Which hard drive did you upgrade to in your Mac Mini?

[MacMini2009]

I've searched Mroogle and Google. Most of the threads were about hard drive upgrades in Macbooks and Macbook Pro. Many reviews say the Scorpio Blue is the best, others say Seagate's 7200.4 wins. I'm on the fence between the 500GB Scorpio Blue, the 320GB Scorpio Black, and the Seagate 7200.4. I really want the fastest hard drive out there. I have considered SSD's, but in my opinion, they are not worth it at the moment. I'm wondering what hard drive did you upgrade to in your Mac Mini?

 

[geoffreak]

Best speed for your money is the Scorpio Blue.

 

[bigbird]

Hitachi HD

I'm using a Hitachi 7K320 Travelstar. It's a 320GB, 7200 rpm drive that works quickly and quietly for me. Got it on sale for $60 which was a bonus.

 

[darrellishere]

I just used a Corsair SSD as a boot drive. Fast and cheap £179 for £128GB.

Its just a comfort to know that the only moving parts are the fan and optical drive and its pimped and future prof. Definitely gave my mini the X Factor

 

[The Hammer]

The Scorpio Black has proven it'self in testing at Bare Feats.

 

[Krafty]

I'm going with a Toshiba MK3263GSX 320GB (5400).

 

[panzer06]

Seagate ST9500325AS Momentus 5400.6 SATA 3Gb/s 500-GB Hard Drive.

Works well, no issues.

Cheers,

 

[Wotan31]

I upgraded before any of these were available. Hitachi 7k200. Was the very largest & fastest drive available at the time.

Also swapped the CPU for an intel t7600 while I was in there.

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm using a Hitachi 7K320 Travelstar. It's a 320GB, 7200 rpm drive that works quickly and quietly for me. Got it on sale for $60 which was a bonus.

same here. It's been great for me, though I certainly don't have hard data for you.

 

[drewdeezee]

500GB Scorpio Blue Installed Successfuly

I had just installed the 500GB Scorpio Blue on mine and I'm happy with it. The hard drive was $79 shipped from Dell.

 

[reebzor]

Where's the "Waiting for SSD's to become high capacity and reasonably priced" option?

 

[John.B]

I have the Hitachi 7K320 Travelstar in that, as well as my BlackBook. Quiet, no detectable vibrations, noticeably fast IO, plenty of space, and these were going for $65 at the time (back when the 500GB 7200 rpm Seagate was going for $140-150, if you could find one). Good value for the money.

 

[cleric]

Where's the "Waiting for SSD's to become high capacity and reasonably priced" option?

Exactly I'm just using the 120gb 5400rpm that came with it. The only worthwhile upgrade is the ssd.

 

[rkdiddy]

Best speed for your money is the Scorpio Blue.

+1

 

[Krafty]

Exactly I'm just using the 120gb 5400rpm that came with it. The only worthwhile upgrade is the ssd.

I need the space for college, so I can't wait on SSD. Nor do I have the desire to spend the extra cash for one.

 

[John.B]

I need the space for college, so I can't wait on SSD. Nor do I have the desire to spend the extra cash for one.

Yeah, I see the advantage of an SSD drive for a laptop, but not so much for the mini.

 

[batistuta]

Went with a SuperTalent 64GB SSD (250$) after long considerations. This is THE most significant hardware change I have ever done (and that's quite a few) in terms of performance!
My Mini now feels fast and very responsive
All my media files is on a Synology NAS delivering some 50 MB/s over gigabit ethernet (that's megaBYTE) which is not too much slower than the average read speed of a 500GB Scorpio Blue - around 60-65 MB/s.

There will be no going back to spinning drives in my machines.

 

[jamesryanbell]

I know I don't own a Mac Mini (but I'd like to soon for my office), but I installed the 500GB Scorpio Blue in my MBP, and it's awesome. PERFECTLY quiet (no clicking and ticking like others have reported), reasonably fast for what it is (5400rpm), and at $89-99, you just can't beat that in my opinion.

 

[pol0001]

The left over 250GB HDD from my MBP when I upgraded the MBP to 320GB

 

[tbayrgs]

Any noise/heat issues after upgradeing to 7200 RPM drives?

I'm considering buying a Mac Mini that has been upgraded with a 320 GB 7200 RPM drive (don't know manufacturer offhand) and was curious whether anyone who's already done so has had any noise/heat issues after the upgrade?

 

[trance2]

went with a 3.5" drive

I got tired of the limited space with the 2.5" drives so I decided to go the 3.5" drive route. I got a eSATA cable and a external drive enclosure and crafted up my own solution. I now have 1.5TB drive connected to my Mac mini... and it runs like a champ.

 

[rgarjr]

I got tired of the limited space with the 2.5" drives so I decided to go the 3.5" drive route. I got a eSATA cable and a external drive enclosure and crafted up my own solution. I now have 1.5TB drive connected to my Mac mini... and it runs like a champ.

Woahser, nice project.

 

[dubhe]

I'm considering buying a Mac Mini that has been upgraded with a 320 GB 7200 RPM drive (don't know manufacturer offhand) and was curious whether anyone who's already done so has had any noise/heat issues after the upgrade?

I don't notice any extra noise from my machine, but then it is under my desk...

I don't think it runs any hotter either

 

[scubasteve03]

I got tired of the limited space with the 2.5" drives so I decided to go the 3.5" drive route. I got a eSATA cable and a external drive enclosure and crafted up my own solution. I now have 1.5TB drive connected to my Mac mini... and it runs like a champ.

I'm getting mine in the mail this Friday and your setup sounds pretty badass. Can you tell me what the whole process involved? Thanks

 

[gr8phan]

I just upgraded the drive in my 1.83 Intel mini with the Scorpio Blue. Haven't done anything more than re-install the OS yet, so no comment on any bump in performance. I must not have put the case back on carefully enough, though, because the fan is horribly loud now