2006 20" iMac HDD Suggestion Needed

[Val-kyrie]

It looks like my friend may need to replace the hard drive in his 20" (white) C2D iMac from 2006. Does anyone know if the power draw for current 1TB or 2TB drives exceeds the ability of the iMac to provide sufficient power?

I would not mind using an Eco/Green Drive for heat/power draw reasons as long as it is at least as fast as the stock 7200 RPM originally came with his iMac. (I'm not sure whether the newer 1TB eco-drives would be just as fast because of the newer designs of the drives.)

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[biggd]

My suggestion would be an SSD
It's fast, and will keep him using it another 5yrs

 

[Val-kyrie]

My suggestion would be an SSD
It's fast, and will keep him using it another 5yrs

The only problem with an SSD is the cost per GB. I need to keep the cost to a minimum.

 

[panzer06]

The only problem with an SSD is the cost per GB. I need to keep the cost to a minimum.

As long as those white macs use SATA drives a 1TB drive should work ok.

Cheers,

 

[biggd]

The only problem with an SSD is the cost per GB. I need to keep the cost to a minimum.

Yes, but the SPEED boost is the big plus. The SSD speed should keep that imac going 5 more years

 

[alust2013]

Yes, but the SPEED boost is the big plus. The SSD speed should keep that imac going 5 more years

That's irrelevant. It only artificially boosts speed by making stuff load faster, which will not make a computer any more viable down the line, as it has no processing power boost to it. Plus the OP mentioned that a cheap and large drive was needed. I have never seen a SATA SSD that was larger than 512GB, and those that I have seen of that size are well over $1000. Neither particularly large or cheap.

Any standard 3.5" SATA drive will work. The green drives won't be quite as fast as the 7200 RPM models of similar size, but should perform close to par with a 320GB 7200 RPM I should think. They will also be cooler and quieter, so I'd probably go with one of those.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Thanks, alust2013. I was leaning that way. The original HDD is only 250GB so I figure/hope that a 1TB drive, even an eco-drive, would be at least as fast.

 

[chris98vf]

Western Digital makes some nice 7200 RPM drives for around $70. The Eco drives are slow and you don't really want your OS running off of one. They are good for storage though. Look into a WD Blue drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534
The drive I linked to would be perfect for your needs. Cheap, fast and reliable. Plus it's got free shipping at the moment

 

[flipster]

Today's iMacs use a 1 tb western digital black caviar drive. I checked my friend's 24" iMac and that's what came up