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Best SSD "solid state" HD for macpro?

U

umbilical

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 3, 2008
1,328
362
FL, USA
hi, I have a macpro '08 I want buy a ssd for reemplace my normal 250gb hd...

any brand? recomendations?

it worth the money use a solid state? more fast? silence etc..? :confused:
 
 
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OWC ftw

Your 2008 Mac Pro has a 3 gb/s data transfer rate due to the speed limits of its motherboard. Newer fancier boards have 6 gb/s transfer rates and the new range of SSDs use the higher speed boards to return faster read/write rates.
If you put a newer design SSD in your '08 you will not get the higher speeds they quote.

I use this type: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/Mercury_Extreme_SSD_Sandforce
They are purpose built for your Mac Pro and not a bad price either. $500 for 240 gb. Raid versions are available too if you want to use multiple bays.

The real benefit of the OWC is the data speed over time, this article shows that compared with Crucial and Intel the OWC returns flawless dataspeeds over time: http://macperformanceguide.com/SSD-RealWorld-Seasoning.html
The Intel and Crucial SSDs are great out the box, after some use the lack of Trim functions means they degrade to the point of stupidity.
 
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The Intel SSD supports TRIM.

However, it doesn't work on all SSDs in Mac OS X.

If you want proven reliability the Intel Solid State Disks is the way to go, however, it is your data so do with it what you want.

Also, one could easily install a S-ATA 6Gbit PCI-Express card in the Mac Pro and go wild with the OCZ Vertex 3 and similar offerings, if you really need to transfer that one large file at 500 MB/s.

Otherwise, just look at the 4 KB random read / write data, as those are the real meaningful numbers.
 
Vertex 3. Being released this week. (and there is a trim patch now available for testing)
 
Is there a known good 6Gbit internal SATA PCI card that supports a boot drive and sleep? Was wondering about tossing one into a Mac Pro 2,1 (even with it's PCI-Express 1.0).

Otherwise, there is still some benefit to getting a 6gbit SSD even with a 3Gbit limitation, probably from new efficiencies?
 
maybe I was think in hold for see the new mac pro that comes and sell this one... I really dont see much difference between my macpro 08 and the actual one, but I want see the new one, exist a possible date for new mac pro? :apple:
 
I would also endorse Intel. I've been using 3x Intel G1 drives in RAID0 for 2 years now without any issues. Although they are no longer the performance leaders, the performance is more than adequate, especially on a system constrained by SATA2. They seem to have better reliability. I personally wouldn't buy OCZ based on their reported failure rates and that stunt they pulled recently where they silently tried to switch the V2's to 25nm, and in doing so reduced performance.
 
Bob Kiwi said:
Is there a known good 6Gbit internal SATA PCI card that supports a boot drive and sleep? Was wondering about tossing one into a Mac Pro 2,1 (even with it's PCI-Express 1.0).

Otherwise, there is still some benefit to getting a 6gbit SSD even with a 3Gbit limitation, probably from new efficiencies?
Click to expand...

I personally just got the Areca 1880 card, EFI Bootable, and some insane performance. I'm selling off my Vertex 2 drives on ebay right now, waiting for the Vertex 3 drives. If you're going to use the internal Sata II, I've go with either the Vertex 2 drives, or the new Intel 320 drives.
 

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VirtualRain said:
I would also endorse Intel. I've been using 3x Intel G1 drives in RAID0 for 2 years now without any issues. Although they are no longer the performance leaders, the performance is more than adequate, especially on a system constrained by SATA2. They seem to have better reliability. I personally wouldn't buy OCZ based on their reported failure rates and that stunt they pulled recently where they silently tried to switch the V2's to 25nm, and in doing so reduced performance.
Click to expand...

I've never had an Intel drive fail, I have had 2 Vertex 2 drives fail. Until the 320, Intel couldn't compete with the speed of the Sandforce, but the 320 has closed that gap. The vertex 3, however, is my next purchase (selling off my Vertex 2 on Ebay as we speak)
 
I've got a Westmere 6-core MacPro5,1 so I have 6 GB/sec SATA II ports. Does that change the decision process any?

I've had the Mac Pro for a few weeks now and haven't turned it on because I want to re-do the whole setup with an SSD boot/apps drive in the 2nd optical bay.

I've been doing research reading the threads on here and on the Apple Discussions site and AnandTech, etc. as well as reading product pages on vendor sites and at this point, I'm more confused about the 'right' way to go than ever. :confused:

It seems like some people say "Go Intel for reliability", others say "Go OWC for Mac compatibility", others say "Go OCZ for speed", others say "Go Micron/Crucial for speed", etc. As a waffling Libra :D I can't make up my mind what the best one to buy is!
 
Riot Nrrrd said:
I've got a Westmere 6-core MacPro5,1 so I have 6 GB/sec SATA II ports. Does that change the decision process any?

I've had the Mac Pro for a few weeks now and haven't turned it on because I want to re-do the whole setup with an SSD boot/apps drive in the 2nd optical bay.

I've been doing research reading the threads on here and on the Apple Discussions site and AnandTech, etc. as well as reading product pages on vendor sites and at this point, I'm more confused about the 'right' way to go than ever. :confused:

It seems like some people say "Go Intel for reliability", others say "Go OWC for Mac compatibility", others say "Go OCZ for speed", others say "Go Micron/Crucial for speed", etc. As a waffling Libra :D I can't make up my mind what the best one to buy is!
Click to expand...

Oh I feel your pain. I'm a Virgo, but one day later and I'd be a Libra so I'm on the cusp and am a hopeless mix of both! I have the painful need to weigh everything up ala Libra and the over critical analytical perfectionist virgo head too! I'm a hot mess I tell ya. :)

I did loads of research and in the end went for OWC Mercury Pro RE's for speed and reliability.
 
Riot Nrrrd said:
I've got a Westmere 6-core MacPro5,1 so I have 6 GB/sec SATA II ports. Does that change the decision process any?

I've had the Mac Pro for a few weeks now and haven't turned it on because I want to re-do the whole setup with an SSD boot/apps drive in the 2nd optical bay.

I've been doing research reading the threads on here and on the Apple Discussions site and AnandTech, etc. as well as reading product pages on vendor sites and at this point, I'm more confused about the 'right' way to go than ever. :confused:

It seems like some people say "Go Intel for reliability", others say "Go OWC for Mac compatibility", others say "Go OCZ for speed", others say "Go Micron/Crucial for speed", etc. As a waffling Libra :D I can't make up my mind what the best one to buy is!
Click to expand...

Your machine does not do 6GB/sec Sata II any single ssd in the four slot trays or the 1 empty optical bay will be at 3GB/sec sata II speed. If you can get away with a 160gb ssd go buy a new intel like this



https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph...2-Solid-State-Drive-for-Laptop-and-Desktop-PC


these are selling so fast that amazon now has a 2 month waiting time for them
 
philipma1957 said:
Your machine does not do 6Gb/sec SATA II any single SSD in the four slot trays or the 1 empty optical bay will be at 3GB/sec SATA II speed. If you can get away with a 160GB SSD go buy a new Intel like this

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph...2-Solid-State-Drive-for-Laptop-and-Desktop-PC

These are selling so fast that Amazon now has a 2 month waiting time for them
Click to expand...

Yikes ... US $360 (with MAD15 discount code, good today only) for 160 GB? That's quite a price premium to pay for an extra 32 GB ... :eek:

Google Shopping is showing several places with that same drive for a lot less money (like US $305 on up).

(I stand corrected ... isn't it 6 Gbps for SATA III, not SATA II? Anyway, I guess it's academic since my optical bay is 3 Gbps.)
 
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