I just bought one of these and its coming today. Got the 480GB version. Its expensive but will spank any other single SSD you could install by a mile.
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Best SSD for Mac Pro
- Thread starter Luis Ortega
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I'm putting only my boot/app on my Macbook Pro 2012's SSD. I could sure use the speed boost! Not sure where to put documents/music, but photos are going on an external 1TB (I'm iffy on the Optibay sled).
I was recommended the Crucial m4, but I welcome more opinions on what's available to me from Memory Express? Sadly I don't know enough to gleam useful information from entire threads, so replies are very appreciated!
EDIT: no response before start of college, so I'll see how this newly-acquired m4 does!
I was recommended the Crucial m4, but I welcome more opinions on what's available to me from Memory Express? Sadly I don't know enough to gleam useful information from entire threads, so replies are very appreciated!
EDIT: no response before start of college, so I'll see how this newly-acquired m4 does!
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I know Intel/Crucial/Samsung are kind of toted as the go-to's, but what's the consensus on Toshibas?
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Yeah I saw those on sale for $350 a couple weeks ago and I'm kicking myself for not buying (need 3 :S). Trying to find cheaper (reliable) alternatives but I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet.
Accelsior
Really screams in my mid 2010. Considering the Mac Pro only has sata 2 ports, the speed bump of a pair of hardware raided sata 3 ssds over a pci express connection is quite noticeable.
Really screams in my mid 2010. Considering the Mac Pro only has sata 2 ports, the speed bump of a pair of hardware raided sata 3 ssds over a pci express connection is quite noticeable.
Best Speed and Cost
Best solution I've found is Lacie 4big Quadra with eSata out. I bought a eSata adapter cable (http://www.newertech.com/products/esata_cable.php) for $15 that plugs into the 2nd optical drive port that I don't use. I used black magic disk speed test, and I'm getting 235 mb/s read/write through it. And I have 12TB to work with. That is the best deal I've found in regards to speed and cost.
Best solution I've found is Lacie 4big Quadra with eSata out. I bought a eSata adapter cable (http://www.newertech.com/products/esata_cable.php) for $15 that plugs into the 2nd optical drive port that I don't use. I used black magic disk speed test, and I'm getting 235 mb/s read/write through it. And I have 12TB to work with. That is the best deal I've found in regards to speed and cost.
Replacing 2007 HD with SSD?
Is there any reason I cannot replace the HD on a 2007 MB pro with a 2.5 SSD?
I've removed the HD without any difficulty. REady to buy a new one, but now I am worrying about SATA, etc...am I stuck with not being able to buy a SSD?
I'm confident pulling and replacing, but when you start talking tweaks, I think I've met my limit...
Thanks for your comments.
Barb
Is there any reason I cannot replace the HD on a 2007 MB pro with a 2.5 SSD?
I've removed the HD without any difficulty. REady to buy a new one, but now I am worrying about SATA, etc...am I stuck with not being able to buy a SSD?
I'm confident pulling and replacing, but when you start talking tweaks, I think I've met my limit...
Thanks for your comments.
Barb
Ok, I got one I don't think has been asked so far...
I got a 1,1 machine that I want to put an SSD in and use to ONLY boot into OSX and run a minimal amount of programs from. Some of the other programs I use but don't use often, I'd like to install them onto another drive and run them from that. Is this possible?
If so, what SSD do I need for a Mac Pro 1,1 (desktop)?
I got a 1,1 machine that I want to put an SSD in and use to ONLY boot into OSX and run a minimal amount of programs from. Some of the other programs I use but don't use often, I'd like to install them onto another drive and run them from that. Is this possible?
If so, what SSD do I need for a Mac Pro 1,1 (desktop)?
Going to echo Porckchop's question...
Been thinking about adding an SSD to my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.
With the PATA / IDE interface, can I still add the SSD in an empty optical bay?
Or do I need some sort of adapter?
And will the recommended SSDs work in my machine (intel / samsung / crucial)?
Sorry for the hijack / repeated / silly question.
- c
Been thinking about adding an SSD to my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.
With the PATA / IDE interface, can I still add the SSD in an empty optical bay?
Or do I need some sort of adapter?
