G4 Cube Mystery Video Card Qs

[Johnny365]

Does this work for IDE to Sata

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Interface...ide to sata&qid=1464582282&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

 

[havokalien]

I hate not tried it, but if you want to remove the spinning drive a sd card/cf card to ide is a great choice.

 

[Johnny365]

I think I might go IDE to SATA for a SSD since 120GB SSD's are around $40.

 

[havokalien]

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CF-ID...UTF8&qid=1464582636&sr=8-2&keywords=ide+to+cf

this would be my suggestion personally.
[doublepost=1464582728][/doublepost]or even cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/uxcell®-Compa...UTF8&qid=1464582636&sr=8-4&keywords=ide+to+cf

 

[bunnspecial]

I prefer going the mSATA route over CF cards.

My reasons are two fold:

1. CF media is designed basically to be written to, read, erased, and start the whole thing again. Using it as system's main disk is going to involve a lot of random access and other things that CF cards aren't really designed to do. They can work well for a while, but really don't have the duty cycle design for a system disk

2. CF cards are expensive vs. mSATA SSDs in similar capacities.

So, not only are you paying more for a CF card, you're getting what really is an inferior technology in the sense that the mSATA is really designed for what you're using it for.

I think part of the attraction of CF cards is that they can be had in capacities much lower than typical mSATA drives, which can make them an economical option esp. if you're dealing with a computer that shipped with a 10gb or smaller HDD. With that said, though, for relatively modern computers like the Cube and especially late Powerbooks(where I've used a lot of mSATA drives), the benefits of an mSATA drive are there.

 

[Johnny365]

So if I were to use an mSATA SSD, I noticed the converter boards don't have molex power. Does that mean that I don't have to use it in the Cube?

 

[bunnspecial]

So if I were to use an mSATA SSD, I noticed the converter boards don't have molex power. Does that mean that I don't have to use it in the Cube?

Most of the converter boards are designed for a 44 pin laptop connector rather than a 40 pin desktop connector. The difference-obviously-is four pins, which also happens to be the number of wires in a Molex power connector. Or, put another way, laptop ATA HDDs get both power and data through the same cable.

There are readily available adapters to allow you to split off the 44 pin adapter into a standard 40 pin+4 pin molex connection.

 

[Johnny365]

Finally got the 80GB HDD situated and all updates installed. The 250GB was toast so I threw it out.

 

[CooperBox]

Most of the converter boards are designed for a 44 pin laptop connector rather than a 40 pin desktop connector. The difference-obviously-is four pins, which also happens to be the number of wires in a Molex power connector. Or, put another way, laptop ATA HDDs get both power and data through the same cable.

There are readily available adapters to allow you to split off the 44 pin adapter into a standard 40 pin+4 pin molex connection.

Interesting. Been thinking about installing an SSD in my 1.2GHz Cube. Could you please advise if THIS would be a suitable SSD.
If so, what would be a compatible converter board?

 

[MacCubed]

Interesting. Been thinking about installing an SSD in my 1.2GHz Cube. Could you please advise if THIS would be a suitable SSD.
If so, what would be a compatible converter board?

Here you would need an mSATA to 2.5" SATA converter, a 2.5" to 3.5" drive frame, and a SATA to IDE bridge.

 

[bunnspecial]

Here you would need an mSATA to 2.5" SATA converter, a 2.5" to 3.5" drive frame, and a SATA to IDE bridge

There are adapters available that will directly convert an mSATA drive into 2.5" form factor 44 pin IDE drive. There are a couple of configurations out there, but the ones I use have a plastic case that gives them the same form factor and mounting hole locations as a standard 2.5" drive(which makes them super easy drop in replacements for laptops, and I've used a bunch in that way).

I tried using a standard 2.5" SATA SSD in a Cube, but couldn't find a SATA-IDE bridge that would fit and work with the cable configuration. I've actually never really found a use for those adapters, as(like I said) they don't fit well in small form factor stuff and for towers I'd rather use a SATA card to take advantage of brand new, fast SATA HDD or SSDs.

 

[MikeatOSX]

I'm using a 2.5" mSATA to IDE converter in my Cube and in several PowerBooks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401045785062

https://www.ebay.com/itm/391460369897

an additionallly for Cube:

http://r.ebay.com/8q5PHz

http://r.ebay.com/UqxjXQ