Can anyone reccomend a hard drive?

[Morerecords]

I have a G5, and I would like to install a second internal hard drive, the best and fastest format possible. maybe 500 gigs or so. Would that be eSATA? I'm not dure what the ultimate is. I am not afraid to open this thing, I install my ram and PCI cards, it won't be that tricky to install a hard drive will it?

any brand or model reccomendations?

Thanks

[Homina]

Go to BareFeats to get real-world test results on the latest computer gear.

 

In digital audio, bigger and faster are always better.

 

Seagate's 1TB SATA2 32MB buffer drive is the current speed leader and WD's 750GB 32MB buffer SATA2 is a close second. TB drives are still new enough that their prices haven't come down a lot, but the 750s can be had for around $200. You want to avoid buying OEM drives, as they're from overruns manufactured to computer makers' specs, which may not be the same as retail drives. They also may not be covered by the manufacturer's warranty as retail drives. Some even have different firmware. If a vendor's price is notably lower than everybody else's, it's probably an OEM.

[Morerecords]

thank you. What is OEM?

[dkgross]

you gonna use this as 'data storage' (samples, etc.) or for recording?

 

can't go wrong with this, either way...

 

http://powermax.com/parts/show/di-g31646

[Homina]

OEM stands for "original equipment manufacturer." Retail products come with manuals, packaging, cables, software, etc... OEM stuff is made in bulk for manufacturers who order in volume for their own production and typically are bare drives. Sometimes the products are exactly the same as retail, sometimes they're not. OEM hard drives may or may not be covered by the original manufacturer's warranty - it's up to you to find out before you buy. If they are, you're in good shape; if they're not and something goes wrong, then you've got to work it out with the company that sold you the product, not the manufacturer.

 

Something I forgot to mention in my first post is that both the Seagate and Western Digital drives are rated at 100MB per second as internal SATA2 drives. In a good external system, they'd probably be faster. 100MB/sec is really haulin' the mail for a vanilla 7200 RPM drive.

[Homina]

Just FYI:

 

The drive at dkgross' link is a 500GB Hitachi 7k500 16MB cache SATA2 and costs $250. I've no doubt it would do the job for you. However, you can get this same drive elsewhere for less. Do a CNET or Google search.

 

You can also get a 500GB Seagate Barracuda 16MB cache SATA2 for about $150 that will perform as well or better than that Hitachi. Again, check out BareFeats. It's a great site.

 

I'm not knocking Hitachi. It's a reputable brand, and people swear by it. Seagate is an industry leader, and currently produces faster drives. For the same money, you can get more bang for the buck from Seagate.

 

Drives bigger than 500GB come with 32MB caches, rather than 16MB. This makes a performance difference. The Seagate 1TB and the Western Digital 750GB are both third-generation 7200 RPM drives with 32MB buffers, and they move data faster even than WD's Raptor spinning at 10K RPM. You're gonna be using whatever drive you get for a few years. Since SATA2 is standard these days, you'll most likely be able to use it in whatever replaces your G5, too. So get the most capable one you can afford.

 

And bear in mind that whatever you buy will be cheaper a month from now, and even cheaper later when it's supplanted by something bigger and faster.

[Morerecords]

Thank you guys, going to place an order today.