Mac Pro and SATA II Hard Drives? Compatible?

[TheSpaz]

Is it safe to use a Maxtor SATA II/300 16MB Cache in my Mac Pro? In other words, is SATA II compatible with the Mac Pro? I looked on Apple's tech specs and I can't tell if SATA II is supported. http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html

I think $89 for a 320GB SATA II drive with 16MB Cache is a killer deal? Anyone else think so, or is it too good to be true? Oh yeah, and on the box it says 300GB 16MB Cache, 7200 RPM, SATA II/300 and then on the bottom of the box there's a sticker that says "Bonus 20GB! 320GB Total Capacity Inside". Doesn't the format of the drive make it less actual usable storage?

 

[Multimedia]

Yes It's Compatible

No problem. I just bought seven 500GB SATAII/300 16MB buffer drives for my Mac Pro that I don't even have yet for $120 each at Fry's Friday morning.

 

[csista]

No problem. I just bought seven 500GB SATAII/300 16MB buffer drives for my Mac Pro that I don't even have yet for $120 each at Fry's Friday morning.

That was a beautifully timed sale. I picked up two myself, and the MacPro arrives in a few hours. I love walking into Fry's on a Friday morning

 

[TheSpaz]

No problem. I just bought seven 500GB SATAII/300 16MB buffer drives for my Mac Pro that I don't even have yet for $120 each at Fry's Friday morning.

How the heck are you going to fit 7 drives into your Mac Pro... man you must do a lot of video recording with your EyeTV devices.

 

[hogmog]

No problem. I just bought seven 500GB SATAII/300 16MB buffer drives for my Mac Pro that I don't even have yet for $120 each at Fry's Friday morning.

I don't suppose you could get Fry's to open a branch in the UK? Currently monitoring HDD prices for when I take the plunge with Mac Pro and cheapest here is around $160!

 

[statikcat]

I don't suppose you could get Fry's to open a branch in the UK? Currently monitoring HDD prices for when I take the plunge with Mac Pro and cheapest here is around $160!

160 is far from bad. Most of these 500gb drives that are between 120-150 are OEM and come with no cables as well. Sometimes more expensive ones are a rip and sometimes they are more quite and cooler.

 

[akadmon]

160 is far from bad. Most of these 500gb drives that are between 120-150 are OEM and come with no cables as well. Sometimes more expensive ones are a rip and sometimes they are more quite and cooler.

So is the only difference between the OEM drives and the more expensive retail versions the lack of cables and packaging? I've heard that sellers such as Newegg just dump the drive in a box filled with styrofoam "popcorn" which doesn't absorb shock as well as the "nicer" retail packaging, and that because of this a significant percentage of these drives arrive DOA. I'm willing to pay a little extra if it means my new drive is less likely to fail down the road because it's not been bounced around in a cheap package on its way to me. Right now the price difference between OEM and retail is around 1/3.