And will the recommended SSDs work in my machine (intel / samsung / crucial)?
Sorry for the hijack / repeated / silly question.
- c
It's my understanding that there is SATA ports located on the logic board. Watching YouTube videos about how to remove the heatsinks to change the processors out, some guy showed where they were but I don't remember the video I was watching. He spoke about notching the front fan assembly cover to make access easier later on if you needed/wanted to add SATA cables to the connectors. Look and see if yours have those... I haven't checked mine yet.
Or you could possible use cables to connect directly where the usual drives plug in since they are SATA but I don't know how that would work or if it's even necessary.
Just want to put some basic education on this site since its the first search result for best ssd for Mac.
1. If your computer is from 2007, it's running SATA 1 at best, SATA 2. If its running 1, don't bother with an SSD upgrade. You are talking about a bus speed that handles 150 mb of throughput, and your 7200 rpm drive is doing 50-80% of that already. The performance boost is negligible. Buy a newer machine and then contemplate whether OCZ (IMO best choice for Mac because of constant firmware updates, and pretty decent tech support) or Mushkin (best bang for the buck, small local Colorado company building fastest memory interface and best ram module drives) makes the most sense to you. Mushkin offers a cross ship warranty on all their deluxe drives, haven't had one fail yet, bought and installed 20+ Mushkin drives in various client machines, mostly pc, some Mac. My favorite drive for Mac is OCZ though, the Vertex 3 has been the fastest performing 5 year warrantied drive hands down in the Mac. I'm going with the Vertex 4 512 tomorrow for a client's brand new Macbool Pro 15 (non retina obviously) for this trusted performance and business class warranty. Plextor's newest M5P is another fantastic reliable drive, but they are most expensive and my experience with the M3 series was meh in Macs performance wise.
2. The main benefits that people are seeking with SSD's is their boot time, and ability to open programs quickly. The claim is that they offer 20% better battery life as well, and of course have no moving parts. I do not believe that a 2.5" SSD installed in a 2-5 year old machine produces better battery life. My experience is that because the computer is able to work faster, that it expends more energy than it would at a fourth to a sixth of its capabilities (with a hard drive) and therefore isn't actually saving power. Therefore, don't be surprised when your battery life in your core 2 duo or core i5 first gen (520) GOES DOWN.
3. If you have a Mac Pro, that's awesome. Clearly you are an enthusiast, and hopefully are at the very least pushing the machine with video or photo work, designing something amazing. Also, hopefully, you know at least a little about how the computer is designed inside, how drives interface to motherboards, etc. Because if you do not, and if you have a 2007 Mac Pro, no Raid card, and no real knowledge of how fast SATA 1 vs 2 vs 3 is, you have absolutely no business trying this upgrade on your own. Here's why:
A. Computer won't see much improvement
B. The installation of the SSD inside the custom designed Mac case, although not thoroughly difficult, is no first adventure class install. The drive doesn't actually have a place to sit correctly inside, and without a thur party adapter, you will leave a drive hanging inside your machine.
C. The fact is that Apple had specifically limited the performance of the SATA bus on several iterations of machines through the years, and the way that older motherboards treat SSD's is not as good as the way 3 year old and younger machines do. While the Mac Pro Xeon combo can see great gains with SATA 2 and newer, anything older is a waste of time.
I installed a Crucial M4 a few months back. No problems. Yet. It's quick, too. If you don't have a SSD yet, you'll notice instant improvement in the machine performance. Which is best depends on your needs and application, but if you aren't in need of the ultimate you can go with less expensive and still reap great benefits.
That's awesome to know, thanks. My Mac Pro is a 2006. I've built plenty of PC's back in the day, even recently but for my personal choice it's gonna be a Mac... no more Windows for me. I asked the question before I researched that there is an adapter for the SSD to fit the Mac drive bay, that's why I was asking about cables and the SATA ports located on the motherboard.
Now... I don't know if a 2006 Mac Pro is SATA 1 or 2, I know it's not 3. I also know that a lot of other users here have used SSD in 2006's and they seem to say there is an increase in speed. For me, I just want to put OS_X on an SDD for boot speed and commonly used apps to load faster. My other, not used so much apps, I'd like to put on a regular HD.
