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Quick question about mac mini HDD sizes

P

Previse

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 20, 2012
79
0
Hey, i've got a server 2012 Mac Mini. I'm curious, are they using 9.5mm drives or 12.5 / 15mm? I plan on getting a refreshed mac mini on tuesday and putting in an ssd for speed / main system and a 2tb 15mm as a secondary drive. If is as expected and all they do is upgrade the cpu / igpu would you be able to fit a 15mm and a 7.5mm ssd inside a mac mini

thanks
 
Previse said:
Hey, i've got a server 2012 Mac Mini. I'm curious, are they using 9.5mm drives or 12.5 / 15mm? I plan on getting a refreshed mac mini on tuesday and putting in an ssd for speed / main system and a 2tb 15mm as a secondary drive. If is as expected and all they do is upgrade the cpu / igpu would you be able to fit a 15mm and a 7.5mm ssd inside a mac mini

thanks
Click to expand...

The 1TB drives that come in the 2012 quad core models are 9.5mm drives. So there is at least 19mm of space in there. When I took mine apart there was a little wiggle room, but I'm not sure there would be the extra 3.5mm you need. That is assuming the mini doesn't go to PCI based flash storage.
 
Previse said:
Hey, i've got a server 2012 Mac Mini. I'm curious, are they using 9.5mm drives or 12.5 / 15mm? I plan on getting a refreshed mac mini on tuesday and putting in an ssd for speed / main system and a 2tb 15mm as a secondary drive. If is as expected and all they do is upgrade the cpu / igpu would you be able to fit a 15mm and a 7.5mm ssd inside a mac mini

thanks
Click to expand...

7 and 9.5mm are the only drives that will fit properly and are secure properly with mounting screws.

Some forum members can get a larger 12.5mm in there but it only just sits there (not secured by screws). I do not agree with this approach. I prefer to have the drives not touching and also secures properly.

As for the 7 and 15mm together, I would be very surprised. Infact I think highly unlikely unless you do significant modifications. You will possibly break something trying to modify it that much. The HDD caddy is fairly precise.

I would recomend a 9.5mm 1.5TB HGST, then it can be secured properly.

Or just run your 15mm drive in a USB3.0 enclosure.
 
Last edited:
opinio said:
7 and 9.5mm are the only drives that will fit properly and are secure properly with mounting screws.

Some forum members can get a larger 12.5mm in there but it only just sits there (not secured by screws). I do not agree with this approach. I prefer to have the drives not touching and also secures properly.

As for the 7 and 15mm together, I would be very surprised. Infact I think highly unlikely unless you do significant modifications. You will possibly break something trying to modify it that much. The HDD caddy is fairly precise.

I would recomend a 9.5mm 1.5TB HGST, then it can be secured properly.

Or just run your 15mm drive in a USB3.0 enclosure.
Click to expand...

AH! i didn't know there were 9.5mm that went past 1tb. HGST is a subsidiary of Western Digital correct? I like to stick with WD. That drive is mainly on ebay, any clue if its on amazon or newegg? I've checked with no success.

Thank you!
 
Previse said:
AH! i didn't know there were 9.5mm that went past 1tb. HGST is a subsidiary of Western Digital correct? I like to stick with WD. That drive is mainly on ebay, any clue if its on amazon or newegg? I've checked with no success.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

HGST is a sub of WD yes. The drives are very good. I have the 1TB 7200rpm in my mini in a Fusion Drive. Size and speed. The 5400 1TB is the OEM that comes with the mini at the moment.

OWC sells it.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J28001/

If you get it from OWC make sure it is the 6GB Sata III model not the 3GB Sata II model. Unless of course you want Sata II for other older computers.
 
opinio said:
HGST is a sub of WD yes. The drives are very good. I have the 1TB 7200rpm in my mini in a Fusion Drive. Size and speed. The 5400 1TB is the OEM that comes with the mini at the moment.

OWC sells it.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J28001/

If you get it from OWC make sure it is the 6GB Sata III model not the 3GB Sata II model. Unless of course you want Sata II for other older computers.
Click to expand...

Yeah unless you have a 2010 or older model you should get the SATA III 6Gbps version. In some older machines SATA III drives run at SATA I speeds, so SATA II drives running at SATA II speeds are a better buy for those.
 
compatible

mdgm said:
Yeah unless you have a 2010 or older model you should get the SATA III 6Gbps version. In some older machines SATA III drives run at SATA I speeds, so SATA II drives running at SATA II speeds are a better buy for those.
Click to expand...

Are these compatible?
Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE750 - Solid state drive - 750 GB - intern - 2.5" - SATA-600
SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE500 - Solid state drive - 500 GB - intern - 2.5" SATA 6,0 GB/s
 
model for sale now

mdgm said:
With which model?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of buying the current model:

2,3-GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-processor
4 GB geheugen
Harde schijf van 1 TB1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
OS X Mavericks

Then replacing or adding the 500 GB or 750 GB ssd. I wonder if it wouldn't be as fast as the 27'' imac with 1TB fusion?
 
speed?

mdgm said:
With the current model I think those SSDs should work fine.
Click to expand...

Would this combination be as fast as an imac 27'' with fusion? I ask this because I find the imac so expensive...
 
grandM said:
Would this combination be as fast as an imac 27'' with fusion? I ask this because I find the imac so expensive...
Click to expand...
"Fusion Drives" are 2 separate drives in a SORT OF raid array. You're MUCH better off just getting a 2.5" SSD + Spacious HDD. After doing my research I've come down to this ..

