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HDD suggestion for Aluminum iMac 20"

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timswim78

Diamond Member
The 250GB drive in my iMac is woefully undersized, given my virtual machines, baby photos, videos, etc.

So, I am looking for a new internal drive. I was eyeing the WD 1TB Black Series, but newegg reviewers say that they run hot and loud in iMacs. Any other drive suggestions or thoughts on the WD black drives?

BTW, I am only interested in internal drives (I've replaced iMac drives in the past with no issues, so the disassembly does not scare me). The only external drive that I will use is my Time Machine drive.
 
The WD Green is 5400/7200 RPM variable, I believe. I have one in my Fantom external.

For straight file access, which is all I've used it for, it's been very good. It's very quiet. Not sure how it would do as an OS drive, though. Are the Seagate 1.5TB drives more reliable now? They're 500 GB per platter too, I think.

If not, do you need 1 TB? I've had great luck with the WD 640GB. No need to spend extra on the Black, either.
 
Why not an external??

Just plug in one of those little WD book drives and be done with it. A lot less work and hassle.
 
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Why not an external??

Just plug in one of those little WD book drives and be done with it. A lot less work and hassle.
Click to expand...

Because the external is then running over FW or USB. Slow.

If the iMac had eSATA, externals would be a much better option, but even if it's just your music or photo collection, dealing with FW and USB speeds does kind of suck.

And you also have another box on your desk. Presumably, if he's using an iMac, part of it is probably for aesthetics/lack of clutter.
 
Originally posted by: VinylxScratches
What about the Western Digital Green series?
Click to expand...

I ruled them out because I have read that they do not work too well as OS drives. They are rather slow, despite being cool and quiet.
 
Is this one of the newer iMac? Just be advised that it's a colossal pain in the a$$ to even get at the HDD in those. Why Apple keeps insisting on doing that with some systems and not others is a complete mystery to me. Does it have a Firewire 800 port? Definitely not as fast as SATA 3.0gbps but plenty fast enough for most things so an external drive would work.

Samsung drives are quiet and cool running. I have an older 80gb one in my desktop that works quite well. What about the Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ. Cheap at $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152102
 
the seagate 1.5TB drives are fine now, as long as you get the ones with the CCH1 firmware on it (and 99% of them are all on that firmware). i got in on that $199 2x1.5TB hds from dell and theyve been working flawlessly. they actually are pretty quiet and dont put out as much heat as i would have thought.
 
Originally posted by: mmntech
Is this one of the newer iMac? Just be advised that it's a colossal pain in the a$$ to even get at the HDD in those. Why Apple keeps insisting on doing that with some systems and not others is a complete mystery to me. Does it have a Firewire 800 port? Definitely not as fast as SATA 3.0gbps but plenty fast enough for most things so an external drive would work.

Samsung drives are quiet and cool running. I have an older 80gb one in my desktop that works quite well. What about the Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ. Cheap at $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152102
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a newer one. As I mentioned, I've taken apart iMacs and have no problem with it. It's really just a matter of keeping track of your screws and being mindful of what you do. It's a little easier than taking apart a laptop, IMO.
 
Originally posted by: timswim78
Originally posted by: mmntech
Is this one of the newer iMac? Just be advised that it's a colossal pain in the a$$ to even get at the HDD in those. Why Apple keeps insisting on doing that with some systems and not others is a complete mystery to me. Does it have a Firewire 800 port? Definitely not as fast as SATA 3.0gbps but plenty fast enough for most things so an external drive would work.

Samsung drives are quiet and cool running. I have an older 80gb one in my desktop that works quite well. What about the Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ. Cheap at $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152102
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a newer one. As I mentioned, I've taken apart iMacs and have no problem with it. It's really just a matter of keeping track of your screws and being mindful of what you do. It's a little easier than taking apart a laptop, IMO.
Click to expand...

It depends though. They changed the design. The original iMacs just had a back plate that had to be removed. The new ones, you actually have to lift out the LCD display to get at the HDD.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-20-Inch/658/2
 
Originally posted by: mmntech
Originally posted by: timswim78
Originally posted by: mmntech
Is this one of the newer iMac? Just be advised that it's a colossal pain in the a$$ to even get at the HDD in those. Why Apple keeps insisting on doing that with some systems and not others is a complete mystery to me. Does it have a Firewire 800 port? Definitely not as fast as SATA 3.0gbps but plenty fast enough for most things so an external drive would work.

Samsung drives are quiet and cool running. I have an older 80gb one in my desktop that works quite well. What about the Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ. Cheap at $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152102
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a newer one. As I mentioned, I've taken apart iMacs and have no problem with it. It's really just a matter of keeping track of your screws and being mindful of what you do. It's a little easier than taking apart a laptop, IMO.
Click to expand...

It depends though. They changed the design. The original iMacs just had a back plate that had to be removed. The new ones, you actually have to lift out the LCD display to get at the HDD.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-20-Inch/658/2
Click to expand...

Yes, I am perfectly aware of that. As I said in the OP and have repeated, I do not have any reservations about cracking the thing open again. If it was still under warranty, I might not screw around with it. I want a bigger, faster drive inside of the iMac, and there is only one way to do that.
 
For some reason, I thought iMacs used all laptop components, including the HDD. Nice to know they don't. Voted WD Blue because I have the 640GB version of that drive, and its nice and fast.
 
Originally posted by: sjwaste
For some reason, I thought iMacs used all laptop components, including the HDD. Nice to know they don't. Voted WD Blue because I have the 640GB version of that drive, and its nice and fast.
Click to expand...

The CPU and RAM are laptop parts, but they use 3.5 SATA hard drives. Mac minis use laptop hard drives.
 
Originally posted by: timswim78
Originally posted by: sjwaste
For some reason, I thought iMacs used all laptop components, including the HDD. Nice to know they don't. Voted WD Blue because I have the 640GB version of that drive, and its nice and fast.
Click to expand...

The CPU and RAM are laptop parts, but they use 3.5 SATA hard drives. Mac minis use laptop hard drives.
Click to expand...

i do remember that the imac G5 used desktop memory! but that was ever such a long time ago though...😛
 
Originally posted by: timswim78
Originally posted by: sjwaste
For some reason, I thought iMacs used all laptop components, including the HDD. Nice to know they don't. Voted WD Blue because I have the 640GB version of that drive, and its nice and fast.
Click to expand...

The CPU and RAM are laptop parts, but they use 3.5 SATA hard drives. Mac minis use laptop hard drives.
Click to expand...

Well, yes and no. Since early 2008 the iMac you can readily buy has used E8135, E8335, E8235 and E8435 processors, which are all desktop parts. Now, Apple released an 'education-only' iMac with a P7350 with its Early 2009 refresh but it's not a 'mainstream' product so to speak.
 
I would get the WD 1TB black, it's hotter and noisier, but the performance makes it worth it. Hitachi's 1TB drivedrive splits the difference between the green/black in performance, but it's cooler and quieter than the black 1tb.
 
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