was also thinking about trying to find an external drive that is 2.5" and pata, rippin it open and taking the drive out. Another option would be to use something like this:http://cooldrives.com/satoidecofor.html


If anyone has any experience with these converters, or knows how I can go about finding a 7200 drive for the G4 mini, please let me know.
 
rolex54 said:
i believe the g4 mini does not have a pata connector
it is an ATA/IDE connector

here are some 7200 RPM ATA drives
Click to expand...

OK I'm not sure what the difference is in those connectors, but as you may notice, all of those hard drives are not in stock, and haven't been in a long time. I'm looking for something that is actually available still, which is the biggest problem. Thanks for the link though.
 
ramlax13 said:
OK I'm not sure what the difference is in those connectors, but as you may notice, all of those hard drives are not in stock, and haven't been in a long time. I'm looking for something that is actually available still, which is the biggest problem. Thanks for the link though.
Click to expand...
IDE/ATA are the same connector, just 2 different names, PATA connectors are usually used on 1.8" HDD, like the macbook air and ipods

i have looked and cannot seem to find any 7200rpm drives for sale
you might just have to go with 5400
ATA is a dying connector, manufactures are supporting it less and less
maybe someone else can
 
Aloha All,

The mini is a great little machine. I had gotten it to edit FCP because I couldn't afford the g5. I had gotten the mini when the 1.42 first came out.

I upgraded the drive to a superdrive and the ram. Next thing I did was the internal HD. All they had at the time in 7200 rpm drives was a 60 gb deskstar. Still had some minor issues with dropping frames so what i did was add heat sinks to the ram and to aid in the cooling added 1.5 inch spacers at all 4 corners so that elevated the mini and facilitated more air flow.

I added the Matrox Dual Head 2 go with the Switch Res X drivers and I have a full edit suite with 2 17 inch lcd monitors, a digital deck and a huge 24 inch ntsc monitor. You couldn't tell that all of that was being run off of my mini.

The reason for the speed is the internal drive running @ 7200 and ONLY has all of the programs and all storage data is on externals. I have a TB of external storage. Because the internal and external drives all run at 7200 that adds to the efficency. It would be a lot worst if you have a 5400 drive speaking to 7200 drives. My friend got so frustrated with his mini he doesn't use his anymore. All of the video clips at our website can be seen at http://punishum.com Every clip you see was edited on my mac mini edit suite.

The 7200 rpm internal drive alone makes a HUGE difference. I have a 1.67 Powerbook with 2 gbs of RAM with the stock 5400 internal drive. My mini starts up "WAY" faster than my powerbook. My tech who specializes in MACs said it is due to the internal drive speeds at 7200 is the reason.

So who ever says that a mini can't do a lot, hasn't tried to do a lot with it.

Mahalo,
http://punishum.com
 
External option

You could also get an external firewire drive/enclosure such as the ministack and boot from that. I have a newer Mini, but that's how I run it. The internal drive gets used for backup and such.
 
Any 7200 RPM ideas in 2012?

I have a 1.5GHz G4 Mini and am looking to upgrade the drive in size and/or speed. Looks like 7200 RPM options are even deader in 2012 than they were in 2008--but if you have any ideas, let me know! OWC has a 120GB SSD, but that seems like overkill...

Also, appreciate if anyone can recommend any drive-replacement services. I am not handy enough to want to crack open the Mini myself.
 
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