Comments on: Breathe New Life into your Mac with SSD! http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd Everything OWC and Newer Technology Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:48:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: OWC Michael http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-8845 OWC Michael Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:51:37 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-8845 Hello Jason, The PowerMac G4 towers use an IDE/ATA hard drive connection and 3.5" hard drives. The SSD drives have a SATA connection and are a 2.5" form factor. That said, those two issues are easily enough taken care of. The connection can be upgraded by <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Addonics/ADSAIDE/" rel="nofollow">adapter</a> or a <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=6958&Ntt=sata+controller" rel="nofollow">PCI hard drive controller card</a>. The form factor can be upgraded with a <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/item/IcyDock/MB882SP1S2B/" rel="nofollow">drive converter case</a>. So, possible? Absolutely. You've sparked our curiosity with your question though...so we're looking to answer the obvious followup question: What would the speed benefit be by installing the SSD in a G4 tower? Keep tuned into the blog, we have some testing underway to see. Hello Jason,

The PowerMac G4 towers use an IDE/ATA hard drive connection and 3.5″ hard drives. The SSD drives have a SATA connection and are a 2.5″ form factor.

That said, those two issues are easily enough taken care of. The connection can be upgraded by adapter or a PCI hard drive controller card.
The form factor can be upgraded with a drive converter case.

So, possible? Absolutely.

You’ve sparked our curiosity with your question though…so we’re looking to answer the obvious followup question:

What would the speed benefit be by installing the SSD in a G4 tower?

Keep tuned into the blog, we have some testing underway to see.

]]> By: Jason http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-8721 Jason Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:12:57 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-8721 I have an old dual 1.0 ghz powermac g4 tower. Is it possible to install an ssd drive onto these machines? I have an old dual 1.0 ghz powermac g4 tower. Is it possible to install an ssd drive onto these machines?

]]> By: OWC Michael http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-1684 OWC Michael Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:09:15 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-1684 Hello Zek, With 6GB of memory and a SSD under the hood, those machines should be optimized. You can always put the slower drive into an On-The-Go or Express as well for portable storage: http://eshop.macsales.com/search/external+enclosure+2.5+OWC For best performance, I would suggest the upgrade to Snow Leopard as the optimizations to the OS alone did speed up many processes. See: http://blog.macsales.com/1811-snow-leopard-released-today-preliminary-testing-shows-that-cat-is-fast Good luck on the wait for WindowShade. If the time it took them to update the program to be Leopard compatible is any indication, the wait could be a while. Hello Zek,

With 6GB of memory and a SSD under the hood, those machines should be optimized.
You can always put the slower drive into an On-The-Go or Express as well for portable storage:
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/external+enclosure+2.5+OWC
For best performance, I would suggest the upgrade to Snow Leopard as the optimizations to the OS alone did speed up many processes. See: http://blog.macsales.com/1811-snow-leopard-released-today-preliminary-testing-shows-that-cat-is-fast
Good luck on the wait for WindowShade. If the time it took them to update the program to be Leopard compatible is any indication, the wait could be a while.