3Tb Western digital external for mac mini, 1tb stock drive in second slot and a 250gb Samsung evo ssd in first slot. Save yourself the money ... get the evo drives and less capacity. I looked and a 500gb Evo alone costs something like 340. I got a 250gb evo for 180 + a 3tb western digital external for 99$ (Newegg shell shocker) making my total 280 for both. Now this is my setup; i understand everyone has different intentions. I'm going to put my OS, applications + a few games on ssd and all of my media on the second internal 1tb and when it gets filled up back it up to the 3tb external.

As for your question .. It would be faster in read/write times than a fusion drive. fusion drives range from 350-380 read/write. Samsung pro SSDs above 128gb range from 450-550. Samsung Evo SSDs above 128gb are 450-480.
 
interesting

Previse said:
"Fusion Drives" are 2 separate drives in a SORT OF raid array. You're MUCH better off just getting a 2.5" SSD + Spacious HDD. After doing my research I've come down to this ..

3Tb Western digital external for mac mini, 1tb stock drive in second slot and a 250gb Samsung evo ssd in first slot. Save yourself the money ... get the evo drives and less capacity. I looked and a 500gb Evo alone costs something like 340. I got a 250gb evo for 180 + a 3tb western digital external for 99$ (Newegg shell shocker) making my total 280 for both. Now this is my setup; i understand everyone has different intentions. I'm going to put my OS, applications + a few games on ssd and all of my media on the second internal 1tb and when it gets filled up back it up to the 3tb external.

As for your question .. It would be faster in read/write times than a fusion drive. fusion drives range from 350-380 read/write. Samsung pro SSDs above 128gb range from 450-550. Samsung Evo SSDs above 128gb are 450-480.
Click to expand...
I follow your point on 250gb instead of 500gb ssd. The external HDD is no prob. I have a 4TB Lacie usb3. The machine would be used to program ios apps in Xcode, watch 1080p movies, surfing, listening to streaming audio, skype & stupid online games such as the hobbit. I do multitask a lot. The compilation of apps is heavy duty though. Perhaps more ram? Or is the processor key?
 
grandM said:
I follow your point on 250gb instead of 500gb ssd. The external HDD is no prob. I have a 4TB Lacie usb3. The machine would be used to program ios apps in Xcode, watch 1080p movies, surfing, listening to streaming audio, skype & stupid online games such as the hobbit. I do multitask a lot. The compilation of apps is heavy duty though. Perhaps more ram? Or is the processor key?
Click to expand...

A 2.3 i7 Quad is more than enough for all of that. What you just described (Other that xcode) my girlfriend does on her i5 2012 mini with 4gb of ram. Like i said its up to you what you spend your money on but an ssd bigger than 250gb for what you do (I do essentially the same stuff) is overkill/money that could be used for other upgrades. Heck for a 250 GB samsung evo + 16gb of 1600Mhz ram youll pay less than a 500Gb SSD alone!

As for the whole multi tasking, i do usually have about 8-10 apps open at once (and i dont mean 10 textedits, i mean skype, netflix on chrome etc etc) on my Server i7 + 250Gb SSD mini. 1600Mhz 16Gb Corsair Ram. Never had a hickup!
 
saving money

Previse said:
A 2.3 i7 Quad is more than enough for all of that. What you just described (Other that xcode) my girlfriend does on her i5 2012 mini with 4gb of ram. Like i said its up to you what you spend your money on but an ssd bigger than 250gb for what you do (I do essentially the same stuff) is overkill/money that could be used for other upgrades. Heck for a 250 GB samsung evo + 16gb of 1600Mhz ram youll pay less than a 500Gb SSD alone!

As for the whole multi tasking, i do usually have about 8-10 apps open at once (and i dont mean 10 textedits, i mean skype, netflix on chrome etc etc) on my Server i7 + 250Gb SSD mini. 1600Mhz 16Gb Corsair Ram. Never had a hickup!
Click to expand...
Speaking of saving money: why did you buy the server edition? When looking at http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MD388LL/A&step=config
it has the same hardware as http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MD389LL/A&step=config
the extra 1 TB drive has to go anyway? What are you using the server for btw? And can't the server software be installed on the first mac?
 
grandM said:
Speaking of saving money: why did you buy the server edition? When looking at http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MD388LL/A&step=config
it has the same hardware as http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MD389LL/A&step=config
the extra 1 TB drive has to go anyway? What are you using the server for btw? And can't the server software be installed on the first mac?
Click to expand...

Server edition on ebay NIB for 830 shipped. Same hardware; although the second HDD cable isn't there. Everything is the same; but you're paying 200 more for a 1tb (which you can buy for about 70 bucks NIB) and the cable (Which is 20 from ifixit) so save yourself the money.
 
darned

Previse said:
Server edition on ebay NIB for 830 shipped. Same hardware; although the second HDD cable isn't there. Everything is the same; but you're paying 200 more for a 1tb (which you can buy for about 70 bucks NIB) and the cable (Which is 20 from ifixit) so save yourself the money.
Click to expand...
I was too late: somebody else bought it. Now I'll have to pay 120 dollars more. So I'll hold on till some store goes into bargains. That means January :(
 
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