Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

SSD in Mac Pro

I want to get it in the optical drive so mounting is not important for me.
Just want to make sure it will work
If thats a wrong drive what would be the best?
 
Other options

If you want a SSD (2.5) in a MacPro, these sleds are made for it (pricey but nice):
http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/i...y&product_id=180&CFID=856285&CFTOKEN=42704799

There are also 3.5 inch cases that are backplane compatible.
(They look like a 3.5 inch drive, but you put a 2.5 inside and it aligns with the MacPro's backplane). They seem kind of cheap looking, but they're not $48 either.

Other World Computing has them, and of course has 2.5 SSD drives.
(www.macsales.com)
 
MattDSLR said:
Will this drive work in Mac Pro?
if not what is the best drive for it?
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...56GB-RealSSD-C300-SATA3-Solid-State-Drive-MLC
Thank you for all your help
Matt
Click to expand...

I have the 120GB version of that C300 SSD in my MBP and it works great.

That said, I'm partial to the OCZ Vertex 2 for MP use. I installed the 3.5" 120GB version in my MP and it works GREAT. It just bolts right into the MP drive cage assembly! Here's a link to the 240GB version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227591&cm_re=vertex_2_240gb-_-20-227-591-_-Product

cheers
JohnG
 
MattDSLR said:
Will this drive work in Mac Pro?
if not what is the best drive for it?
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...56GB-RealSSD-C300-SATA3-Solid-State-Drive-MLC
Thank you for all your help
Matt
Click to expand...

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION it is not fine it will not work. you need an adapter the 1.8 inch does not connect. an adapter link is below

http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-SATA-1-8-...aultDomain_0&hash=item3cb3cc6ca3#ht_500wt_922



you need only attach the ssd with a piece of velcro if you want it in the optical drive. here is a better deal on one. that is a 2.5 inch no adapter needed

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349
 
Last edited:
As usual I recommend 2.5" drives.

I just don't see the reason for 3.5" drives. Most drives come with an adapter to 3.5", or if not, they don't cost a fortune (2.5" drives are generally cheaper anyway, so price can't be an issue here).

2.5" drives just give you more options. Multiple drives in the optical bays or putting them in other hardware (notebooks etc.) once you decide to update the drive in the Pro.
With 3.5" drives you are limited to desktop grade computers and you don't have many options to mount them internally in the Pro.
 
I highly recommend the Intel drives, while its no longer head and shoulders above the rest in terms of speed (with the arrival of the Sandforce controller on competitor drives things have leveled out), I hear the least complaints / sleep issues / etc about Intel drives. I have 3 in Mac Mini's, 1 in my Mac Pro, and 1 in my MacBook Pro.

They also come with the 2.5" to 3.5" adapter in the retail packaging. See screenshot from newegg.
 

Attachments

  • Screen shot 2011-01-25 at 6.54.31 AM.png
    Screen shot 2011-01-25 at 6.54.31 AM.png
    156.8 KB · Views: 141
izibo said:
I highly recommend the Intel drives, while its no longer head and shoulders above the rest in terms of speed (with the arrival of the Sandforce controller on competitor drives things have leveled out), I hear the least complaints / sleep issues / etc about Intel drives. I have 3 in Mac Mini's, 1 in my Mac Pro, and 1 in my MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I've got a G2 in my Pro for one and a half year now (since day 1) and I haven't had a single problem with that drive. Same applies for my Mini with is equipped with a X25-V. Can't say that for the Indilinx based OCZ drive in my MBP. :D

However, I haven't heard of any complaints with the OWC drive, yet. Given that they are not only faster, but also considerably cheaper than the Intel drives (at least here in Europe), I'd probably go with them if I were in the market for a new drive today.

I'm eagerly waiting for OWC's Sandforce 2000 based line and the new Intel G3 drives. Those will probably be a worthy upgrade from the G2.
 
johnnymg said:
That said, I'm partial to the OCZ Vertex 2 for MP use. I installed the 3.5" 120GB version in my MP and it works GREAT. It just bolts right into the MP drive cage assembly!
Click to expand...

Not any more :eek:; it still bolts into the cage fine but OCZ changed the 3.5" Vertex 2 casing to 1/3 height so the casing no longer hits the back switch.......

I just put it in the optical bay.

Tom

Old:
vertex2_3.5_old_1.jpg

New:
3.5in_Vertex2_new.jpg
 
Last edited:
I would completely recommend the OWC Mercury Pro SSD. I have two of the RE versions in a Raid 0 Array for my boot/apps and a partition for scratch. It's ridiculously fast and so far seems to fare best in durability.

I've installed both in the lower optical bay. I left the DVD Burner in there just unplugged in case.

Here are my XBench results for the RAID 0 Mercury Pro SSD RE

Sequential
Uncached Write 355.29 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 256.83 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 30.84 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 348.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random
Uncached Write 223.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 304.95 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 23.21 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 321.05 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Have a read of this:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-SSD-OWC-Mercury_Extreme.html
 
OK here it is
I'm looking at following options:
160GB Intel X-25M G2 Series 160GB 2.5IN SATA2 NCQ Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty SA2MH160G2C1
or
240GB OWC 240GB Mercury Extreme Pro SSD w/3yr Warranty (256GB total MLC Flash) with 7% Over Provisioned Redundancy SSD SATA2 2.5" Solid State Drive 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty OWCSSDMX240
or
256GB Patriot TORQX SSD 2.5 SATA I/II 260/180 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty PFZ256GS25SDR
or
250GB OCZ Colossus series Solid State Disk Multilayer 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty OCZSSD2-1CLS250G
or
240GB OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Solid State Disk Multilayer 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty OCZSSD2-2VTXE240G
or
256GB Corsair Extreme Series Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC Corsair’s Extreme Series drives are among the fastest available today. The combination of the Indilinx Barefoot controller, Samsung flash memory, and a generous onboard cache, results in extreme performance with up to 220MB/s sequential read and 175MB/s sequential write speeds. 2.5 SATA Internal SSD 2 Yr Warranty CMFSSD-256D1
 
Just notice something...

I was looking at the pic of the SSD and noticed the 'SATA II' ... was wondering if the new Sata 3 (twice as fast) would change things because the data path on the Sata II SSD would be limited and not capitalize on the new Sata 3 interface.

In other words: the SSD's are designed for Sata 2, the new setup is Sata 3. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the next gen (Sata 3) SSD?

Not looking to start the old Wait/Don't Wait thread, looking to know if the SSD's are like regular HD's with respect to Sata 2 / Sata 3 specs...
 
TPadden said:
Not any more :eek:; it still bolts into the cage fine but OCZ changed the 3.5" Vertex 2 casing to 1/3 height so the casing no longer hits the back switch.......

I just put it in the optical bay.

Tom

snip..................
Click to expand...

Just to be clear: the "old" 3.5" version does install into the drive bays of the MP without interference.
 
The OCZ Colossus would not work in a MP1,1 when I tried it.

I have an OCZ Agility 2 (240 GB) in my MP4,1 in the lower optical space (no adapter just sitting in there) and it works great. I use it as a boot drive (OSX or Win7) and have 4 HDDs in the 4 standard bays (3 Mac and 1 NTFS).
 
johnnymg said:
Just to be clear: the "old" 3.5" version does install into the drive bays of the MP without interference.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear: the "new 3.5" version does also install into the drive bays of the MP without interference - they just won't work unless you find some other way to close the back switch :).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back