Your G4 PCI Graphics has an onboard IDE controller with a capacity recognition limit of 128 GBs, so full-recognition of a larger hard drive (160 GBs ->) would require a Mac-compatible ATA-133 controller PCI card, like the
Acard AEC-6280M. If 120 GBs or less is adequate for your needs, compare prices for a good deal. You don't want to get gouged by dealers/retailers that overprice small-capacity drives for older systems lacking 48-bit LBA support. A good sale price was 50¢/GB a couple of years ago, but mega-sized drives are less than that today. If you found a good deal on a 160 GB drive, you could still install it - but anything above the 128 GB point would be unrecognized. Intech's "
SpeedTools ATA High-Capacity Driver" is a software workaround for large drive recognition, but it involves a partitioning scheme. Your G4 uses industry-standard 3.5" IDE/EIDE (Parallel ATA or PATA) hard drives, so you can purchase one from any electronics, computer, or office supply store with the best price. Once installed, the drive would need to be formatted with Disk Utility. A 3.5" SATA hard drive could also be used, but would require a Mac-compatible SATA controller PCI card.
