Hi ...
What kind of enclosure, dock or rack would I need in terms to replace the original 3.5" SATA HDD .
I have a few spare 2.5" drives or if I'd go for a brand new one,
what would be the "supported" specs for such a (SSD) drive ?
/ T .
Earlier Mac models
It is not worth it, to spend money upgrading that old of an iMac.
If you are set on upgrading, OWC sales a 3.5" to 2.5" drive adapter and 3G SSD kit.
Plus some SSDs may not even be compatible with such an old system. Most current SSDs utilize a SATA III controller which should be backwards compatible with the SATA I controller in that old G5, however, some SSDs have trouble negotiating the SATA Link Speed with some older SATA Controllers. This is why OWC still makes the OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD which utilizes a SATA II Controller. As @den.thed mentions, OWC sells everything needed for an SSD upgrade along with a compatible SSD.
I'm surprised that iMac is still running. Those G5 iMacs tended to have huge failure rates with the Logic Boards & Power Supplies due to the Chinese capacitors used in many of those systems which tended to bulge & leak causing power stability issues. Plus I believe many of those LCD Panels developed issues as well.
From history, Macs that had serious display issues from that period usually have the facility code "W8" at the start of the serial number. If you have a W8 Mac, I would not spend a nickel on it today.
MartinR wrote:
You will need three things:
2.5" to 3.5" adapter bracket like • this one
• Disk drive thermal sensor (may be very difficult to find for a G5 iMac)
• HDD or SSD that is compatible with a G5 iMac
FYI, I don't think any thermal sensor is needed other than the original one. I know on the early Intel iMacs the thermal sensor was just attached externally to the drive so it worked with any drive. If the iMac G5 had drive temp sensors, I believe they would have been stuck to the Hard Drive as well, but it has been a very long time since I worked on an iMac G5.
Getting a compatible HDD or SSD will be the hardest part since many HDDs these days may not be compatible and SATA III SSDs are not always compatible such old systems for a couple of reasons.....incompatible chipsets and current SATA III SSDs not being able to properly auto negotiate the SATA Link speed. Chances are the OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD is the best option....best to confirm if OWC sells this SSD compatible with the iMac G5.
You will need three things:
iMac G5 - installing 2.5" SATA disk internally
