Late 2005 Mac G5, CS4, Help Choose New Hard Drive

WaveLab
1

The hard drive on my trusty Mac G5 PowerPC desktop is not doing so well ( errors despite new memory). I have a second drive bay, and am adding a new 1-2Tb drive (once I choose one). I’m still running Tiger OSX 10.4.11 and Cubase Studio 4 with no immediate plans to upgrade due to financial reasons (I can afford a new hard drive, but not a new mac and all new software).

My Late 2005 G5 is SATA, which solves a lot of problems (upgrade specs here)
PowerMac G5 PCI-Express - Upgrade & Repair).

Question is, which drive is suitable for my needs as a musician for music/video editing? I’m looking at:

  • Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2Tb 7200 RPM SATA 600 / 64 Mb


  • Seagate Barracuda ST310005N1A1AS-RK 1Tb 7200 RPM SATA 300 / 32 Mb


  • Some Hitachi 1Tb thing the mac store recommends (no specs yet)

Research has turned up mixed reviews on the Seagates (reports of drive failure and limited Mac support for firmware); great reviews on WD; bad reviews on Hitachi in general (dead drives). However, Hitachi gets good reviews for speed and low price.

What questions do I need to consider when choosing a drive for music recording with my somewhat outdated yet functional system? Anyone have experiences (good/bad) with these drives/brands? Please try to keep the technobabble limited so my head doesn’t explode, LOL. The more human the terms, the better. :smiley:

Any insight appreciated.

2

Seriously. NOBODY?

3

I’d like to help you out but I’m PC so I can’t really give you any useful advice :frowning:

Myself, I have 2 PC DAWS and 3 other desktops, and the majority of my HD’s (18) are Seagate’s.

Never had one fail in 10+ yrs of using them.

Not sure why they would give problems on a Mac, guess someone more knowledgeable on Mac’s than me would be able to give a reason :question:

I see after perusing the weblinkyou gave, that there is an option for an eSATA add-on card for your unit.

That would be nice to have ( I use them ) as that makes them portable if you wanted.

Sorry I can’t help you but thought it might make you feel better knowing someone is reading here :slight_smile:

4

SATA600 and SATA300 are identical when used in your system.

That should make it easier

NOTE: Current store prices in USA are UNDER $100 for a 2Tb drive. Just make sure you are aware of prices and most MAC stores will install for a fee - EVEN if you purchased elsewhere.

Install price vs. eSATA card price is something to consider as teh previous poster mentioned.


eSATA gives you full SATA speed from your external Hard Drive.

eSATA 2Tb should not be over approx $120 USD


-I would have replied earlier but I was too busy watching the new Apple product launch the day you posted and then downloading the new iOS 5 for developers! :laughing:

5

Update: I went with the Western Digital 1Tb Caviar Black. Found it at a quite affordable price at MacMall. Installed it myself. Had a minor issue with it not being recognized until I bought some ten-cent item at Radio Shack to put over two pins on the back (forget what it’s called at the moment), and voila. Reinstalled everything, made it my startup disk.

It was better, but still had issues. Silly things crashed at silly times. (Still having Cubase issues, working through them tonight.) Thought they were software-related until yesterday when inspiration struck, and I removed the OLD hard drive completely.

Stable again. Works much better. Able to install Adobe and Garageband and other stuff without errors.

My review on the WD Caviar Black? It’s really quiet. Some have reported it’s noisy but I don’t hear anything now.

6

That would’ve been a jumper :wink:

7

Yep, jumper. Thanks. :slight_smile: