HDD Upgrade on a Late 2006 Mini - Some Pre Op advice please!

Hi there
I'm looking to update the HDD in my Mac Mini (Model MA608LL/A) and would like a bit of advice and to ask a few questions on whether the drives I'm looking at are suitable.
The drives i'm looking at are:
Hitachi Travelstar 7K500 250GB 2.5" SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache / Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 250GB 2.5" SATAII 5400rpm 8MB Cache
Seagate ST9250315AS 250GB 2.5" Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 8MB Cache / Seagate ST9250410AS 250GB 2.5" Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache
Firstly my concerns are regarding the cache on the drive would the Mac Mini benefit from the having a 16mb cache? The original drive has a 8mb cache on it? Also one of the dives is a 7200rpm drive will the SATA controller on the MIni allow it to run at full speed or will the drive just run at 5400?
Secondly are there any unexpected things I need to know regarding changing the drive? I've built literally hundreds of desktop PC's (I work as a IT Tech at my local high school) and I have successfully taken apart a couple of mini's before to install new RAM so I feel quite confident in my ability to physically do the swap however it's always good to get some advice from people who are more experienced and have actually done this job. Are there any other sensors / cabling that would not need to be considered on a normal HDD swap on a PC? Also are there any specialist tools (other than putty knives!) I would need?
Any advice / warnings will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
John

More cache on the drive will always be a good idea. The 7200 rpm drives are also a better idea. Neither of these things are effected by the SATA controller in the mini. The controller only asks the drive for data, and the drive itself uses the larger cache and faster rotational speed to hand over that data faster. The only issue that would arise is heat, and many people have upgraded to 7200 rpm drives without any serious issues.
If you want some good visual guides to help you with the upgrade, there are free videos on OWC's website:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macmini_06-08_mem_hdopt/
And a very nicely illustrated guide on iFixit.com:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-Mac-mini-Model-A1176-Hard-Drive/11 08/1
There are some things to be careful of with respect to cables and drive temperature sensors which will be more obvious and easier to understand by using those visual resources.

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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
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