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Jansar · Jul 3, 2002, 02:04 PM

I have a G4 Cube right now, and the hard drive is very, very damaged. I need to buy a replacement, and I was wondering if anyone can show me where to get the best drive possible for my computer. (The bigger the better) I don't really care much about the cost, just want to know if it can work.

Also, if external is preferred, I can try that. As long as I can run my OS on it at a similar speed as my current drive (5400 RPM I think @ 30 GB).

bradoesch · Jul 3, 2002, 02:19 PM

If you don't need a portible drive then buy an internal drive for sure.

Since your computer doesn't have a fan, you might want to look at 5400 rpm drives instead of 7200 because of heat issues. Somebody else will know for sure (or has tried it.)

If cost is not an issue, get one bigger than you think you'll need because it's likely that you'll find that extra space useful sometime.

Brad

Evangellydonut · Jul 3, 2002, 05:40 PM

any 5400 RPM IDE drive will do (almost...at least any that you can buy from a local computer store). just do more research on which drive is faster or quieter...probably better to post it in the G3/G4 forum instead, 'cuz more people use that forum.

Jansar · Jul 4, 2002, 02:36 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Evangellydonut:
any 5400 RPM IDE drive will do (almost...at least any that you can buy from a local computer store). just do more research on which drive is faster or quieter...probably better to post it in the G3/G4 forum instead, 'cuz more people use that forum.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks for your response. I was somehow led to believe that a G4 Cube needed to have a specific hard drive that could fit. I'm looking for either a 100 or 120 GB drive that I think should fit.

buchrob · Jul 4, 2002, 03:07 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Jansar:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Evangellydonut:
any 5400 RPM IDE drive will do (almost...at least any that you can buy from a local computer store). just do more research on which drive is faster or quieter...probably better to post it in the G3/G4 forum instead, 'cuz more people use that forum.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks for your response. I was somehow led to believe that a G4 Cube needed to have a specific hard drive that could fit. I'm looking for either a 100 or 120 GB drive that I think should fit.<hr /></blockquote>An excellent point of departure:

<a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE.html" target="_blank">http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE.html</a>

Maneki Neko · Jul 4, 2002, 09:53 PM

I replaced the stock 20 gig drive in my cube with a 120 gig Maxtor, which I picked up
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=14& amp;manufactory=1304&DEPA=1" target="_blank">here</a>

Works like a charm, and is less than $150 now. No problems getting it into the cube at all. I've had great service from Newegg.

gto47 · Jul 5, 2002, 12:02 AM

As previous posters have mentioned, just about any ata 5400rpm drive will work. As far as manufacturers go, my preferences are Seagate, Maxtor, IBM in that order. Stay away from Western Digitals, as they tend to be loud and unreliable. You can get any of these drives from most online and local retailers, such as CDW.com, warehouse.com, compusa, and many others.

Jansar · Jul 5, 2002, 05:22 PM

For the Maxtor drives, would 160GB be too much? (As in overheating and such) If it could work, then it'll be a real winner.

gto47 · Jul 5, 2002, 10:29 PM

As long as its 5400RPM it should be fine. Disk space does not equal heat, only RPMs do. A 7200 RPM may work fine too, but its not "Recommended".

CyberGreg · Jul 7, 2002, 07:52 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Jansar:
For the Maxtor drives, would 160GB be too much? (As in overheating and such) If it could work, then it'll be a real winner.<hr /></blockquote>Dang... I tried searching but I couldn't find the post but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the Cube can only use a 128GB drive. So.. if you went with the 160GB you wouldn't see the last 32GB.

I'll try to find where I read about this.

Jansar · Jul 8, 2002, 01:13 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by CyberGreg:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Jansar:
For the Maxtor drives, would 160GB be too much? (As in overheating and such) If it could work, then it'll be a real winner.<hr /></blockquote>Dang... I tried searching but I couldn't find the post but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the Cube can only use a 128GB drive. So.. if you went with the 160GB you wouldn't see the last 32GB.

