iMac - Muscle up a G5

kayann · kayann #1 (**permalink**)

10-14-2008, 08:08 AM

I need advise. I have an iMac G5 Desktop with 20" M9250LL/A (1.80 GHz PowerPC G5, 500 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

The hard drive went out. I need to replace the hard drive and I would like to buff up the computer so I can edit HD movies with Final Cut Express. It did not handle 1080i movies very well before.

Can I put a larger hard drive in the computer?
Is there faster memory that would help or a video card?

all recommendations are really appreciated.

the8thark · the8thark #2 (**permalink**)

10-14-2008, 09:49 AM

Here's a good article with a few pictures about replacing an imac G5's internal hard drive. And then you can be the judge if it's too hard for you.
I'm not sure if it voids warranty though.

http://www.dtgeeks.com/index.php/fea...e_replacement/

iTouch · iTouch #3 (**permalink**)

10-14-2008, 10:57 AM

the8thark, posted a good article. Looks very helpful, maybe it will work!

justin_clark93 · justin_clark93 #4 (**permalink**)

10-14-2008, 05:47 PM

unfortunately, there are no card/cpu upgrades that you could perform on the G5, at least cheaply, but i would basically bet on none existing....anyhow, you could get a faster HDD, but that would not help with your 1080i video problem. i hope i could help. Justin.

mac57 · mac57 #5 (**permalink**)

10-16-2008, 10:08 AM

Re the hard drive, I would advise that you check out the specs, and get the one with the largest sustained transfer rate and the largest cache. The large cache in particular is really key. If you can get a disk with a 32 MB cache, go for it. You will REALLY notice the difference.

I am driving a Mac Pro, and it originally came with a fairly slow hard drive. I replaced that drive with one with a 32 MB cache and a high sustained transfer rate (105 MB/s I think) and it made a HUGE difference to the overall responsiveness of the machine. I almost halved the boot time and almost halved the average launch time of most applications.

A new, faster and more cache-heavy hard drive is an excellent investment.

kayann · kayann #6 (**permalink**)

10-23-2008, 09:40 AM

Thanks for the advice everyone. I bought a new hard drive and had no problem installing the phsyical drive. However when I run the install disk for the operating system it is not seeing the drive. I bought a

Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM SATA 32MB drive.

Does anyone have any ideas why it might not see the drive?

justin_clark93 · justin_clark93 #7 (**permalink**)

10-25-2008, 12:47 PM

huh, my guess is it is not formatted right. boot from your OS X disk and to into disk utility. if ur hdd is there, try to reformat it into the Mac OS X extended (journaled) format. then it should work. otherwise send the HDD back and get a new one. also make sure the disk is set on primary, not slave. thanks. Justin.

mac57 #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 29, 2006 Location: St. Somewhere Posts: 4,547 Mac Specs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, 120 GB SSD, 500 GB HDD	10-16-2008, 10:08 AM Re the hard drive, I would advise that you check out the specs, and get the one with the largest sustained transfer rate and the largest cache. The large cache in particular is really key. If you can get a disk with a 32 MB cache, go for it. You will REALLY notice the difference. I am driving a Mac Pro, and it originally came with a fairly slow hard drive. I replaced that drive with one with a 32 MB cache and a high sustained transfer rate (105 MB/s I think) and it made a HUGE difference to the overall responsiveness of the machine. I almost halved the boot time and almost halved the average launch time of most applications. A new, faster and more cache-heavy hard drive is an excellent investment. My Macs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, Mac Pro, 3.2 GHz 8 Core, Power Macintosh 7500/100 My iStuff: 32 GB iPhone 4, 30 GB iPod Video, 16 GB iPod Touch My OS': Mac OS X Tiger, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Mac OS X Leopard, Mac OS 8.6, openSUSE 10.3, Win XP I was on the Mac-Forums honor roll for September 2007
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kayann #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 2	10-14-2008, 08:08 AM I need advise. I have an iMac G5 Desktop with 20" M9250LL/A (1.80 GHz PowerPC G5, 500 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive) The hard drive went out. I need to replace the hard drive and I would like to buff up the computer so I can edit HD movies with Final Cut Express. It did not handle 1080i movies very well before. Can I put a larger hard drive in the computer? Is there faster memory that would help or a video card? all recommendations are really appreciated.
	QUOTE Thanks

the8thark #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 27, 2007 Location: Brisvegas Posts: 5,658 Mac Specs: 17 inch 2 GHz C2D imac (5,1) with 3GB DDR2 RAM, X1600 (128MB memory) GPU - OSX 10.6.3	10-14-2008, 09:49 AM Here's a good article with a few pictures about replacing an imac G5's internal hard drive. And then you can be the judge if it's too hard for you. I'm not sure if it voids warranty though. http://www.dtgeeks.com/index.php/fea...e_replacement/
	QUOTE Thanks

justin_clark93 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 28, 2008 Location: USA Posts: 182 Mac Specs: Mac Mini Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz	10-14-2008, 05:47 PM unfortunately, there are no card/cpu upgrades that you could perform on the G5, at least cheaply, but i would basically bet on none existing....anyhow, you could get a faster HDD, but that would not help with your 1080i video problem. i hope i could help. Justin.
	QUOTE Thanks

kayann #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 2	10-23-2008, 09:40 AM Thanks for the advice everyone. I bought a new hard drive and had no problem installing the phsyical drive. However when I run the install disk for the operating system it is not seeing the drive. I bought a Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM SATA 32MB drive. Does anyone have any ideas why it might not see the drive?
	QUOTE Thanks

justin_clark93 #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 28, 2008 Location: USA Posts: 182 Mac Specs: Mac Mini Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz	10-25-2008, 12:47 PM huh, my guess is it is not formatted right. boot from your OS X disk and to into disk utility. if ur hdd is there, try to reformat it into the Mac OS X extended (journaled) format. then it should work. otherwise send the HDD back and get a new one. also make sure the disk is set on primary, not slave. thanks. Justin.
	QUOTE Thanks

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