]]> By: Zek Halu http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-1647 Zek Halu Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:06:12 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-1647 I have been looking on this test page because I want to speed up and future proof my two refurbished Apple laptops. With the cash that is left, and as I do not use much data, on the 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 250GB 5400 I would like to take out HD and replace it with Crucial 64GB SSD and perhaps do the same on the faster 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 200GB 7200. The first 250GB 5400 HD Fujitsu MHY2250BH is a bit slow so I do not know what to do with it, but the second, faster HD, the 200GB 7200 Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00, I could put into your OWC Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 800 + USB 2.0 2.5" Portable Case Kit for SATA 2.5" Hard Drives enclosure and use it for fast backups. Then I am thinking of putting your OWC 6GB RAM into both laptops. I cannot go Snow Leopard because my favourite app WindowShade is not yet Snow ready. So for now I am consigned to enjoy Leopard’s graces. The question I would like to ask you is: Would that maximally do the trick for a while - most blast for a buck - in my case a pound - or am I missing something that I could still perhaps think about? Zek I have been looking on this test page because I want to speed up and future proof my two refurbished Apple laptops.
With the cash that is left, and as I do not use much data, on the 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 250GB 5400 I would like to take out HD and replace it with Crucial 64GB SSD and perhaps do the same on the faster 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 200GB 7200. The first 250GB 5400 HD Fujitsu MHY2250BH is a bit slow so I do not know what to do with it, but the second, faster HD, the 200GB 7200 Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00, I could put into your OWC Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 800 + USB 2.0 2.5″ Portable Case Kit for SATA 2.5″ Hard Drives enclosure and use it for fast backups.
Then I am thinking of putting your OWC 6GB RAM into both laptops. I cannot go Snow Leopard because my favourite app WindowShade is not yet Snow ready. So for now I am consigned to enjoy Leopard’s graces.
The question I would like to ask you is:
Would that maximally do the trick for a while – most blast for a buck – in my case a pound – or am I missing something that I could still perhaps think about?
Zek

]]> By: OWC Michael http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-1645 OWC Michael Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:15:16 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-1645 Hello Etienne, You are correct, Solid State Drives are available in SATA connections only. Your Pismo has an Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5) system bus which can use a standard 2.5" hard drive up to 128GB in capacity. To maximize the usage of that machine from the offerings at OWC, you could install a 120GB Western Digital Hard Drive (<a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD1200BEVE/" rel="nofollow">WDGWD1200BEVE</a>) internally. For more storage capacity with the quickest access time, you could add a FW400 based external storage solution in either a <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=4294967255+6288&Ntt=FW400" rel="nofollow">bus powered solution</a> or a <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=4294967255+6800&Ntt=FW400" rel="nofollow">desktop solution</a>. Additionally, the memory can be increased on those machines up to 1.0GB by installing two <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/133SO512328/" rel="nofollow">512MB memory modules</a>. Lastly, for longer runtimes than the original battery, you could add a <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=6218&Ntt=pismo" rel="nofollow">NuPower Lithium-Ion Extended Capacity Battery</a> to enjoy its usage for longer between charges. Hello Etienne,

You are correct, Solid State Drives are available in SATA connections only. Your Pismo has an Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5) system bus which can use a standard 2.5″ hard drive up to 128GB in capacity.

To maximize the usage of that machine from the offerings at OWC, you could install a 120GB Western Digital Hard Drive (WDGWD1200BEVE) internally. For more storage capacity with the quickest access time, you could add a FW400 based external storage solution in either a bus powered solution or a desktop solution.
Additionally, the memory can be increased on those machines up to 1.0GB by installing two 512MB memory modules.
Lastly, for longer runtimes than the original battery, you could add a NuPower Lithium-Ion Extended Capacity Battery to enjoy its usage for longer between charges.

]]> By: Etienne Pare http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-1642 Etienne Pare Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:08:17 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-1642 What options do I have with an older Pismo powerbook (if any)? I think only SATA options are available for SSDs, correct? What options do I have with an older Pismo powerbook (if any)? I think only SATA options are available for SSDs, correct?

]]> By: Greg Champion http://blog.macsales.com/2303-breathe-new-life-into-your-mac-with-ssd/comment-page-1#comment-1635 Greg Champion Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:49:33 +0000 http://blog.macsales.com/?p=2303#comment-1635 I'm interested in upgrading my G5 Mini, BUT what about the swapfile (virtual memory) Won't that eventually exceed the write limit of flash memory or is that a non-issue with the type of flash used in SSD's? I’m interested in upgrading my G5 Mini, BUT what about the swapfile (virtual memory) Won’t that eventually exceed the write limit of flash memory or is that a non-issue with the type of flash used in SSD’s?

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