i recently bought an 80gig DiamondMax Plus 9 through a rebate deal i saw on dealmac. it's number 6Y080P0. It has 8megs of cache and a fluid dynamic bearing motor. i installed this drive in my slot-loading imac.
1. Speed: this drive is noticably faster than the maxtor 5400 it replaced. startup time has increased dramatically and loading a folder full of apps for the first time takes about a third as long to display as it did with the old drive. apps also seem to start a little bit more quickly. the speed increase is not mind-blowing, but definitely a nice little boost.
2. Noise: the old drive that shipped in my imac had a horribly high-pitched whining sound. it seriously gave me a headache to sit with it for too long. The new drive makes a very quiet "whirring" sound, much more pleasant (if i can even hear it).
3. Heat: i had heard from posts on other boards that the 8megs of cache would be too hot for my convection cooled imac. surprisingly, after a week of use, i've found this not to be the case. when i had the 5400, if i put my hand on top of my imac after it had been running for a few hours, it was very hot to the touch. after doing the same with the new drive, it's still hot, but slightly (although noticeably) cooler, no longer skin-searing.
i suppose only time will tell how well this drive will hold up, but for the time being, i'm very pleased. installing this new drive and upgrading to panther makes it feel like i have a new machine.
EDIT: DAMN IT! i put this in the wrong forum. would a moderator be kind enough to move this to reviews and recomendations? sorry
1. Speed: this drive is noticably faster than the maxtor 5400 it replaced. startup time has increased dramatically and loading a folder full of apps for the first time takes about a third as long to display as it did with the old drive. apps also seem to start a little bit more quickly. the speed increase is not mind-blowing, but definitely a nice little boost.
2. Noise: the old drive that shipped in my imac had a horribly high-pitched whining sound. it seriously gave me a headache to sit with it for too long. The new drive makes a very quiet "whirring" sound, much more pleasant (if i can even hear it).
3. Heat: i had heard from posts on other boards that the 8megs of cache would be too hot for my convection cooled imac. surprisingly, after a week of use, i've found this not to be the case. when i had the 5400, if i put my hand on top of my imac after it had been running for a few hours, it was very hot to the touch. after doing the same with the new drive, it's still hot, but slightly (although noticeably) cooler, no longer skin-searing.
i suppose only time will tell how well this drive will hold up, but for the time being, i'm very pleased. installing this new drive and upgrading to panther makes it feel like i have a new machine.
EDIT: DAMN IT! i put this in the wrong forum. would a moderator be kind enough to move this to reviews and recomendations? sorry
