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G5 Hard Drive Upgrade

MacBoyX

MacBoyX

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2003
406
0
East Coast, USA
Hi All,

I need some advice and a question answered.

I have a Dual 2.0 GHz G5 PowerMac. I have ONE 160GB SATA HD. I had a 60 GB External FW HD hooked up but it bit the dust today. So my dilemna...do I get another external FW HD? or get a second internal drive.
It would cost about the same to do either...

However, if I go internal...
Do the drive have to match? do I have to get a 160GB? Could I get an 80? or a 250?
What's my worry abt heat with an extra drive? I've heard some rumors but I want to know.

Thanks in advance.

macboyX
 
They don't have to be matched - you can put whatever you want in there. Unless you want to take the drive somewhere, get an internal - much greater capacity/speed for the same $$$.
 
if i were you, i would get the same drive that you have and set up a raid configuration to make yourself one giant drive.

but for sure at least get an internal unless you need to transfer files from one computer to another easily.
 
Thanks for the advice. I don't know if I need an RAID array but I at least will get an internal drive. I already have an iPod and a portable 20Gig Firewire HD.

Thanks!

macboyX
 
I say get a 74GB Raptor as your OS and App drive and leave your 160 GB drive as your Data HD. You'll get screaming performance and still have the storage!

Do a Get Info about your drive now- you'll probably only have about 20-40 GB's used, unless you store all your junk on the dekstop or in your home folder.
 
If you get an internal, go as big as you can, I got a 250GB just because I didnt want to upgrade in another year.

And they do not have to match
 
Again thanks for the advice.

I am using abt 50 gb of the 160GB. I found a identical drive to the one in my G5 for 127 on buy.com. I may go the RAID 1 route.

My other question tho is will I need to worry about heat in the G5 with adding a second drive. I swear somewhere I read about that being an issue with the thermostat?

thanks.

macboyX
 
as Fuzzy said, with all the controlled fans heat shouldn't be an issue, but according to this:

http://xlr8yourmac.com/G5/G5_drive_heat_tips.html#storytop

. . . lots of G5 HDs are dying from overheating because of the placement of the HD thermometer.


on the boot drive issue (WD 10k 74GB Raptor) read barefeats.com's assessment: http://barefeats.com/hard39.html . . . apparently it helps. it's not cheap though, because the same money or less gets you a 250GB 7200 rpm SATA drive.
 
Flynnstone said:
RAID 1 is striping I believe.
Faster Yes !
If a drive fails -> you are hooped :eek:
Click to expand...

I thought RAID 1 was 2 or more HDs mirroring eachother, and a RAID 0 was striping.

(Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though)
 
You're almost right.

RAID 1 is mirroring 2 drives together (not 2 or more).
RAID 0 is striping without parity (i.e. not fault tolerant) for 2 or more drives.

With either of the options the drives do not have to be identical. However, with RAID 1, the second drive must be bigger than the first drive. Of course, the space left over on the second drive is a waste.
 
If you've decided to RAID the suckers, 0 (speed) or 1 (mirror), buy a 2nd HD that's identical to what's in your G5. Or if you want even faster speed, take out the HD in your G5 and put it in an external enclosure, then buy a pair of Western Digital Raptor. The 36.7GB or 74GB. The latter is quieter.
 
I purchased a 160 GB HD for my G5 also. I got it at Fry's Electronics for about $120.00. It was really easy to install. just insert into second bay, connect the cables, format HD and it works perfectly.
 
Macmaniac said:
Just make sure its a SATA drive, drives for the G5 are very cheap these days, you can get a good Western Digital drive for $60 at a decent storage size, get a drive with a big memory buffer and a High RPM if you want really good performance.
Click to expand...

Again thanks for all the advice. To answer a few quesitons/points...

1. I am not lookin for more speed out of my drives, they run fast enuff.
2. I am going to get an IDENTICAL Seagate 160GB SATA150 HD.
3. I am going to do a RAID 1 (Mirroring of 2 DRIVES)

I found it at buy.com for 127.00 US. Not to shabby.

Thanks again :)

macboyX
 
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