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Best SSD for Mac Pro

Sorry for the naive questions but I have two:

1. Can you boot from the Crucial M4 SSD installed in a Mac Pro (after formatting right out of the box and installing Lion,) or does it require a firmware update or other tricks to get a bootable OS on it?

2. Does it need a special bracket to install into the Mac Pro?

I have Lion 10.7.4 on a MacPro5,1. I'm thinking about installing an SSD as well, and am debating between this Crucial one, or the Mercury Accelsior PCI Express SSD. But the Mercury is much more $$$. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
 
I don't really think you'd notice too much difference as a boot drive between the OWC PCI and Crucial M4. In fact the Crucial is arguably a faster boot drive thanks to it's relatively high 4K write speeds. I was unimpressed with the Accelsior 4K throughput. Not that it is slow by any means. Just not as fast as other SSD's even on 3G link. It has way fast sequential's but that is not all that relevant for boot SSD. So really depends on your use. If you are also going to use an HDD as data disk then save your money and get the Crucial. Here are some tests Crucial and OWC and Intel 520. Both the Crucial and the Intel are faster for boot SSD.
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/crucial-m4-128gb-sata3-ssd-review-initial-tests/
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews...iew-atto-disk-benchmark-and-crystal-diskmark/
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews...ntel-releases-amazing-sandforce-driven-ssd/4/
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews...irst-upgradeable-pcie-ssd-hits-the-streets/3/
 
inaka said:
Sorry for the naive questions but I have two:

1. Can you boot from the Crucial M4 SSD installed in a Mac Pro (after formatting right out of the box and installing Lion,) or does it require a firmware update or other tricks to get a bootable OS on it?

2. Does it need a special bracket to install into the Mac Pro?

I have Lion 10.7.4 on a MacPro5,1. I'm thinking about installing an SSD as well, and am debating between this Crucial one, or the Mercury Accelsior PCI Express SSD. But the Mercury is much more $$$. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

No firmware update needed to boot.

No special bracket required if you install it in the Optical Drive Bay. Of course, you can can install it in one of the 4 HDD bays (you need to put the SSD in a faux 3.5" "exclosure"), but that's a waste. You're better off using that bay for a 2TB WD Caviar Black.
 
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akadmon said:
No firmware update needed to boot.

No special bracket required if you install it in the Optical Drive Bay. Of course, you can can install it in one of the 4 HDD bays (you need to put the SSD in a faux 3.5" "exclosure"), but that's a waste. You're better off using that bay for a 2GB WD Caviar Black.
Click to expand...

Perfect. This is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.
I actually have all 4 HD bays loaded up with HDs on my Mac Pro. :D
 
inaka said:
Perfect. This is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.
I actually have all 4 HD bays loaded up with HDs on my Mac Pro. :D
Click to expand...

Which model do you have?

EDIT:

Never mind. I see you own a 5,1 hex, which means you're good to go.
 
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If you look on this thread you will see pics of how I mounted my Crucial M4 in my Mac Pro using the supplied bracket. It's free and awesome.


Super quick and shortcut to the pics

A SSD is the best upgrade you can do. I boot into my SL install on my 7200rpm drive once in a blue moon to get something off that older install, and it's a instant reminder of what I used to think was "fast" was really just dog slow.

Truly once you get a SSD going back to a rotational HD is painful.
Yes, they are bootable and fine, a SSD on the internal bus is like any other HD. Just much faster.
 
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Thanks, all.

Just ordered the Crucial 512GB M4 SSD from Amazon as the price dropped to $379.99.

Can't wait to test out the speed bump from booting from the SSD, as I'll be popping this into the second optical bay area. Thanks again for the info/help.
 
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I have deployed nearly 60 OWC 6G Extremes all purchased in one lot when they were first released with the first firmware. Haven't had any issues with any of them. OWC has among the best customer service out there in my experience.
 
I'm running into a potential problem with my M4. I've moved my Lightroom 4.1 catalog to it, and now LR crashes while tagging photos in the Map module. It doesn't happen right away, but it's happened 4 or 5 times in the last day, between 5-20 minutes in. Then again, I didn't use the Map module extensively before moving this catalog to the M4, so chances are it could be LR that's at fault. I'll move the catalog back to the hdd if this keeps happening and report any differences in behavior. I'd rather keep the cat on the ssd, since it is about 1/3 faster doing 1:1 previews than the hdd.
 
