Where to purchase hard drives for the mac pro for good prices? [Archive]

diehardmacfan

Apr 21, 2007, 03:20 PM

Hi everyone,

I was wondering where I can purchase a 750 GB SATA hard drive compatable with the mac pro from a third party verder. Apples price of $500 is too much money for me. Has anyone purchased hard drives from someone else from apple. I'm not looking for the raptor drives but just a normal 7200 RPM drive. Also are there 1 TB hard drives available for the mac pro?

Thanks for responding everyone?

bld44

Apr 21, 2007, 03:44 PM

Try newegg.com

The majority of any SATA 2 drive you find will work. I'm a big fan of SeaGate drives- Just bought a 400GB Seagate Baracuda for $89 shipped, works great in my mac pro.

Gorion

Apr 21, 2007, 06:41 PM

Newegg is good. I found a 500GB Western Digital drive for $150. That seemed to be like a decent price.

spaz8

Apr 21, 2007, 09:40 PM

There is also OWC.. they just deal in mac and are a good source for RAM, so I'm thinking perhaps bundle a drive or two with them also... most expensive 500GB was $175, and 750GB was generally about $270 for the 2nd most expensive 750.

Kinda ridiculous how much apple is charging for RAM and HD upgrades.

Tangerine

Apr 21, 2007, 10:19 PM

I'm planning on getting another Hard Drive for my Mac Pro as well. Somewhere around the 500GB. Which one do you guys prefer more? Western Digital or Seagate in form of performance and long lasting?

bld44

Apr 22, 2007, 12:31 AM

I'm planning on getting another Hard Drive for my Mac Pro as well. Somewhere around the 500GB. Which one do you guys prefer more? Western Digital or Seagate in form of performance and long lasting?

Tangerine,

This is the link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148246) to the drive I recently purchased for my mac pro. I suggest taking a look at it- great deal if you're on a budget.

I've used SeaGate drives for atleast 6 or 7 years. Never had any problems, fast and reliable. My old computer (Dell 8200) and the Mac Pro both came with OEM Seagate drives, so I've always put what came with it in- a seagate drive.

I believe there are a few seagate drives that run slower on a mac pro due to their firmware (don't know which ones- search for it on macnn forums), but the drive I linked runs full speed and is great.

justG

Apr 22, 2007, 02:21 AM

I'm planning on getting another Hard Drive for my Mac Pro as well. Somewhere around the 500GB. Which one do you guys prefer more? Western Digital or Seagate in form of performance and long lasting?
I don't think it really matters. Everyone's got a different experience. Personally, my bad experience has been with Maxtors, so even though Seagate bought 'em, I try to stay away from Maxtor-branded drives. Five-year warranties are good to have, and I believe both Seagate and WD offer that. Keep an out for deals at any computer retailer, from newegg to OWC to Amazon to one of your local shops. I got a 500GB WD from newegg after buying my Mac Pro from Apple, and it was about $129 or so (sale price). I've no complaints with it.

Hope that helps.

product26

Apr 22, 2007, 03:41 AM

newegg.com or tigerdirect.com

diehardmacfan

Apr 22, 2007, 09:24 AM

brooker

Apr 23, 2007, 12:47 PM

thanks for your replies, I think i will get a 750 segate a newegg for about 300.

I was also wondering if there are any 10,000 RPM SATA hard drives that work in the mac pro and have 320 GB of storage space or more.

The 150 GB raptor isn't enough for the OS and my apps.

Thanks again.

Doing a raid 0 for boot vol can offer comparable (and sometimes faster speeds). Then you can have your needed capacity.

http://www.barefeats.com/quad08.html

I think i would also recommend 2x400 or 2x500 in a raid 0 rather than one 750. You will spend less on disks, and it will be considerably faster.

Just make sure you have an external drive or something for backups.

Trogloxene

Apr 23, 2007, 12:50 PM

I've bought quite a few used drive on ebay. I've had great luck with them all. But since they are used you should only pay 1/4 or less the cost of a new one.

