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Level 1

59 points

Replacing the internal hard drive???

Hello,

I'm going to to replacing my internal hard drive (R.I.P.) and I'm looking for advice on the best one to choose.

The machine is a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo from 2007 (I think that is the right year anyway).

Are hard drives in Mac's the same as PCs? I had assumed they are, but surfing around some sites like Western Digital there are extenal drives that are specified for Macs. I just want to be sure.

Could my Mac handle a 2TB hard drive? Or should I go for a smaller capacity?

I have a preference for Western Digital, based on passed experience, though I am not limited to that if someone has a better suggestion.

If I go for a 2TB Western Digital, my choices seem to be the WD Caviar Green and the WD Caviar Black.

Does anybody have any suggestions or advice?

Cheers

Posted on May 9, 2012 2:48 PM

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Posted on May 9, 2012 2:54 PM

Stay away from any "green" drives. You can install up to 3 TBs (I don't think 4 TB drives are yet available.) Disassembling an iMac is not a trivial task. I would visit OWC to find suitable drives and tutorials. OWC also sells drives with toolkits needed for the specific computer model.

Personally, I'd avoid WD drives. WD is not the best supporter of Macs. I would stick to Seagate, Hitachi, or Samsung for large capacity drives. Stay away from drives that have built-in sudden motion detection as these conflict with the SMS in the computer. If a drive has a SMS then be sure you can disable it via software from the manufacturer or by configuration jumpers on the drive.

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38 replies

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 9, 2012 3:35 PM in response to WZZZ

WZZZ wrote:

NeddySeagoon wrote:

SSD = solid state drive. This is a whole new bag of cats for me.😕

Very expensive for much less capacity. And, if you keep your data on an external, that, in turn, needs to be backed up on another external.

I do intend to to also get another external drive and a large supply of blank DVDs for essential back ups.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 9, 2012 3:37 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

bit-tech.net gave a good review for the WD Caviar Black, but the Samsung F3 was reviewed a few days later to much more applause.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 9, 2012 3:39 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

That would be preferable. If not at least one that can be user disabled.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 9, 2012 3:48 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:

That would be preferable. If not at least one that can be user disabled.

Thanks, I've googled this a bit, but I can't find any mention of it in reviews or specifications.

How can I tell if it is possible on a certain hard drive?

Also, you said earlier that up to 3TB is possible, but I was thinking it was a max of 2TB

I found thos on about.com :-

17-inch, 20-inch, and 24-inch late 2006 iMacs

Model identifier: iMac 5,1, late 2006 model

Model identifier: iMac 5.2, late 2006 model

Model identifier: iMac 6,1, late 2006 model

Memory slots: 2

Memory type: 200-pin PC2-5300 DDR2 (667 MHz) SO-DIMM

Maximum memory supported: 4 GB total. Use matched pairs of 2 GB per memory slot. Apple officially supports only 3 GB of RAM in these models. You can install 4 GB, but your iMac won't use all of the available RAM.

Hard drive type: SATA I 3.5-inch hard drive; SATA II drives are compatible.

Hard drive size supported: Up to 2 TB

User manual with memory upgrade instructions

I'm sure my iMac is the underlined model above and it "up to 2TB"

What do you think? If you thought 3TB is possible I would much prefer that to 2.

RRFS

Level 5

4,522 points

May 9, 2012 4:04 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

NeddySeagoon wrote:

RRFS wrote:

Solid State Drives. They are both physically smaller and hold less data 60GB-560GB and they can get pricey but the read write speeds are 10 or more times faster. My unit runs much cooler than with the 500GB drive I had before and with 128GB for Applications and file swapping internally and 3TB for Storage Externally I'm a happy camper. I used a Crucial 128SSD and maxed my memory while I was at it. I'm keeping it for as long as they make software for it now.

I did some quick googling RRFS.

Thanks for the info, but I had better stick with HDD. I'd be much less confident trying to install it.

Cheers though.😉

Not to beat a dead horse here but the install difficulty would be the same or easier. It uses a SATA connector just like a HD and it doesn't have ANY exposed circuitry unlike internal drives that have that circuit board hanging off them.

Also if you chose to you could get benefit from just running it as a Firewire boot drive and get marked improvement just using it as an external boot drive. I did for a week just to make sure I was ready with all the data/system transfers.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 9, 2012 4:12 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

Yes, that means internal support is only up to 2 TBs. Info about SMS would be on the spec sheet for the drive. You can find those at the manufacturer's website.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 9, 2012 4:34 PM in response to RRFS

RRFS wrote:

NeddySeagoon wrote:

RRFS wrote:

Solid State Drives. They are both physically smaller and hold less data 60GB-560GB and they can get pricey but the read write speeds are 10 or more times faster. My unit runs much cooler than with the 500GB drive I had before and with 128GB for Applications and file swapping internally and 3TB for Storage Externally I'm a happy camper. I used a Crucial 128SSD and maxed my memory while I was at it. I'm keeping it for as long as they make software for it now.

