Best SSD for Mac Pro? [Archive]

strausd

Jul 21, 2010, 11:40 PM

I would definitely suggest an SSD because of its insane performance. Stock drives are considerable slower and Velociraptors use much more power and have a much higher failure rate. Also, with SSD speeds, your system will boot much quicker and you applications will load much quicker as well. I don't really know much about the write speeds of velociraptors versus SSDs, but I do know the OCZ Vertex 2 has sustained write of up to 250 MB/s, which is much better than Intels x25-m of 70 MB/s. Also, the read speeds of the OCZ SSD is 285 MB/s and Intels is 250 MB/s.

I am considering an SSD as a boot drive and will be moving my home directory to a separate drive and only have OS and apps on the SSD for quick boot times and app load times.

OS X has 4 main folders: Applications, Library, System, and Users. When you move your home directory, you are moving the main part of the Users folder, which is where a lot of the storage is. The little icon with the house in finder is your home folder.

When I get my SSD for my boot drive, I will move the home directory and keep the Applications, Library, and System files on the SSD. A few days back, I went to see how big this would be, and mine is only 43 GB and I have quite a bit of applications, including the CS5 Master Collection, Aperture 3, Maya 2011, ZBrush, along with many many others. So really, if I were to get a 256GB SSD, that would be way overkill.

For you, I would see how much space those three folders are and that might help with your decision. This website (http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move-the-home-folder-in-os-x-and-why/) should help explain how and why you would want to move your home folder.

As for physically putting it in your system, many people like to use something called an ICY dock (http://www.amazon.com/2-5-3-5-Ssd-sata-Convert/dp/B002Z2QDNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279773487&sr=8-1). However, some SSDs come with a 3.5" adapter or something like that. Also, you could put this in an empty optical drive in your MP and save the other 4 bays for mechanical drives, something I am considering myself.

Hope this helps in your decision making and good luck!

WardC

Jul 22, 2010, 12:45 AM

I just installed my 120GB SSD in my system tonight...I went with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. So far, so good. After I installed the drive I went to Disk Utility and simply did a restore from my System HD to the SSD and it copied all the files over. I then selected my SSD as the boot disk and rebooted. Now I'm running all my system files and apps off the SSD.

Whaditis

Jul 22, 2010, 12:47 AM

I would recommend to say get the OCZ 120gb Collossus. It comes in a 3.5 standard size so it fits perfectly in the Mac Pro bays without any adapters or brackets.

I am using this exact SSD for my OS inside my Mac Pro. Very fast.

flatfoot

Jul 22, 2010, 12:50 AM

… OS X has 4 main folders: Applications, Library, System, and Users. When you move your home directory, you are moving the Users folder, which is where a lot of the storage is. The little icon with the house in finder is your home folder.

You don't move the /Users folder; only your home folder from inside it to the other disk.
Done that a few times already.

When I get my SSD for my boot drive, I will move the home directory and keep the Applications, Library, and System files on the SSD. A few days back, I went to see how big this would be, and mine is only 43 GB and I have quite a bit of applications, including the CS5 Master Collection, Aperture 3, Maya 2011, ZBrush, along with many many others. So really, if I were to get a 256GB SSD, that would be way overkill.

I'll just buy a single 60GB Vertex 2 for my ~27GB boot drive, which is an old 74GB Raptor ATM.
If I needed more space, I'd rather go with two 120GB Vertexes in software RAID0 than one 250GB. This would cost about the same but deliver really insane performance. A friend of mine is about to install two 240s in his MacBook (one instead of the optical drive). I'm itching to see it fly...

Whaditis

Jul 22, 2010, 01:27 AM

Thanks strausd for the above pointers, just did that with the home folder and it worked perfectly!

Roman23

Jul 22, 2010, 01:39 AM

Superduper or carbon copy cloner?? Sounds like you did the hard way... when I get my ssd, I plan to use CCC or superduper.

I just installed my 120GB SSD in my system tonight...I went with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. So far, so good. After I installed the drive I went to Disk Utility and simply did a restore from my System HD to the SSD and it copied all the files over. I then selected my SSD as the boot disk and rebooted. Now I'm running all my system files and apps off the SSD.

strausd

Jul 22, 2010, 01:45 AM

You don't move the /Users folder; only your home folder from inside it to the other disk.
Done that a few times already.

I'll just buy a single 60GB Vertex 2 for my ~27GB boot drive, which is an old 74GB Raptor ATM.
If I needed more space, I'd rather go with two 120GB Vertexes in software RAID0 than one 250GB. This would cost about the same but deliver really insane performance. A friend of mine is about to install two 240s in his MacBook (one instead of the optical drive). I'm itching to see it fly...

My bad, meant to say whats in the users folder.

