Can you use a SDD to boot a G5?

[les24preludes]

I have a G5, dual 1.8. The boot drive is original and no doubt pretty slow. It's a 76.34 GB Maxtor 6Y080M0

What can I do to speed up the boot drive - is SDD an option and if so how do I fit it? Inside or outside the case? Guessing here - never used a SDD drive.

Andy

 

[AlphaDogg]

SSDs use the SATA drive interface that your G5's stock boot drive also uses. You can just get an SSD and a 2.5"-3.5" drive adapter, put the SSD in it, and then put it in the G5. Then install OS X like you normally would. It's quite simple, really..

 

[Hellhammer]

You can add an SSD if you want to. You can use an adapter like this to use a 2.5" SSD in a 3.5" HD bay.

Remember that you will not be able to take the full advantage of an SSD because your PowerMac only has SATA 1.5Gb/s while most SSDs offer greater speeds than SATA 1.5Gb/s can offer. It will still be a big upgrade though as you gain the latency which is the whole point of an SSD

 

[Transporteur]

Of course you can.

Don't think of a SSD being something special. Compatibility wise, it is just a normal hard drive.
Just pop it in there.
Apparently you'd need a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter if you buy a 2.5" drive and want to properly mount it.
You can just pup it in the bay without mounting it, though. That would be the cheapest option.

 

[les24preludes]

Are all SATA SSD drives the same and compatible with the G5 or is there some difference between SATA and SATA 2 for instance? Wouldn't want to buy something and find it's not compatible!

Presumably I just take out the old drive, fit the SSD (with caddy) and the cables re-fit as before?

Andy

 

[Hellhammer]

Are all SATA SSD drives the same and compatible with the G5 or is there some difference between SATA and SATA 2 for instance? Wouldn't want to buy something and find it's not compatible!

Presumably I just take out the old drive, fit the SSD (with caddy) and the cables re-fit as before?

Andy

SATA I = SATA 1.5Gb/s
SATA II = SATA 3Gb/s

However, SATA is backwards compatible so you can use SATA 3Gb/s SSD in SATA 1.5Gb/s port (though you will be limited by the SATA 1.5Gb/s interface). Any SATA drive should work.

Just take out the old drive and put the new one in it, no tricks required.

 

[300D]

An SSD will appear and work like any other drive. There are no compatibility issues and after installing one in my G5 and I wouldn't go back to a normal mechanical drive for anything but mass storage!

 

[DanielCoffey]

If you buy an OCZ Vertex2 drive, you can get those in 3.5" size. They are thinner than a standard 3.5" HDD but all the mounting holes are in the correct place.