-T

Tangerine

Apr 23, 2007, 06:59 PM

mustang_dvs

Apr 23, 2007, 07:05 PM

For some reason, few people think of it, but www.Provantage.com has some of the best prices I've seen, on a wide variety of gear.

They beat NewEgg on the Seagate 7200.10 750GB that I chose for comparison.

I've bought a lot of hardware from them, including PowerMac G4 replacement parts at Apple's suggestion.

---

BTW, the "ES" and 7200.10 are the same drive, IIRC -- one is retail (more $$$ for a pretty box) and the other is OEM.

---

For good price comparisons, www.Pricescan.com will give you a ballpark number, but I'm always sure to check Provantage, www.CDW.com , www.sparco.com and www.SmallDog.com to see where their prices sit.

I've avoided TheNerds.net lately due to some outrageously bad shipping costs, shipping times and poor customer service when I've had a problem that was their fault.

mustang_dvs

Apr 23, 2007, 07:09 PM

I guess it's really depend on "Luck of the draw" I got a Seagate 320GB that no longer able to bootup from. I think it's dying. I have only been using it for a couple of months. Does OEM still mean brand new? Just without the box and the manual? That Hard Drive bld44 point out is a nice one because of the price and it's from Seagate. I bought a 500GB from New Egg not too long ago for around $140. Not complaining though because I saw 320GB at Best Buy selling at retail price of $149.

Seagate has an incredible warranty, so long as you save the original packaging -- the "certified" replacement shipping containers that they stipulate you use cost $$$. If you go to their website and plug in the drive's serial number, you can see how much warranty you have left.

I recently sent in a year-old 7200.10 750GB that had only been installed for three weeks and a 5-year old 7200.9 200GB that had been trusty but was becoming flaky. The 750GB had ten years left on the warranty, the 200GB had 30 days, both were replaced, no questions asked, two weeks round-trip.

patrick0brien

Apr 23, 2007, 07:10 PM

Personally, I only buy Hitachi if given the choice. Heat and noise patents.

akadmon

Apr 23, 2007, 07:33 PM

For some reason, few people think of it, but www.Provantage.com has some of the best prices I've seen, on a wide variety of gear.

They beat NewEgg on the Seagate 7200.10 750GB that I chose for comparison.

Wow -- I just saved myself about $3000 by buying my 500GB Western Digital drive at Newegg instead of at Provantage !:D

http://www.provantage.com/western-digital-wd5000aaks-20pk~7WNDG2EM.htm

bld44

Apr 23, 2007, 08:40 PM

Wow -- I just saved myself about $3000 by buying my 500GB Western Digital drive at Newegg instead of at Provantage !:D

http://www.provantage.com/western-digital-wd5000aaks-20pk~7WNDG2EM.htm

That's so expensive because its a pack of 20.

mustang_dvs

Apr 24, 2007, 02:24 PM

Personally, I only buy Hitachi if given the choice. Heat and noise patents.

After getting screwed by not one, but five 75GXP "DeathStars", I steer a wide berth around Hitachi storage products.

Three of them died the same week.

As for the WD drives, NewEgg is cheaper than Provantage for the WD5000AAKS, but the only WD5000KS that they offer is a refurb with a limited warranty. That's why it's always best to spend 10 minutes and shop around -- no single retailer is going to be the cheapest on every product.

patrick0brien

Apr 24, 2007, 02:28 PM

After getting screwed by not one, but five 75GXP "DeathStars", I steer a wide berth around Hitachi storage products.

Three of them died the same week.

As for the WD drives, NewEgg is cheaper than Provantage for the WD5000AAKS, but the only WD5000KS that they offer is a refurb with a limited warranty. That's why it's always best to spend 10 minutes and shop around -- no single retailer is going to be the cheapest on every product.

-mustang_dvs

That was IBM. And led directly to the takeover by Hitachi.

