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Mac Pro Mid-2010-which is best 2TB HD for additional bay?

E

ejosepha

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 12, 2009
283
0
I have an SSD in Bay 1 as boot drive and applications (OWC) and the stock WD Black Caviar 1TB in Bay 2. I would like to add a 2TB to Bay 3.
I believe that I am limited by the Sata Port in each Bay. What is the most advanced HD I can put in the Bay.
For example there is a WD 2TB Caviar Black with Sata 6.0Gb/s, 64MB Cache. Will this be supported. It's for sale at OWC and I believe it is for the MacPro.
Any other suggestions for dependable, fast, and up to date technology in HDs.
Also out of curiosity, they have new SSDs at OWC running at 6GB/s. Are these supported by the sata ports in my Mac Pro?
thanks
 
Your Mac Pro can take any 3.5 SATA I/II drive, traditional or SSD. On OWC's site, on far right, there is a pull down menu. You can choose Mac Pro Upgrades. On that page you are given options of hard drive, memory, optical drive upgrades. On the hard drive page you can compare to see what configuration you want.

The SATA port doesn't limit you.
 
What will you use it for? If it will be just for general storage, then grabbing a cheaper, cooler quieter 5400rpm drive might be worth it, e.g. WD Caviar Green.
 
Hellhammer said:
What will you use it for? If it will be just for general storage, then grabbing a cheaper, cooler quieter 5400rpm drive might be worth it, e.g. WD Caviar Green.
Click to expand...
I would want a drive that might be used eventually for more than storage. i.e. video editing, etc.
I am in France, but I can buy any of the drives available in the States as well as buying direct from OWC, as I did with the SSD.
Was wondering about the difference between Enterprise RE4 or Caviar Black. I have the Stock 1TB Caviar Black and though it makes some noise it seems quite a good performer.
Can the sata ports in this MacPro run 6.0gp/s transfer rates? (was also thinking about eventually buying the newer SSD from OWC with 6G transfer rates) Some HD state that they run at 6Gs. Does one really see and feel a difference with this increased throughput?
Thanks
 
eawmp1 said:
SATA 6Gbps vs 3Gbps internal HDD, 2009 Mac Pro

Previously discussed. Same discussion applies to the 2010. For more info on the 6 Gb/s: http://features.techworld.com/storage/3220707/in-depth-sata-6-gbits-sec/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. If I understand this correctly, the 6Gs HDs will net me nothing with the interface currently in my new MacPro. What would be the best and most performance grade 2TB drive available? It sounds as if putting in a 6G drive might even render performance less than the stock 3G drives.
The article quoted above is from April last year. I wonder what the best drive today would be.
I was able to find the WD Caviar Black 2TB with the 6G transfer rate. Will this work easily in my MacPro even though limited by the internal limits or should I search out the same brand disk with the 3G transfer rate? I don't want a decrease in performance as compared to my stock WD 1TB.
thanks
 
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The WD Caviar Black is a great drive. And, if you ever upgrade and Apple ups its SATA, you can just transfer the drive.

Doubt you'll ever see significant real world difference between 3 Gb/s and 6Gb/s though.
 
These are hard drives, not SSDs. You should not fixate on the interface top speed.

You should look at the combination of access time, platter density and rotational speed.
 
philipma1957 said:
I would look into a 3tb hdd such as this

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/0S03208/

or this


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western Digital/WD30EZRSDTL/
Click to expand...

I wouldn't entertain the premium on a 3TB to be honest.
I would have in the past but now I have learnt to just get the best value thing.
Rule 1. Western Digital
Rule 2. Best bang for buck. In the UK that means a 2TB Green for under $100

Bear in mind all my photos etc are on an enterprise drive I paid nearly $300 for (1TB) and it is rock solid, but then again so are the 2TB Greens, its just peace of mind at the end of the day. Touch wood ;)
 
having 30 2TB hdd's in my UNRaid server

these are the 2 i would only use.

Hitatchi 2tb 7200rpm (only if its going to recieve decent cooling)

Samsung F420UI 2tb 5400 rpm....very high performance for a 5400, almost that of the hitatchi.

stay away from Seagate LP crap , western digital green isnt bad but do fail on me fast.

2tb western digital black is good too but costs you more.

MMM
 
jetjaguar said:
im using a 2tb caviar black .. prolly gonna get 3 more down the road and a ssd
Click to expand...
I bought and installed the 2TB WD Caviar Black in the 3rd Bay. The OWC SSD is in Bay 1, the 1TB WD Caviar Black is in Bay 2. Everything so far seems ok, although when rendering or re-combining a movie file it seemed to make a little more noise than the 1TB WD Caviar Black that came with the MacPro.
It's no big deal, but I would be curious why on Istat Pro the 1TB WD runs at 35 Degrees Centigrade while the 2TB runs at 40 Degree Centigrade, even when they are both empty and not being used?
UPDATE: Now one runs at 37 and the other at 40 C, so maybe not a big difference.
Thanks
 
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