I heard that the Power Macs can only hold up to 232GB of internal hard drive space. Is this true? If the dual 1GHZ G4s come standard with 80 GB and have at least two more slots for standard internal hard drives then why wouldn't I be able to load in two more 120GB WD hard drives inside and have over 300GB for my DV editing?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What's the maximum internal space on a G4 Powermac?
- Thread starter TyleRomeo
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
the ata chip shipped with the powermacs has a limit of 130 GB per drive. So, without changing anything internally, the maximum you could get is 390 GB. I don't know of any 130 GB drives, but there is always the maxtor 160 GB drive (although you wouldn't be able to use the remaining 30-odd GB)
From Apple is it 3x 80gb, but technically (I think) you could go out and buy another 80gb and put it in, or even go out and buy 4x 120gb disks, is 480gb enough for you?
Ensign
Ensign
Right, you can add a PCI UltraATA/133 controller to get past the limit. I went FireWire and threw a Maxtor 160GB out back of the unit.
I opened my G4 (Quicksilver) to install a Stealth Serial Port and it looks like there's 4 mountpoints for HD's -- so you could, with an UltraATA/133 controller, get 640GB in the unit, it would seem.
blakespot
like so:
3x80Gb @ ATA 66 via the mobo.
4x 120Gb @ ATA 100 7200RPM via a dual channel ATA 133 RAID PCI host card.
mods: Bigger case fan, new drive brackets (spaced to allow better air circulation), Zip bay modded to take an ATA HD, Bigger Power supply with 8 drive power leads, non-ribbon type drive cables.
End result: A really loud storage monster with a Superdrive and 5 drive volumes (2 RAID, 3 ATA 66) for a total of 720Gb
3x80Gb @ ATA 66 via the mobo.
4x 120Gb @ ATA 100 7200RPM via a dual channel ATA 133 RAID PCI host card.
mods: Bigger case fan, new drive brackets (spaced to allow better air circulation), Zip bay modded to take an ATA HD, Bigger Power supply with 8 drive power leads, non-ribbon type drive cables.
End result: A really loud storage monster with a Superdrive and 5 drive volumes (2 RAID, 3 ATA 66) for a total of 720Gb
mischief, what kind of mouting plate mods did you need to do to get the six drives in? Just wondering what you used to hold the drives in place and such. Also, which tower did you do this to? I am trying to think of what I will do to my next tower. I can easily see mounting five hard drives inside a G4 without any mods, other then putting one where a zip drive can go.
I would, personally, use the 160GB drives along with the ATA133 RAID controller, since those are available in ATA133. That would give you 640GB in two drive volumes (stripe each pair, for performance). Then use another ATA133 card, and put another 160GB drive where the zip would go... Total space: 800GB ... eat THAT peecee's.... LOL
The entire install shouldn't take any more then 15 minutes (installing the drives and cards), and maybe another 15-60 minutes to set up the volumes are you desire. That includes the formatting and setting up the RAID card.
Thing is, who would need that much storage space on the tower?? I can see the wanting of it, but unless you are creating a feature length movie, who would REALLY NEED it??? It would give you good bragging points, until someone does one better (someone always does).
Anyone happen to know when larger drive's will be getting released??? I would be thinking of something like 180GB, 200GB and larger.
I would, personally, use the 160GB drives along with the ATA133 RAID controller, since those are available in ATA133. That would give you 640GB in two drive volumes (stripe each pair, for performance
). Then use another ATA133 card, and put another 160GB drive where the zip would go... Total space: 800GB ... eat THAT peecee's.... LOLThe entire install shouldn't take any more then 15 minutes (installing the drives and cards), and maybe another 15-60 minutes to set up the volumes are you desire. That includes the formatting and setting up the RAID card.
Thing is, who would need that much storage space on the tower?? I can see the wanting of it, but unless you are creating a feature length movie, who would REALLY NEED it??? It would give you good bragging points, until someone does one better
(someone always does). Anyone happen to know when larger drive's will be getting released??? I would be thinking of something like 180GB, 200GB and larger.
The trick is in the screw holes.
Sure you can put 3 "stock" drive brackets across the bottom but it'd be a heat nightmare cuz there's about 1mm of space between drives that way.
The zip bay will physically accomodate a HD but only 2 of the 4 screw holes can be used and the cables wind up supporting the tail end of the drive against that nice sharp framing. Ick.
I hadn't fond any drives in the 7200-10k speed above 120Gb @ATA133. An ATA 133@5400 is just a waste.
If true rudeness is a necessity I have an old SGI rack case about the size of a large fridge. I've wanted to buy a few machines worth of parts sans-case to put into it. In that case I could fit:
2 iRack G3 600 FW tray load imac gut assemblies. 1 running linux as my internet gateway, 1 serving as a house terminal.
