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What adapter or sled is everyone using to connect SSD drives?

C

cbster

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 24, 2008
69
0
Orange County
I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of my new Mac Pro. I just received my OWC ssd that I'm going to use as my boot drive.

What adapter or special drive sled is everyone using to connect their ssd's?
 
I used icydock. the one that came with my intel g2 ssd did not fit macpro sled design.

but really, the ssd drive can just be attached to the sled with tape or a string or anything, there is no moving parts so no worry.
 
Cindori said:
I used icydock. the one that came with my intel g2 ssd did not fit macpro sled design.

but really, the ssd drive can just be attached to the sled with tape or a string or anything, there is no moving parts so no worry.
Click to expand...

:D love it! Although I use the IcyDock as well.
 
I have mine just resting in the 5th drive bay, nothing special. But, you can "mount" the SSD in one of the 4 bays without a special sled. Its stays in fine, but I would add some tape or something else if you plan on moving it. You don't want to break the ports on either your drive, or worse, the mainboard.
 
Icy Dock from OWC is a good option. Or you can use custom sleds by MaxUpgrades and TransIntl designed to mount any 2.5" drive in the Mac Pro. There are also kits to mount SSDs and other notebook drives in the optical bay and PCIe bay.
 
Mine will be in the optical bay, but I thought I would make it at least look good and get an OWC Multimount :)
 
The Kingston Drive Carrier works perfectly. Watch out for the OCZ "adapter" which does not work in the MP sledge.
 
Killerbob said:
The Kingston Drive Carrier works perfectly. Watch out for the OCZ "adapter" which does not work in the MP sledge.
Click to expand...

hmmm that's odd... I have been reading on these forums that individuals have had success with the included 3.5" OCZ adaptor. Did you physically try one???
 
waiwai said:
hmmm that's odd... I have been reading on these forums that individuals have had success with the included 3.5" OCZ adaptor. Did you physically try one???
Click to expand...

Yup, I did.

Since I already had one SSD in my optical bay, I needed to figure out how to install a second SSD on the cheap. I've heard of people using tape to hold the SSD to the top, so that the connector doesn't have any stress on it, but tape? Come on.

Since the OCZ drive I got came with an adapter of sorts, I thought I'd give it a try. Problem that has already been stated, is that it mounts the SSD from the top, and adapts it for a side mount, but the Mac Pro mounts drives from the top, so what am I to do?

Since I had a HDD installed in the bay beside the one I was going to install the SSD into, I figured I could use it to support the SSD. So I came up with the following solution.


  1. I installed the SSD free hanging onto the connectors, since the SSD is so light, there isn't much pressure on the connector, but enough that I wouldn't want it hanging there forever. It also isn't horizontal so the connection may come loose at some point.
    P1040720.jpeg

  2. Use the adapter and screws that came with the OCZ drive, and attach it to the drive next to the bay you want to install the SSD into.
    P1040721.jpeg
  3. There are already holes on the HDD that line up with the adapter, and they are threaded to the same pitch as the screws that come with the SSD, so I used those.
    P1040722.jpeg
  4. Slide the HDD partially into place, but it can't go the entire way because the SSD is hanging down.
    P1040723.jpeg
  5. Push the SSD up a little so that the adapter can slide under it.
    P1040724.jpeg
  6. Then push the HDD all the way into place. You can see that the SSD is now sitting horizontal, and no pressure is being put onto the connectors. It is also impossible for it to fall down.
    P1040725.jpeg
  7. In order to put the Mac Pro HDD adapter back into place, you need to remove two of the screws from their rubber mounts, otherwise the screws get caught on the SSD
    P1040726.jpeg
  8. Here it is, finished looking good from the outside, since all the Mac Pro HDD sleds are in place, even though one of them isn't directly being used.
    P1040727.jpeg
 
Silby - many thanks for your idea of re-using the "Standard" 2.5-3.5" adaptor - I have just done the exact same thing but using the samsung adaptor (its the same thing..just not powder coated in black ;) )

Has done the job perfectly and saves me spending £15 on an IcyBox - thanks!
 
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