The basic question is which SSD is the most Mac friendly, especially the older version 1,1 like I have. That seems to be a question that has yet to be answered and I'm gonna assume it's really a matter of choice.
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Now... I gotta throw this in cause it kinda bugs me and I'm not knocking on you directly. I keep seeing where people say you need to upgrade to a newer Mac Pro, that the 1,1 machines are outdated and that at best you'll get a few more years from updating internals, blah blah blah. I don't really understand that unless it's meant for people who use these things for business/work/profession. Cause in my opinion, this machine will work for me for years to come, a long, long time. I know it won't return the performance with an SSD that a much newer machine should return, I get that. But for the most part, I think any improvement is better than no improvement. For what I do with my Pro, I don't see where I'd notice any difference worth writing home about if I were to scrap it today and buy a brand new 12 core machine. Maybe I've just got too much Mac for what little I do...
All MacPro's have since the start have had SATA II. No MacPro has ever had SATA III on the motherboard. (That whole affair is for a different thread) I don't know if the original ones have the extra SATA ports on the motherboard. I know my 2008 model does. I have PATA optical drives, so the spare 2 ports I routed to the back of the machines using a PCI slot bracket, and they now are used by 2 eSATA drives.
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Thanks for clearing the 1 vs 2 thing up.
I'm gonna have to look to see if mine has the additional two ports onboard as well, haven't actually looked, just was going off a YouTube video I saw. The only reason I can actually think to use them though would be for SATA DVD drives since IDE is getting kinda hard to come by now.
Funny thing... I had an Asus DVD drive in a PC build, it was quiet and never made one peep. Put it into the second bay of my Mac, every time now that it starts up, you hear it making a funny sound. It'll have to go... can't take that noise from a computer that was super quiet before. Also have a crappy Seagate drive that I removed from a desktop USB drive I was using for Time Machine backups. It vibrates in the drive bay sometimes... it's gotta go too.
I'm gonna have to look to see if mine has the additional two ports onboard as well, haven't actually looked, just was going off a YouTube video I saw. The only reason I can actually think to use them though would be for SATA DVD drives since IDE is getting kinda hard to come by now.
Funny thing... I had an Asus DVD drive in a PC build, it was quiet and never made one peep. Put it into the second bay of my Mac, every time now that it starts up, you hear it making a funny sound. It'll have to go... can't take that noise from a computer that was super quiet before. Also have a crappy Seagate drive that I removed from a desktop USB drive I was using for Time Machine backups. It vibrates in the drive bay sometimes... it's gotta go too.
Regarding performance - you will almost certainly see an improvement with SSD. While SATA 1, 2, 3 are factors in performance, SSDs feature almost none of the latency associated with a spinning disk. That is, when data is requested, it's delivered right now, not when the head is aligned with the proper sector. Latency is a function of getting the head to the right cylinder, and the spinning disk being in the right place. Obviously these don't apply with SSD. Depending on your workflow, you're likely asking the disk for lots of little bit of data, not a few big streams. SSD helps in all cases in the former, SATA3 in the latter. Boot times, app opening, saves -- all much faster with SSDs. Just make sure you have a free SATA port.
which drives do apple use?
they don't make their own, but they certainly cost a fortune if you spec them with your machine!
they don't make their own, but they certainly cost a fortune if you spec them with your machine!
I have a Mac Pro 3,1 quad core x2 (8 core) 3.2GHz machine
I routed the cables from the two spare ports on the motherboard to the second optical bay and installed a quad mount for 3.5" drives. I then ran two of my external eSata ports back inside and up there to serve all four drive cages. You can boot Mac OS off either of the two motherboard drives and RAID 0 these together for double the boot speed. If you want to run windows or Linux you need to boot off one of the four main drive bays. I've been running RAID 0 on the four main drive bays for my data and getting good performance with software RAID for four years now. Ive been debating going RAID 0 on the boot drives for a while, but seriously, the system is on most of the time and boot speed is not that important, and the applications load pretty fast anyway.
Uh... The internet.
But to save you 5 seconds. It does not matter. They will auto negotiate to the system you attach them to. I would not buy any SATA2 only SSD as they were significantly slower in other areas and not just sequential transfer bandwidth.