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Which 2TB BTO Drive in New 27" Imac?

cmvsm

cmvsm

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 12, 2004
784
0
I can save about $200 by getting a new 27" imac online if I choose to install the 2TB drive that I want on my own.

The procedure doesn't look too much different than it did with the 24", and I successfully changed out that one.

Question is, does anyone know which 2TB drive that Apple uses in their BTO option? I want to be sure that I buy the right one.

Thanks.
 
Hellhammer said:
I think it's Western Digital's Caviar Green
Click to expand...

I don't think it's the Caviar Green as Apple advertises the iMac's drive to be a 1TB/2TB 7200rpm drive - so that would exclude the Green series.

Given that the 1TB drives seem to be WD Blacks from what I've read, I'd also like to know if the 2TB is the same.

Can anyone check their System Profiler and see what the make/model of the 2TB is?
 
googdot said:
I don't think it's the Caviar Green as Apple advertises the iMac's drive to be a 1TB/2TB 7200rpm drive - so that would exclude the Green series.

Given that the 1TB drives seem to be WD Blacks from what I've read, I'd also like to know if the 2TB is the same.

Can anyone check their System Profiler and see what the make/model of the 2TB is?
Click to expand...

Ummhh.. There is 2TB Caviar Green. Blacks are more like server HDs so they are very noisy but fast. My 640GB is Caviar Blue but there is no 2TB Blue
 
googdot said:
I don't think it's the Caviar Green as Apple advertises the iMac's drive to be a 1TB/2TB 7200rpm drive - so that would exclude the Green series.

Given that the 1TB drives seem to be WD Blacks from what I've read, I'd also like to know if the 2TB is the same.

Can anyone check their System Profiler and see what the make/model of the 2TB is?
Click to expand...

In my early 2009 iMac, the 1TB drive is a WD Digital Caviar Black (WDC WD1001FALS-40K1B0). So I assume the that 1TB drive in the new ones are the same. And since there is also a 2TB model of the Caviar Black, I can only assume that's what apple is using as well.

EDIT:
More evidence:
If you look carefully in this pic from ifixit's teardown, you can see that the 1TB is the caviar black (click to embiggen):
UZQRO2ARtsvgaDkP.huge


For reference:
Caviar Black
label.jpg



Caviar Green
money1.jpg


So based on the fact that the 1TB drives are the black, it think it is extemely likely that the BTO 2TB is using the 2TB Caviar Black as well.
 
My 2TB drive

Here's your answer

Capacity: 2 TB (2,000,398,934,016 bytes)
Model: Hitachi HDS722020ALA330
Revision: JK0KB23N
Serial Number: JK113*********
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Rotational Rate: 7200
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
 
Hellhammer said:
Greens have IntelliPower so basically it's 7200rpm but when it's not accessed, it runs slower
Click to expand...

Which bit of "The WD Green isn't a 7200rpm disk" are you having issues with?

You keep on saying it, but it's just not correct. The Green is not a 7200rpm drive, never was, never will be. :rolleyes:

They're approx 6000rpm when running full speed, and slow down to below 3000rpm when saving power.
 
HellDiverUK said:
Which bit of "The WD Green isn't a 7200rpm disk" are you having issues with?

You keep on saying it, but it's just not correct. The Green is not a 7200rpm drive, never was, never will be. :rolleyes:

They're approx 6000rpm when running full speed, and slow down to below 3000rpm when saving power.
Click to expand...

Rotating speed: IntelliPower (5400rpm-7200rpm). Would like to know where did you get those numbers...

I didn't have any proofs of Greens in iMac but they are/were used in Mac Pros and Apple advertises their Macs as "the greenest computers in the world" so Caviar Green was IMO the hard drive what  would use.

But now it's solved, it's not even WD's hard drive, it's Hitachi
 
HellDiverUK said:
Which bit of "The WD Green isn't a 7200rpm disk" are you having issues with?

You keep on saying it, but it's just not correct. The Green is not a 7200rpm drive, never was, never will be. :rolleyes:

They're approx 6000rpm when running full speed, and slow down to below 3000rpm when saving power.
Click to expand...


You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. WD's 'IntelliPower' is nothing short of marketing genius as everyone seems to think there's some sort of clever electronics which varies the drive speed depending on use. If you notice carefully WD doesn't actually state that the speed of the drive varies dynamically, more that the Green drives can be sold with speeds between 5400RPM or 7200RPM depending on which they design to have minimal power consumption. There's a lot of misinformation out there about IntelliPower but any credible review site has run tests which confirm this.
 
NATO said:
If you notice carefully WD doesn't actually state that the speed of the drive varies dynamically,
Click to expand...

One thing we can be sure of is that in terms of performance they suck. Witness this shoot out:
http://barefeats.com/hard125.html

P.S. Any other confirmations on Apple 2Tb OEM brands? Most of teh 1 Tbs seem to be WD's and if the guy I linked above can't get a 3rd party Hitacihi to work with teh heat sensors then I question the guy above saying he has a 27" iMac with a 2Tb Hitachi in it from Apple.... got any pics and screenshots please buddy?
 
AlienSexGod said:
Any other confirmations on Apple 2Tb OEM brands? Most of teh 1 Tbs seem to be WD's and if the guy I linked above can't get a 3rd party Hitacihi to work with teh heat sensors then I question the guy above saying he has a 27" iMac with a 2Tb Hitachi in it from Apple.... got any pics and screenshots please buddy?
Click to expand...

There is a thread on the Apple Discussions that confirms the 2TB drive is the Hitachi. Not a bad drive at all...too bad it wasn't the WD Black.

A good review of the Hitachi drive here:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Storage-Drive-Hitachi2TB.html
 
googdot said:
There is a thread on the Apple Discussions that confirms the 2TB drive is the Hitachi. Not a bad drive at all...too bad it wasn't the WD Black.
Click to expand...

Hmmm I must be dumb ... can't find that thread... not enough sleep maybe...

Anyone put a 2Tb WD Black in one to see if the thermal sensor works ok?
 
I really don't like noisy HDs.. especially because they're basically on ear-height in the iMac, but +200 for 1TB => 2TB is quite a lot..

Dilemmas :(
 
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