I'll try to find where I read about this.<hr /></blockquote>Wow, that's odd. I'll try to find it too. But, if worst comes to worst, I'll stick with the 120, which is fine by me.

The Placid Casual · Jul 8, 2002, 06:13 AM

I'm pretty sure that 128 gig limit is governed by the ATA interface. I believe the cube runs ATA-66 (in fact all macs do...)which will only recognise approx 120 gig drives or under (or the first 120 gig of a larger capacity drive)Although I read somewhere of a work around, posibly on XLR8...

Personally, I just put a Seagate Barracuda IV 80 gig, 7200 rpm drive in my cube...

I noticed no increase in temperature and it performed very well indeed. However, I found it to be relatively noisy, and it sent a vibration right through my desk! I called Seagate who informed me there was a manufacturing defect, so it had to be removed...but, it did work very well performance and heat wise while it was in there... I know loads of people who have experienced no problems with the higher rpm drives.

However for my replacement I'm going for a 5400 rpm single platter drive, and getting a 100 gig+ external drive. I'm sure that the higher rpm drives will pose no problem in cubes, but after my current experience I'm going to be safe not sorry...

xlr8yourmac.com as someone already noted, has a comprehensive list of observations people have submitted about the various pros and cons of the different drive brands and sizes when they are put into cubes...well worth a look.

Peace,

Marc

[ 07-08-2002, 07:16 AM: Message edited by: Marc2211 ]

CIA · Jul 10, 2002, 03:00 AM

I believe that the limit of the current Mac's ATA interface is 120gig disks. (or _slightly_ above that) but with a newer hardware PCI ATA controller you can use the larger capacity drives to the 160gig size and beyond. (Has to do with the controller chips on the card being able to understand that there is a larger drive attached. It has to do with the limits of the ATA/IDE interface. Check out this page for a quick heads up about it. Although it's slightly out of date. It's still informative
<a href="http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/size_GB128.htm" target="_blank">ATA Interface Limits</a>

BUT, since you have a cube you are stuck with onboard ATA-66 (possibly ATA-33, I don't have a cube to confirm) So buy yourself a nice big 120gig ATA-66 drive. 5400RPM should be fine, you can get a 7200rpm drive, but I don't think you will notice any real difference. If you DO end up putting in a 7200 RPM drive, you should throw in a fan to cool things off as well. I read in another thread here that you can get fans so quiet that you can't hear it over the drive noise in the cube.

[ 07-10-2002, 04:05 AM: Message edited by: CIA ]

CyberGreg · Jul 10, 2002, 05:26 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by CIA:
I believe that the limit of the current Mac's ATA interface is 120gig disks. (or _slightly_ above that) but with a newer hardware PCI ATA controller you can use the larger capacity drives to the 160gig size and beyond. (Has to do with the controller chips on the card being able to understand that there is a larger drive attached. It has to do with the limits of the ATA/IDE interface. Check out this page for a quick heads up about it. Although it's slightly out of date. It's still informative
<a href="http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/size_GB128.htm" target="_blank">ATA Interface Limits</a>

BUT, since you have a cube you are stuck with onboard ATA-66 (possibly ATA-33, I don't have a cube to confirm) So buy yourself a nice big 120gig ATA-66 drive. 5400RPM should be fine, you can get a 7200rpm drive, but I don't think you will notice any real difference. If you DO end up putting in a 7200 RPM drive, you should throw in a fan to cool things off as well. I read in another thread here that you can get fans so quiet that you can't hear it over the drive noise in the cube.<hr /></blockquote>Cool... hah no pun intended.

I've installed a fan inside my Cube in preparation for either the 800MHz or the 1GHz CPU upgrade. Mine's a bit noisy but runs nice and cool now. If you can replace the hard drive in a Cube you're half-way to installing a fan. Apple even put a bracket on the bottom of the cage, they were at least thinking of future Cube enhancements before the axed it.

BTW I've been running a 60GB 7200 drive for about a year or so (without any fan) and it was noticeably faster than my previous 40 GB 5400 drive.

Good luck with the new hard drive.

[ 07-10-2002, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: CyberGreg ]