2 Marathon G4 rack kits with dual 1Ghz guts and the above mods.
1 MAGMA 13 PCI slot expansion chassis.
1 5 drive bay 19" drive chassis.
4 12" fans
Rack mounted UPS.
Whip cream and a cherry on top.
Sure you can put 3 "stock" drive brackets across the bottom but it'd be a heat nightmare cuz there's about 1mm of space between drives that way.
The zip bay will physically accomodate a HD but only 2 of the 4 screw holes can be used and the cables wind up supporting the tail end of the drive against that nice sharp framing. Ick.
I hadn't fond any drives in the 7200-10k speed above 120Gb @ATA133. An ATA 133@5400 is just a waste.
If true rudeness is a necessity I have an old SGI rack case about the size of a large fridge. I've wanted to buy a few machines worth of parts sans-case to put into it. In that case I could fit:
2 iRack G3 600 FW tray load imac gut assemblies. 1 running linux as my internet gateway, 1 serving as a house terminal.
2 Marathon G4 rack kits with dual 1Ghz guts and the above mods.
1 MAGMA 13 PCI slot expansion chassis.
1 5 drive bay 19" drive chassis.
4 12" fans
Rack mounted UPS.
Whip cream and a cherry on top.
ok guys thanks for all the input
i guess there are tons of options with what to do with internal hard drive space.
maybe i'll wait on the PCI ATA 133 card for the 200 GB drives or larger to come out. I'd like to be able to store up to a TB inside.
if youre wondering what i need all that space for, its really simple. I'm a DV editor so I will need tons of GBs for my projects.
Also I am looking to store my entire music collection on the G4. Now lets do some simple math here
if i import all my music as MP3s at 192KBPS (for decent quality) and say roughly that an average song is 4:21 in leght which is roughly 6MP per song. now 1,000 songs=6GB
then 10,000 songs=60GB
and if I have over 50,000 songs so far and not looking to stop collecting anytime now eventually i will have 100,000 songs which equals 600GB.
then 5 years from now i'll be able to take that collection and back in all up on a 600GB firewire 2+ external drive.
music is everything and i want my mac to house it
i guess there are tons of options with what to do with internal hard drive space.
maybe i'll wait on the PCI ATA 133 card for the 200 GB drives or larger to come out. I'd like to be able to store up to a TB inside.
if youre wondering what i need all that space for, its really simple. I'm a DV editor so I will need tons of GBs for my projects.
Also I am looking to store my entire music collection on the G4. Now lets do some simple math here
if i import all my music as MP3s at 192KBPS (for decent quality) and say roughly that an average song is 4:21 in leght which is roughly 6MP per song. now 1,000 songs=6GB
then 10,000 songs=60GB
and if I have over 50,000 songs so far and not looking to stop collecting anytime now eventually i will have 100,000 songs which equals 600GB.
then 5 years from now i'll be able to take that collection and back in all up on a 600GB firewire 2+ external drive.
music is everything and i want my mac to house it
mischief, 5400 rpm drives are just fine for RAID configurations. Considering that when you set up a RAID 0, the single drive spec's are essentially doubled. The access rates, drive speed and such, since you have two drives acting as one. While it is true that 7200 rpm drives would be even faster, 5400 rpm drives would act as a single 10800 rpm drive.
Just a little RAID 101
Just a little RAID 101
Here's some info:
Biggest around is 160 for now (you can get a Maxtor 160 @ 5400 rpm for as low as $200 online
). As manufacturers find new ways to increase areal density we'll start to see bigger drives.Personally, I'm waiting for a steady state RAM drive. I know they have some around right now in the 1GB neighborhood, but you need a little more than that for OS X. Boot up time: < "hella fast"!
Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Here's some info:
Biggest around is 160 for now (you can get a Maxtor 160 @ 5400 rpm for as low as $200 online
Personally, I'm waiting for a steady state RAM drive. I know they have some around right now in the 1GB neighborhood, but you need a little more than that for OS X. Boot up time: < "hella fast"!
Where have you seen the 160GB for $200???? Show me the page... I have seen the 120GB drives going for more then that and the lowest I have seen the 160GB is about $300 (give or take a few $$'s).
My TiBook with the GB of RAM screams..
...
Gee.....why didn't you specify before:
http://www.adtx.com/english/prod/raid/k_rack.htm
2.4Tb on 4 SCSI 160 channels.
8U rack mount.
If you're serious I strongly reccomend getting a full size 19" rack.
http://www.adtx.com/english/prod/raid/k_rack.htm
2.4Tb on 4 SCSI 160 channels.
8U rack mount.
If you're serious I strongly reccomend getting a full size 19" rack.
http://www.pricewatch.com
I can't give you a direct link since they use frames, but just perform a search for "Hard Disk Drives EIDE 160GB" or browse through their storage section. They find great prices, it's just up to you to find out if the vendor is legit.