Can I get an adapter for the connections in an internal hard drive for my G5?

January 16, 2006 12:45 PM

Can I get an adapter for the connections in an internal hard drive for my G5?

I have an early G5, and I want to add an additional internal hard drive. I got a Seagate Barracude 7200.7, which is the same exact model that the computer came with, but the connections are completely different.

The drive that came with the computer has two small plugs, and the new drive has connections that are much wider. Can I can an adapter, or should I try to exchange it?

posted by kirkaracha to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

what model G5? if its the imac, they only can have 1 internal drive. if its a powermac G5, they can have 2 drives, but they take SATA drives (2 flat plugs, one smaller then the other)
posted by ShawnString at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2006

Your G5's hard drive is "Serial ATA".

The hard drive you bought is "Parallel ATA" — usually called "ATA".

Serial ATA is faster. Also, it will be easier to move this drive you bought to another machine 5-6 years down the line, or whenever. This will make it easier to move your data to another machine.

Exchange the drive you bought for a Serial ATA drive. You'll be better off in the long run.
posted by Rothko at 12:56 PM on January 16, 2006

If the problem is as Rothko describes, but you can't return the drive, you can probably buy an ATA adapter card that will go into a G5 tower. I don't know the sepcifications of the bus in there, but it should not cost more than $30.
posted by mzurer at 1:49 PM on January 16, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks. Sorry, I didn't specify it's a PowerMac G5.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:32 PM on January 16, 2006