Is he using the OWC mount to put it in his MBP? I am considering doing something like this for my MBP, but would do a Seagate Momentus XT for boot drive and have the other as storage. I rather put the money towards an SSD in my Mac Pro when the new ones come out, if they ever do ;)

What's nice is I found one that includes a USB enclosure for the optical drive so it would still be useable. That would be the one I would get so I can just keep that in my bag and have it whenever I need it.

Roman23

Jul 22, 2010, 01:46 AM

Just went to OWC's website.. OUCH! 350 for the 120GB!!! WHen are these things going to come down in price?? I think 350 is very steep for a 120GB and what do I havem 4 1TB hard drives of which one is my boot drive plus has all my crap on it + applications.

Advice?? should I wait until the prices really come down to COMFORTABLE consumer levels, or buy now?? I don't think 120GB will be enough for my needs though..

When will 1TB come out?? and when will its price be at a consumer level, say like around 200 dollars or less?

I just installed my 120GB SSD in my system tonight...I went with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. So far, so good. After I installed the drive I went to Disk Utility and simply did a restore from my System HD to the SSD and it copied all the files over. I then selected my SSD as the boot disk and rebooted. Now I'm running all my system files and apps off the SSD.

strausd

Jul 22, 2010, 02:04 AM

When will 1TB come out??

Have been. (http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Colossus-3-5-Inch-Solid/dp/B002X8DZDG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1279782211&sr=1-1)

Superduper or carbon copy cloner?? Sounds like you did the hard way... when I get my ssd, I plan to use CCC or superduper.

What he did is pretty much the exact same thing as both of those programs. It's not really even harder either, and it's built into the OS.

VirtualRain

Jul 22, 2010, 02:31 AM

Everything you need to know is here...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829/1

More recent recommendations here...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3812/the-ssd-diaries-crucials-realssd-c300/9

I personally use and recommend Intel for their robust ability to maintain near peak performance even after heavy use and without Trim support (which OSX currently doesn't support) and for their outstanding random read/write performance which I value more than sequential speeds however the new Sandforce based drives are worth looking at.

flatfoot

Jul 22, 2010, 05:42 AM

My bad, meant to say whats in the users folder.

Is he using the OWC mount to put it in his MBP? I am considering doing something like this for my MBP, but would do a Seagate Momentus XT for boot drive and have the other as storage. I rather put the money towards an SSD in my Mac Pro when the new ones come out, if they ever do ;)

What's nice is I found one that includes a USB enclosure for the optical drive so it would still be useable. That would be the one I would get so I can just keep that in my bag and have it whenever I need it.

I think you mean the MCE OptiBay, which is also the one my pal's going to use.

ValSalva

Jul 22, 2010, 05:46 AM

I have a Crucial M225 256GB SSD. It's about a year old is still blazingly fast. I'm still debating whether to update its firmware (via CD). I'd hate to break something that isn't broken.

If I were starting out now I'd probably go for the OWC Mercury Pro SSD. The only decision would be which line, the one with more or less overprovisioning.

WardC

Jul 22, 2010, 12:06 PM

What I did was simple. I didn't even have to boot from the System DVD. I just installed my SSD, then booted up from my hard drive, went to Apple Disk Utility, and clicked the "Restore" tab. Then I selected to restore from "Macintosh HD" to "Macintosh SSD" and then clicked "Restore" and it copied all of my 12GB of system files from my HD to my SSD. Took about 15 minutes. Then I just selected the SSD in my System Prefs as boot disk and rebooted. No problems at all, it booted right off the SSD. I am wondering now if my RAID Array might actually give better performance than the SSD...the RAID array is REALLY fast. I have two Seagate 1TB 32MB Cache drives in a 2TB RAID 0 array. Well, I am going to stick with the SSD right now. Still thinking about that W3580 chip to give me the ULTIMATE system!

Here is a peek at my desktop now:

http://www.wardcurry.com/newdesktop.jpg

Roman23

Jul 22, 2010, 05:01 PM

Show off!! :)

I should really post my pic of my system..

I just installed my 120GB SSD in my system tonight...I went with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. So far, so good. After I installed the drive I went to Disk Utility and simply did a restore from my System HD to the SSD and it copied all the files over. I then selected my SSD as the boot disk and rebooted. Now I'm running all my system files and apps off the SSD.

What I did was simple. I didn't even have to boot from the System DVD. I just installed my SSD, then booted up from my hard drive, went to Apple Disk Utility, and clicked the "Restore" tab. Then I selected to restore from "Macintosh HD" to "Macintosh SSD" and then clicked "Restore" and it copied all of my 12GB of system files from my HD to my SSD. Took about 15 minutes. Then I just selected the SSD in my System Prefs as boot disk and rebooted. No problems at all, it booted right off the SSD. I am wondering now if my RAID Array might actually give better performance than the SSD...the RAID array is REALLY fast. I have two Seagate 1TB 32MB Cache drives in a 2TB RAID 0 array. Well, I am going to stick with the SSD right now. Still thinking about that W3580 chip to give me the ULTIMATE system!