The quality is somewhat better these days. ;)

amtctt

Apr 24, 2007, 02:40 PM

Fry's electronics, also known as Outpost.com on the internet, has the Seagate 500gb going for $119.99. Great deal. That's exactly what i want to get, but won't have any $$ for a few more months. :(

Digitalflick

Apr 24, 2007, 05:31 PM

Fry's electronics, also known as Outpost.com on the internet, has the Seagate 500gb going for $119.99. Great deal. That's exactly what i want to get, but won't have any $$ for a few more months. :(

Thanks for the tip - Free shipping too!

http://frys.com/product/4697788

TheSpaz

Apr 25, 2007, 12:26 PM

I got a 320GB Maxtor SATA2 16MB Cache drive from Staples for only $89. Not too shabby. It's the fastest drive in my computer and also the quietest!

zero2dash

Apr 25, 2007, 12:45 PM

I got a 320GB Maxtor SATA2 16MB Cache drive from Staples for only $89. Not too shabby. It's the fastest drive in my computer and also the quietest!

Good luck with that Maxtor. :D
I'll never purchase a Maxtor product again.
Back up your data frequently...I've had 2 failed Maxtor drives and know about 5 other people who (between them) have had 10 failed Maxtors.

OP:
I recommend buying Seagate drives at Newegg. Try to get the 7200.10 models which feature perpendicular recording (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpendicular_recording); the 7200.9 ones are the old models that don't have it. Apparently perpendicular recording will give users more reliable drives that are less prone to failure and problems (in addition to allowing more data to be written to drives/larger volume possible). Seagates have great warranties and great reliability.

mark476p

Apr 26, 2007, 05:44 PM

Is there a minimum storage size needed for hard drive bays 2, 3, and 4? (i.e. 500GB and higher)

Thanks.

bld44

Apr 26, 2007, 06:21 PM

Be careful with some of the Barracuda 7200.10's. Some firmwares do not sit well with the Mac Pro. Check out this topic (http://forums.macnn.com/65/power-mac-and-mac-pro/330172/the-seagate-mac-pro-compatibility-issue/) from macnn forums about it.

Lycanthrope

Apr 27, 2007, 05:32 AM

robbieduncan

Apr 27, 2007, 05:36 AM

Accoring to Apple the drives in the Mac Pro are 3GB per second transfer rate - some of the discs I've seen recently mention 1.5GB per second, others don't mention transfer rate at all.

How can one determine this when it's not listed in the product spec? Anything to look for?

This is actually the maximum theoretical transfer rate of the interface. The drives themselves cannot supply anything like that. 1.5GB == SATA, 3GB == SATA 2.

Lycanthrope

Apr 27, 2007, 05:59 AM

This is actually the maximum theoretical transfer rate of the interface. The drives themselves cannot supply anything like that. 1.5GB == SATA, 3GB == SATA 2.

Ah, cheers for that, so a SATA2 matches the Apple spec.

Marvellous, cheers mate.

kwood

Apr 27, 2007, 07:54 AM

Is there a minimum storage size needed for hard drive bays 2, 3, and 4? (i.e. 500GB and higher)

Thanks.

No there is no minimum.

^squirrel^

Apr 27, 2007, 08:27 AM

I also had 2 Maxtor drives fail and will never even think about buying one again!

I swear by Seagte, not the fastest drive in the world but not far behind. Noise levels are good and stability is brilliant! Not had one fail yet and i've installed 30+!!!!!

I got a Seagate 7200.10 320gb for my Macpro and it's great!

Good luck with that Maxtor. :D
I'll never purchase a Maxtor product again.
Back up your data frequently...I've had 2 failed Maxtor drives and know about 5 other people who (between them) have had 10 failed Maxtors.

OP:
I recommend buying Seagate drives at Newegg. Try to get the 7200.10 models which feature perpendicular recording (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpendicular_recording); the 7200.9 ones are the old models that don't have it. Apparently perpendicular recording will give users more reliable drives that are less prone to failure and problems (in addition to allowing more data to be written to drives/larger volume possible). Seagates have great warranties and great reliability.