I did some quick googling RRFS.

Thanks for the info, but I had better stick with HDD. I'd be much less confident trying to install it.

Cheers though.😉

Not to beat a dead horse here but the install difficulty would be the same or easier. It uses a SATA connector just like a HD and it doesn't have ANY exposed circuitry unlike internal drives that have that circuit board hanging off them.

Also if you chose to you could get benefit from just running it as a Firewire boot drive and get marked improvement just using it as an external boot drive. I did for a week just to make sure I was ready with all the data/system transfers.

Sorry, I thought you said they were physically smaller than HDDs. That is what mainly put me off.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 9, 2012 4:35 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:

Yes, that means internal support is only up to 2 TBs. Info about SMS would be on the spec sheet for the drive. You can find those at the manufacturer's website.

Thanks, Kappy.😉

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 10, 2012 2:54 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

Kappy? Hope your still there.

I called the nearest Apple repair store (to see what brand they use) and the tech said he recommended a 500 GB drive but that it could take a 2 TB "if it was jumpered".

I assume this is done in the same way as a PC and will be included in any instruction manual.

Am I right?

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

May 10, 2012 4:03 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

I could be wrong, but if the maximum drive size for that model is 2TB, I don't understand what they're telling you. I've never heard of setting jumpers to allow a larger drive size, especially if the maximum allowed is already 2TB. A jumper is simply a short press-on connector or shunt that fits on the jumper block of the drive and enables the drive to make non-standard or just different internal connections.

What I do know is "jumpering" (it would be "jumpering down") involved in this situation usually refers to the data transfer speed the SATA controller in the Mac was designed for. It looks like your model is meant for a 1.5Gb/s drive -- those were the fastest at the time, I believe -- so perhaps a newer drive would have to be jumpered down to that transfer speed. I don't think you could get a 6Gb/s drive down that much, but a 3Gb/s drive -- there are still plenty of those around -- should be able to be moved down to 1.5Gb/s. And sometimes jumpering down is not even necessary. The article you linked states that SATA II drives (3.0Gb/s) are compatible.

Then again, maybe this is something I just don't know about. Perhaps Kappy will be able to solve this.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

May 10, 2012 4:21 AM in response to WZZZ

Of course, you could just contact the drive manufacturer to see if this is necessary or even available as a feature.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 10, 2012 11:44 AM in response to WZZZ

I'm afraid I don't understand that either, but then I've never seen a 2 TB drive. And, perhaps they were referring to a particular brand. Or it may be an issue related to using a drive capable of 6 Gb/s being used in a machine that only supports 3 Gb/s. I just don't know. I have no 6 Gb/s drives in my Mac Pro so I don't know if they would have required a jumper setting to use in a machine that only supports the slower interface.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 11, 2012 3:15 AM in response to Kappy

Hello again.

The specs for the WD Caviar Black and the Seagate Barrcuda both state the hard drives 6 Gb/s & 3 Gb/s so I assume that means I can use it in my iMac with slower interface.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

May 11, 2012 4:13 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

You should be able to use the Seagate 3 Gb/s out of the box, since your Mac is supposed to be 3 Gb/s compatible. If not, then jumpered down to 1.5 Gb/s. The WD 6 Gb/s drive may or may not work out of the box. If it is jumpered down to 3 Gb/s, pins 5 & 6, then it may be directly compatible. I don't know for sure.

You should know that recent Seagate drives have a poor reputation for quality.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/5387#jumper

Before committing yourself to a drive, I would strongly recommend contacting the manufacturer.

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

May 11, 2012 4:49 AM in response to WZZZ

Thanks, WZZZ.

I was all set this morning for ordering a hard drive, but I just read through the guide on ifixit.com and it is a little more work than my enthusiasm let me see. :P

I didn't even notice the need for Torx screwdrivers.

I won't rush into this.

I'll read through it another couple of times over the next few days (and contact the various manufacturers as you suggested). I'll see how confident I feel about this then.

There are a few parts in the guide I am not sure I could manage.

At worst, I will buy an external FireWire hard drive until I can take it to an Apple repair store.

Thanks for all the help, guys.

If you have anymore input, I welcome it.

Replacing the internal hard drive???