Can I use this 2.5" hard drive in my friend's iMac?

[muaythai]

My friend's drive died in her 2008 iMac, so she ordered a new one. She mistakenly purchased a 2.5" notebook size hard drive instead of a 3.5" drive that the iMac comes with. Physically, it will mount in there just fine, and the connectors will fit (the IDE/SATA plugs or whatever they are).

The question is: will this affect performance in any way? If so, we'll just return it to Newegg for a 3.5". But if not, I'm going to put it in! What do you guys think?

Thanks,
MT

 

[rkaufmann87]

My friend's drive died in her 2008 iMac, so she ordered a new one. She mistakenly purchased a 2.5" notebook size hard drive instead of a 3.5" drive that the iMac comes with. Physically, it will mount in there just fine, and the connectors will fit (the IDE/SATA plugs or whatever they are).

The question is: will this affect performance in any way? If so, we'll just return it to Newegg for a 3.5". But if not, I'm going to put it in! What do you guys think?

Thanks,
MT

Technically it will work but the right thing to do for it to fit is to return it for a 3.5" SATA drive.

 

[muaythai]

Thanks for the reply, rkaufmann87. You're right that it would be ideal to use a 3.5" drive, however, I'm here now to help her install and so this "hack" is more convenient. As long as the performance isn't compromised.

 

[js81]

If its a 7200rpm drive, it should be all but identical in terms of performance. If its a 5400rpm drive, you'll notice a little slow down (but not a ton, as many laptop 5400 drives are as fast as their 7200rpm counterparts). Just like MHz (or GHz nowadays) isn't everything, RPM isn't everything with hard drives. If you got it to securely mount, I see no issue with this at all.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...The question is: will this affect performance in any way? If so, we'll just return it to Newegg for a 3.5". But if not, I'm going to put it in! What do you guys think?

Thanks,
MT

Yes, 2.5" drives are slower than their 3.5" counterparts = even if you did get a 7200RPM 2.5" HDD it still may not be as fast as a 7200RPM 3.5" HDD

 

[charlieroberts]

Yes, 2.5" drives are slower than their 3.5" counterparts = even if you did get a 7200RPM 2.5" HDD it still may not be as fast as a 7200RPM 3.5" HDD

Yes, it will be compromised, and also, it was probably more expensive than the 3.5 counterpart. All in all the only benefits she may get apart from saving you both the trouble of returning the drive are:

Reduced Energy consumption (maybe she wants her iMac to be greener)
And reduced heat inside the machine, which in a very optimistic scenario, may make the machine live longer (huge plus!)

Anyway, hope this helps

(just thought about this, that in the very unlikely case she bought an SSD, then it doesn't matter if its 2.5 or 3.5 lol)

 

[doktordoris]

compared to 3.5 inch drives 2.5 inch are considerably slower.

 

[rkaufmann87]

Thanks for the reply, rkaufmann87. You're right that it would be ideal to use a 3.5" drive, however, I'm here now to help her install and so this "hack" is more convenient. As long as the performance isn't compromised.

Why not run down to the local computer store, Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack etc.. .and get a 3.5" drive to install and then she can return the incorrect drive. This would be a much better solution than installing the wrong drive.