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Anyone running a Velociraptor 600gb in an iMac i7 2009 model?
- Thread starter djtofu
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It makes quite a lot more noise than 7200rpm drives.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3636/...ociraptor-vr200m-10k-rpm-at-450gb-and-600gb/9
Are you sure that you want one in your iMac? The issue is that iMac is at your ear level while towers are often under the table or something so the noise isn't that bad.
2TB Caviar Black should be fine if you want more speed. Or 60GB SSD + HD
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3636/...ociraptor-vr200m-10k-rpm-at-450gb-and-600gb/9
Are you sure that you want one in your iMac? The issue is that iMac is at your ear level while towers are often under the table or something so the noise isn't that bad.
2TB Caviar Black should be fine if you want more speed. Or 60GB SSD + HD
My gaming PC had a Velociraptor 600GB and I loved having one fast traditional disk. So I put it inside of my 2010 iMac i7.
Long Answer:
Under extreme load, the temperature was 61-62c. Thats too hot .The fan never went over 1100RPM. I have tried connecting the temp sensor 3 different ways:
1: Permanently modifying my original Seagate sensor to fit into the Western Digital pins on the back of the Velociraptor. If connected incorrectly, the fan ramps up to full speed. If connected correctly, the fan never went over 1100RPM, even at extreme temperatures (at least according to the S.M.A.R.T. temperature). Oddly enough this is the only temperature that I can get for the hard drive. There is a sensor that always reads 3c with any program I use. Even with the stock drive. I think it was called "HD Bay Sensor".
2: As I read for people that did not want to short their sensor when installing an SSD, that they instead used an Optical Drive Sensor. I tried this, and it too needed to be connected to the rear pins of the Velociraptor correctly. Once again, under extreme load it did not go beyond 1100RPM.
3: I tried to use the same transistor used for the LCD Temperature Sensor. This too had the same results as number 2 above.
So this had lead me to 3 conclusions:
A: Leave it stock if you don't want to spend a lot more money fooling around and potentially breaking something since it is extremely fragile inside of that computer. For example, ripping the display connector off of the logic board was not fun to solder back on. 32 tiny pins RIGHT on top of each other. Yeah that sucked.
B: The stock drive runs cooler than a Velociraptor and offers more space and not too bad of performance.
C: Get an SSD if you are willing to spend $300 on a 600GB Velociraptor. I stopped fooling with traditional hard drives and slapped a 240GB OCZ Vertex II. By far the best upgrade to any computer as of now. I keep all of my applications on there and set my former internal disk inside of an external firewire 800 enclosure as my home folder.
Side observation:
I noticed two other things. The HD fan never seemed to go over 1100RPM on my mac regardless of which disk was installed. I tried all I could to get the original Seagate hot enough to ramp that fan up. I think this might be firmware related to the disk itself or some sort of firmware on the mac and how it controls its fans related to what brand disk was originally installed or something with the S.M.A.R.T reading. Not sure, just an idea. Also, the pins that even the stock Western Digital temp sensor connect to are the same jumper pins for 1.5gbps SATA speed. Thought that was odd, although when I had the VR installed the system profiler under SATA said the speed was indeed 3gbps. Benchmarks with no sensor connected and sensor connected, yielded same results.
Short Answer: Go SSD. Faster, quieter, way less heat.
Long Answer:
Under extreme load, the temperature was 61-62c. Thats too hot .The fan never went over 1100RPM. I have tried connecting the temp sensor 3 different ways:
1: Permanently modifying my original Seagate sensor to fit into the Western Digital pins on the back of the Velociraptor. If connected incorrectly, the fan ramps up to full speed. If connected correctly, the fan never went over 1100RPM, even at extreme temperatures (at least according to the S.M.A.R.T. temperature). Oddly enough this is the only temperature that I can get for the hard drive. There is a sensor that always reads 3c with any program I use. Even with the stock drive. I think it was called "HD Bay Sensor".