I got 2 x Intel 520s. I have had WD caviar black problems so I was attracted by the 5 year warranty. Virtually every app. loads instantly, in booty-C my games load much faster.
 
akadmon said:
No special bracket required if you install it in the Optical Drive Bay.
Click to expand...

The optical drive is 5.25". The SSD is 2.5" . Not sure how it will "install" when the walls are almost 3" wider than the drive.

OWC has sled.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MM35A52CMB/

I suppose the drive could be just laid on the bottom of the ODD drive area but won't work so well if someone picks up the Mac Pro and moves it around.

Some folks try to stuff several drives into the space.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1131355/

That's isn't a good idea if it is just more SSD as you'll swamp the internal SATA controller. [ Can go even more custom with rerouting all the SATA connections, but has certainly left the "no additional brackets/gadgets/etc" zone. ]


]
 
deconstruct60 said:
The optical drive is 5.25". The SSD is 2.5" . Not sure how it will "install" when the walls are almost 3" wider than the drive.
Click to expand...

I just installed the SSD in my second optical bay over the weekend.
There's no bracket or sled needed at all. Just pop it in. It will sit on top on the shelf, and since it's a SSD with no moving parts it's fine.

It will look like this:
MacProNehalem-SSD-small.jpg


Image from here: http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-InstallingSSD.html

The cables are taut enough to keep it in place. It's not going anywhere.
Seriously, a sled for this is totally overkill.
 
inaka said:
I just installed the SSD in my second optical bay over the weekend.
There's no bracket or sled needed at all. Just pop it in. It will sit on top on the shelf, and since it's a SSD with no moving parts it's fine.

It will look like this:
Image

Image from here: http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-InstallingSSD.html

The cables are taut enough to keep it in place. It's not going anywhere.
Seriously, a sled for this is totally overkill.
Click to expand...

Unless you are moving your mac pro all the time you don't need a sled for the optical bay. Mac Pro's already weigh a ton, I pity anyone who would have to drag one around all the time.
 
CIA said:
Unless you are moving your mac pro all the time you don't need a sled for the optical bay. Mac Pro's already weigh a ton, I pity anyone who would have to drag one around all the time.
Click to expand...

Very true. If you're moving that beast all the time, on using your Mac Pro on the interstate going 65 in a Winnebago, then you may want a sled.
 
inaka said:
It will sit on top on the shelf, and since it's a SSD with no moving parts it's fine.
.....
The cables are taut enough to keep it in place.
Click to expand...

No. Gravity is keeping it in place. The cable connectors are not designed to hold the drive in place.

This is one of those "it happens to work as long as you don't do ..... " solutions. The bracket doesn't come with a list of caveats.

You'll also get better thermal management if air can flow around the drive above and below along the longest edge.
 
deconstruct60 said:
No. Gravity is keeping it in place. The cable connectors are not designed to hold the drive in place.

This is one of those "it happens to work as long as you don't do ..... " solutions. The bracket doesn't come with a list of caveats.

You'll also get better thermal management if air can flow around the drive above and below along the longest edge.
Click to expand...

You don't know, maybe he lives in a zero gravity environment.
 
beaker7 said:
You don't know, maybe he lives in a zero gravity environment.
Click to expand...

A zero gravity environment would only be more demonstrative of how ineffective this solution is. In zero G, things are locked down if you don't want them bang into walls or drift into places they aren't suppose to go.
 
I've got a pair of M4's and gotta say I am pleased with them

I run one off the standard tray locations, and the other in a Velocity Solo

I've had great results but haven't benched em...
What would you guys recommend for benchmarking drive speeds????
I'd like to see how the Velocity Location weighs up against the Tray

Thanx
 
deconstruct60 said:
No. Gravity is keeping it in place. The cable connectors are not designed to hold the drive in place.

This is one of those "it happens to work as long as you don't do ..... " solutions. The bracket doesn't come with a list of caveats.

You'll also get better thermal management if air can flow around the drive above and below along the longest edge.
Click to expand...

Thermal management? It's a SSD, they barely ever get warm. And the optical bay isn't exactly the hot spot in a mac pro to begin with either.

Just slap it in there and don't worry. If you have to move your macpro remember it's floating around and be gentile.
 
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