SSD converts - please inform me

[vinylretina]

Is there any real advantage to upgrading a PPC Mac to SSD? I still use my iBook G4 quite a bit as sort of an in-between my MBP and iPad for those times when I don't feel like hauling my MBP out to play but I need to use a full computer. I've been considering an SSD for it just for a little added zing, but I've read a few places that while it will boot OS X faster, speed-ups throughout aren't really that much of an improvement.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

I have a 64GB Kingston SSD in my G5, that SSD has been in well over 25 computers but is still remarkably faster than a hard drive. I have yet to toss one in a pre-SATA laptop but I'd imagine that the speed increase would certainly help the usability aspect! I feel that is something that slows these old machines down, hard drives.

 

[MacCubed]

I have a 64GB Kingston SSD in my G5, that SSD has been in well over 25 computers but is still remarkably faster than a hard drive. I have yet to toss one in a pre-SATA laptop but I'd imagine that the speed increase would certainly help the usability aspect! I feel that is something that slows these old machines down, hard drives.

I have an mSATA SSD in my PowerBook G4, everything is a lot faster! I get better battery life, and the mSATA route is much cheaper than the "buy a new IDE spindle drive" route

 

[cw48494]

mSATA in a PowerBook G4 and it flies!

 

[iModFrenzy]

I don't have a SSD in my PowerBook G4, mostly cause I am lazy and its a IDE connector.

Recently, I threw a SSD into my MacBook 2,1 and it is much faster. Apps like Photoshop load in less than a second. Boot times are pretty fast too.

Point is, a SSD, no matter what configuration, will definitely be an improvement.

 

[bunnspecial]

Absolutely the way to go, especially given the current prices of high capacity and/or high speed 2.5" IDE drives.

I have several of them in use. An mSATA drive will saturate the ATA/100 bus on an aluminum powerbook-something that I've not seen even a 2.5" 7200 rpm IDE drive be able to do.

 

[vinylretina]

Wow, right on guys. Anything I should know before looking into purchasing one of these?

 

[Altemose]

I have a 32 GB KingSpec SSD in my PowerBook G4 and it gave a significant performance improvement. I recommend going with a Samsung mSATA SSD with an adapter though for best performance.

 

[flyrod]

+1 on msata. It's quiet, fast, large capacity, and can be cheaper than ide disks too. I measured power draw and it was about the same, but at idle there's obviously an improvement. The msata to ide adapters I've used just regulate 5v down to 3.3 (which is wasteful). I've seen some that have voltage converters on them, but I've not tried them. I suspect that those would beat 2.5" ide drives in power use. This would only be relevant in a powerbook...

Also, if the pwoerbook does somehow become obsolete, the msata card may still have life in something else.

 

[vinylretina]

Is there a capacity ceiling? Sorry, I know I can just get all of this information from Google University, but I'd rather ask people who have done this themselves.

 

[JRDN]

+1 on msata. It's quiet, fast, large capacity, and can be cheaper than ide disks too. I measured power draw and it was about the same, but at idle there's obviously an improvement. The msata to ide adapters I've used just regulate 5v down to 3.3 (which is wasteful). I've seen some that have voltage converters on them, but I've not tried them. I suspect that those would beat 2.5" ide drives in power use. This would only be relevant in a powerbook...

Also, if the pwoerbook does somehow become obsolete, the msata card may still have life in something else.

I just browsed for these adapters. I found one that is a 3v mSata to ide and another that is 5v mSata to IDE. Does either one matter?

 

[flyrod]

I think you want 5v for the adapter. msata is 3.3 and 2.5" ide is 5 in most cases. I think there is a special version of 3.3v ide, but that's the pee cee world iirc.

 

[flyrod]

So if you compare these two boards, they are basically the same except one has a regulator to drop 5v to 3.3:

 

[MacCubed]

Is there a capacity ceiling? Sorry, I know I can just get all of this information from Google University, but I'd rather ask people who have done this themselves.

Some PowerPC Macs do have an 128GB limit on their ATA bus. You can work around this, but if you are talking about an iBook G4, there is probably a limit at some point, but to the point where an SSD is stupid expensive. There is an adapter on Amazon made by Aleratec that I used in my DLSD PowerBook, from what I have read on the mSATA adapters, the ones you have to go for are with the Marvel chipset. The Marvel chipset allows the best speeds, and from experience the best reliability. Anyhow, just "Aleratec High-Speed mSATA to IDE converter" on Amazon. It is red, so you cant miss it! In terms of the actual SSD its self, go for a used one. New, never-used drives are always more expensive, and being a flash based storage option, wear-and-tear really shouldn't be a problem (As it is with the spindle drives). I bought a used SanDisk 128GB mSATA of eBay for like $40. It offers a good amount of space for my music and stuff, and it really improves the speed of the laptop. Personally, I would max out the RAM, if it isn't already, and have a nice Leopard machine.

 

[for this]

I think you want 5v for the adapter. msata is 3.3 and 2.5" ide is 5 in most cases. I think there is a special version of 3.3v ide, but that's the pee cee world iirc.

Go for the 5v one. Because that is the voltage the IDE cable supplies. I've been using it in my iBook G3.
The more convenient option would be an mSATA to 2.5" IDE enclosure though.

 

[for this]

Is there a capacity ceiling? Sorry, I know I can just get all of this information from Google University, but I'd rather ask people who have done this themselves.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2544

"The BootROM of Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors), Xserve, Power Mac G5, and any other model introduced after June 2002 can accommodate these larger drives."

So this is not the issue for your iBook G4.