2: As I read for people that did not want to short their sensor when installing an SSD, that they instead used an Optical Drive Sensor. I tried this, and it too needed to be connected to the rear pins of the Velociraptor correctly. Once again, under extreme load it did not go beyond 1100RPM.
3: I tried to use the same transistor used for the LCD Temperature Sensor. This too had the same results as number 2 above.
So this had lead me to 3 conclusions:
A: Leave it stock if you don't want to spend a lot more money fooling around and potentially breaking something since it is extremely fragile inside of that computer. For example, ripping the display connector off of the logic board was not fun to solder back on. 32 tiny pins RIGHT on top of each other. Yeah that sucked.
B: The stock drive runs cooler than a Velociraptor and offers more space and not too bad of performance.
C: Get an SSD if you are willing to spend $300 on a 600GB Velociraptor. I stopped fooling with traditional hard drives and slapped a 240GB OCZ Vertex II. By far the best upgrade to any computer as of now. I keep all of my applications on there and set my former internal disk inside of an external firewire 800 enclosure as my home folder.
Side observation:
I noticed two other things. The HD fan never seemed to go over 1100RPM on my mac regardless of which disk was installed. I tried all I could to get the original Seagate hot enough to ramp that fan up. I think this might be firmware related to the disk itself or some sort of firmware on the mac and how it controls its fans related to what brand disk was originally installed or something with the S.M.A.R.T reading. Not sure, just an idea. Also, the pins that even the stock Western Digital temp sensor connect to are the same jumper pins for 1.5gbps SATA speed. Thought that was odd, although when I had the VR installed the system profiler under SATA said the speed was indeed 3gbps. Benchmarks with no sensor connected and sensor connected, yielded same results.
Short Answer: Go SSD. Faster, quieter, way less heat.
not in a 27 inch but i'm running it in my iMac core duo 1.8 and it really speeds things up , and effectively cool thanks to the icepack compare to the older WD 250 gb 7200rpm that was in it
and originally the fans should never have to raise beyond the 1100 rpm (1200in older iMac core duo)under normal usage of the harddrive on the old core duo its set so the fan for the hardrive will start spinning faster at 65 celsius , a temp that not even the velociraptor is reaching , its stays happy 45-50 degree celsius
and originally the fans should never have to raise beyond the 1100 rpm (1200in older iMac core duo)under normal usage of the harddrive on the old core duo its set so the fan for the hardrive will start spinning faster at 65 celsius , a temp that not even the velociraptor is reaching , its stays happy 45-50 degree celsius
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Under load what temps were you getting with your VR? I was getting about 61c or so. Fans never went over 1100rpm which was disappointing....
Sandforce controllers are the way to go. I have heard that the new gen 3 Intel ssd's will be very good also. Basically the newest and latest Sandforce or waiting for the intel and you cant get wrong. They're only going to get better, faster, more reliable, and cheaper.
under really heavy load means writing and reading multiple files at the same time over a longer period (ripping a couple dvd ) the harddrive temp went up a bit to around 54 degree and my HDD fan too never went faster then 1200 rpm (default idle setting in 2006 iMac , but should not make such a huge difference these 100rpm )
and your 61 degree are nothing to worry about your fans will only start to kick in if the harddrive temp will go beyond 65 degree or even later in the new iMac's , if its bothering you you can always install smc fan control and speed up the hdd fan a bit
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I see. Isn't 65c a bit too hot though? I don't think I would be able to stress it that high to see if the fan acutally ramps up. I feel like the HD fan in the 27" only reads from SMART data and not this "temp sensor" (which plugs into the jumper pins). Anyone have any ideas about how it reads the HD temp and how/when the fan is told to "turn up"? Sorry to hijack this thread.
What is the most accurate way to read temperatures on a mac? It appears that there can be varried results from temp monitor and smc fan control and whatever else is out there... I think istat. I guess installing windows and using a variety of temp reading programs on there would be a better bet?