PATA SSD vs PATA adapter with mSATA SSD

[rickyzhang]

I picked up a great condition 17'' 1.67Ghz Power Book G4 for $50 from my colleagues at work.

The Apple stock hard drive is slow @5400RPM. I know that it is easier to replace hard drive in PB G4 than my another iBook G4. So again I want to replace it with SSD.

Here is the dilemma I have when choosing SSD:

1. Buy off-the-shelf PATA like macsales or kingspecs

2. Buy mSATA SSD and used PATA-2-mSATA adapter which I bought a year ago but I didn't use it due to complicate setup in iBook G4.

I watched Youtube video and learnt that option2 is way much faster than option 1 (see https://youtu.be/Kths7erj89w?t=303)

I dig through several threads. But nobody do a benchmark. I hope I can get a confirmation and also details hardware that I can save time and money to repeat the trial and error process.

TIA

 

[Byrd]

In terms of benchmarks, my experience would be that the SSD itself would saturate the slow IDE bottleneck so either option would be "fast", and certainly noticeably more responsive over a traditional mechanical HD.

Note the mSATA to IDE enclosure option will be the cheapest and easiest route however compatibility is not guaranteed - you'd assume a later New World Mac should be fine with it though, but older Mac models have quirks using such devices.

JB

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I ran option 2 on both a first model 12" PowerBook G4 and a late model iBook G4 without issue, highly recommended.

 

[trag]

I have not tried it, but I like option 2 because it seems likely that replacement MSATA devices will be more commonly available in the future than obscure PATA SSDs.    Best case, whichever you get lasts forever and the availability of replacements doesn't matter.

 

[rickyzhang]

I forgot that I already bought a PATA-to-mSATA adapter and also 128GB Kingston SSD mSATA last year for my iBook G4. But I gave up installing it because there are so many steps to remove and install a new hard drive for iBook G4.

I used carbon copy to clone my hard drive to SSD with USB3-to-mSATA enclosure. Note that either Tiger or PowerBook G4 USB port doesn't work well with USB3 enclosure. I have to use a USB 2 powered hub as a bridge between PB4 and enclosure. Long story short, I can boot from SSD inside PATA-to-mSATA adapter.

The following is the setup:

1. Kingston Digital 120GB SSDNow mS200 mSATA (6Gbps) Solid State Drive for Notebooks Tablets and Ultrabooks SMS200S3/120G. I paid for $43 last year but somehow amazon is selling it at $83 now.

2. mSATA to 2.5" 44PIN IDE HDD SSD mSATA to PATA Converter Adapter Card $5.29 from ebay.



I set aside 20 GB space for over-provisioning purpose. I doubt it can do SSD trim. Let's see how long it can last.

I can't find a speed test software. I may use dd to test the speed (if I can figure out how to disable memory disk cache) and I will post speed result later.

The total cost is cheap only $43+$5 = $48. I can feel the boot is faster. But TenFourFox is still slow.

Thanks all for your reply!

 

[FacnyFreddy]

I had bad luck with the idea ssd devices and have standardized on Toshiba mSATA with jmicron chipset adapters. Just wish they would drop the voltage into the mSATA to 4.5vdc instead of full 5vdc. It would run a bit cooler.

I drilled several 1/4" holes into my last adapter case before putting it in my buddy's Pismo. He has 128gb with 4 partitions. He also reballed his board with a 500Mhz G4.

 

[trag]

1. Kingston Digital 120GB SSDNow mS200 mSATA (6Gbps) Solid State Drive for Notebooks Tablets and Ultrabooks SMS200S3/120G. I paid for $43 last year but somehow amazon is selling it at $83 now.

Memory chip prices, both Flash and DRAM, have just about doubled in the last year.   1 TB SSDs were available for about $200 for a while there.  Now a 480 - 512GB will cost you that much.   DRAM DIMMs that were $79 last year, are going for over $150 now.

You bought your mSATA drive at the sweet spot.

 

[Unknown_K]

DDR1 1GB SODIMM for old Powerbooks and iBooks are the cheapest now that I ever seen. Why have DRAM and SSD gone up in price?

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Because Samsung, Micron, etc don't want to add production capacity, and unless you're Apple or Samsung, you're not getting your full order filled.

 

[rickyzhang]

Well it sounds like OPEC decrease oil production back in 80s. I believe it is a temporary thing. Whenever the price reach some level, everyone starts to bump up production capacity and make more money.

You know why we have cheap gas now. Because we have shale oil in US. With the development of technology, the cost of shale oil is lowered to less than $50 per barrel. Neither middle east or Russia can manipulate the oil now. We have a cap $50 per barrel.

Thanks to technology advancement.  It is all about brain power.

 

[AlpineRaven]

I did extensive testing with mSATA card in PowerBook G3 500mhz - you'll notice the benchmarking between PowerBook G3 500 and PowerBook G3 Kingspec. I used JCmiron chip SATA to 44pin adapter. Worth the money.
 

Cheers

AP

 

[Unknown_K]

Because Samsung, Micron, etc don't want to add production capacity, and unless you're Apple or Samsung, you're not getting your full order filled.

Well if they all add capacity you get a glut and companies go out of business, so I can see their point. The RAM market is boom bust.