Mac Mini Hard Drive

I have a late 2009 Mac Mini w/ 2.54ghz and i'm getting ready to add the 8GB ram and a new hard drive. I know this isn't the best computer, but for about $150 I should be able to get a new HD and 8GB ram. I'm getting the RAM at OWC for $49.95.

Do you guys have any recommendations on what I should get OTHER THAN A SSD? I'm looking for more storage and a faster responsive hard drive. It uses a typical mac laptop hard drive (2.5" i think).

I was looking at either a 750GB 7200rpm drive or a 1TB 5400rpm drive. I don't know tons, but i would assume the 7200rpm drive would be faster, but have read that it really doesn't matter.

What do you guys think would be a good hard drive solution?

http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6822148837

This drive has existed long before Apple's Fusion drive. Same concept though. 8GBs of flash memory paired with a traditional 7200RPM platter drive. The drive's firmware figures out which files you use most frequently (Like the boot files, and your favorite programs) and puts them in the flash memory portion, so they load like an SSD. I had one in my Macbook Pro before going for a straight solid state drive and I loved it. Not as fast as a decent SSD but much faster than a normal HDD.

And yes, the difference between a 5400RPM and 7200RPM drive is huge.

7200 RPM drives make booting faster which is nice in addition to being faster in general. SInce they have been around for a long time it is a pretty affordable upgrade and you should recognize a difference.

mutau052 wrote in post #15202159
I have a late 2009 Mac Mini w/ 2.54ghz and i'm getting ready to add the 8GB ram and a new hard drive. I know this isn't the best computer, but for about $150 I should be able to get a new HD and 8GB ram. I'm getting the RAM at OWC for $49.95.

Do you guys have any recommendations on what I should get OTHER THAN A SSD? I'm looking for more storage and a faster responsive hard drive. It uses a typical mac laptop hard drive (2.5" i think).

Is the cost of an SSD the reason? If so, skip to the next paragraph. If not, then you ought to consider putting in an SSD in the optical bay, if you don't need the DVD drive. That way you could have two drives in the Mini with OWC's Data Doubler. You should then be able to make your own fusion drive, provided you have Mountain Lion. I'm doing this right now in my 2010 MacBook Pro. I've already initialized the fusion drive and am using Carbon Copy Cloner to restore the files and OS from an external drive. Did it for my 2012 Mini, too (see Mini thread started by me a few days ago).

Rotational speed is one component of hard drive speed, but not the only component. The drive's platter density (all 750gb and 1 tb 2.5" drives have two platters), cache and bus speed all contribute to it. Your Mini has a 3 GB/s SATA bus that supports two drives. The current crop of 750 gb and 1 tb notebook drives are faster than past drives, so I wouldn't worry too much about rotational speed. Max out your RAM and you should be ok.

BlankThis wrote in post #15202240
http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6822148837

This drive has existed long before Apple's Fusion drive. Same concept though. 8GBs of flash memory paired with a traditional 7200RPM platter drive. The drive's firmware figures out which files you use most frequently (Like the boot files, and your favorite programs) and puts them in the flash memory portion, so they load like an SSD.

It appears that the disk management software of Mountain Lion really is what makes the difference in "hybrid/fusion" drive performance. From all accounts so far, fusion drives perform much better than hybrid drives.

How about getting NAS ? I know it can be a bit slow (network) but I think it's a great idea for personal cloud,
other than that, I recommend going with USB 3 external hard drive enclosure and something like WD black, that way you'll keep your existing OS/settings and just adding more space.

mjkubba wrote in post #15202879
other than that, I recommend going with USB 3 external hard drive enclosure

USB3 wasn't out in 2009, which is when the OP's Mini was produced.

Tony-S wrote in post #15202871
It appears that the disk management software of Mountain Lion really is what makes the difference in "hybrid/fusion" drive performance. From all accounts so far, fusion drives perform much better than hybrid drives.

Obviously pairing a full-fledged SSD with a 7200RPM HDD will perform better. HOWEVER, there is only 2.5" drive-bay available.

BlankThis wrote in post #15203036
Obviously pairing a full-fledged SSD with a 7200RPM HDD will perform better. HOWEVER, there is only 2.5" drive-bay available.

http://eshop.macsales.​com/item/OWC/DDMMCL0GB​/

BlankThis wrote in post #15203036
Obviously pairing a full-fledged SSD with a 7200RPM HDD will perform better. HOWEVER, there is only 2.5" drive-bay available.

His Mini can take two 2.5" SATA drives.

Assuming he feels comfortable pulling it apart.

Tony-S wrote in post #15202885
USB3 wasn't out in 2009, which is when the OP's Mini was produced.

Sorry I'm a own build pc + Linux guy, I thought It had USB 3, anyway he can still get it, it's backward compatible, unless he want a more expensive 2.5" internal drive,
for me I dont mind the extra "part" next to the computer.

Hey guys thanks for the info, i guess i'll do that 750HD listed in the 2nd post.

I really don't want to dump much money into this Mac Mini, but I just want it to "work" for me a bit better for another couple years. I run Aperture 3 on it, and it works pretty good with none referenced files. But honestly I'm trying to hold off on just spending money to have best of the best cause I would rather update my camera body to the 6D when it starts shipping. I bet in another couple years the new Mac Mini will be smoking through Aperture 3, the 2012 Mac Mini is pretty awesome.

Thanks again for all the replies.