Here is a peek at my desktop now:

http://www.wardcurry.com/newdesktop.jpg

Velin

Jul 23, 2010, 03:37 AM

These are all great tips and I appreciate the advice.

Couple questions:

I'm currently running a velociraptor as my boot drive, and I have around 30 gig on the drive (OS X and apps). I have two other large mechanical drives for storage, scratch, backup, and Bootcamp (running Windows 7).

First, I've got one open drive bay. Does it matter where you install the SSD? Would it be better to move the Vraptor to bay 4 and put the SSD in bay 1 if the SSD is going to be the boot drive? Or does it not matter with an SSD?

Second, can someone give me a recommendation on a really fast, reliable SSD drive that's between 60 gig and 120 gig -- and is as simple as plug in, format, and play with a 2008 Mac Pro?

I know plenty about mechanical drives, but nothing about SSDs. Ideally I'd like to purchase an SSD, slip it in, do the "restore" method to the SSD described above, and have it run flawlessly.

Sounds like this could really extend the life of the Mac Pro 2008, which is my favorite desktop computer by far, and I'd like to keep it running for years more if I can.

flatfoot

Jul 23, 2010, 03:45 AM

These are all great tips and I appreciate the advice.

Couple questions:

I'm currently running a velociraptor as my boot drive, and I have around 30 gig on the drive (OS X and apps). I have two other large mechanical drives for storage, scratch, backup, and Bootcamp (running Windows 7).

First, I've got one open drive bay. Does it matter where you install the SSD? Would it be better to move the Vraptor to bay 4 and put the SSD in bay 1 if the SSD is going to be the boot drive? Or does it not matter with an SSD?

Shouldn't matter; there is no priority or something like that between the SATA ports/bays. I think I'd still put the SSD in bay 1 or up in the optical cage – just for tidiness's sake. :)

Second, can someone give me a recommendation on a really fast, reliable SSD drive that's between 60 gig and 120 gig -- and is as simple as plug in, format, and play with a 2008 Mac Pro?

I know plenty about mechanical drives, but nothing about SSDs. Ideally I'd like to purchase an SSD, slip it in, do the "restore" method to the SSD described above, and have it run flawlessly.

Your Mac won't actually know it's dealing with an SSD instead of an HDD. They act the same – plug, format and play.

I'm about to buy an OCZ Vertx 2 60GB as a boot drive: The SandForce SF-1200 controller provides insane read/write speeds and has sort of an integrated garbage collection which should do until OS X supports TRIM.

Velin

Jul 23, 2010, 03:57 AM

I'm about to buy an OCZ Vertx 2 60GB as a boot drive: The SandForce SF-1200 controller provides insane read/write speeds and has sort of an integrated garbage collection which should do until OS X supports TRIM.

So you can buy this OCZ Vertx 2 drive, and it'll slip in to the drive bay, and you can format it using Utility and you're good to go? And I assume this SandForce controller comes with it, correct?

I really am ignorant on these things, I don't know what TRIM is or how SandForce fixes it. Is there some residual information left in the flash memory of the SSD that needs to be "swept out" for smooth operation?

Last question: what's a good price for this OCZ Vertx drive. I may order one tonight and jump on into this.

Hilmi Hamidi

Jul 23, 2010, 04:01 AM

Crucial make cheap SSDs with exceptional performance.

strausd

Jul 23, 2010, 04:11 AM

So you can buy this OCZ Vertx 2 drive, and it'll slip in to the drive bay, and you can format it using Utility and you're good to go? And I assume this SandForce controller comes with it, correct?

I really am ignorant on these things, I don't know what TRIM is or how SandForce fixes it. Is there some residual information left in the flash memory of the SSD that needs to be "swept out" for smooth operation?

Last question: what's a good price for this OCZ Vertx drive. I may order one tonight and jump on into this.

The OCZ Vertex 2 is good because it includes a 3.5" bay adapter, which you will need if you want to put it in one of the 4 HDD bays in your MP. OWC also has some SSDs which have the same controller as the Vertex 2, which make it just as good. Also, this controller is part of the SSD, not something separate. They may be a little cheaper too, I am pretty sure the 120GB is at least. This however does not come with a 3.5" bay adapter, but if you do not have a second optical drive, you can put it in there using the cables already there no problem. And since it will use those cables, you will not need a mount if it is up in the empty optical bay.

I have seen the OCZ Vertex 2 go for about $350 (not sure what they are now) and the OWC 120GB SSD (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SSDMX120/) is $320. So there is a $30 difference, but the OWC SSD does not come with a 3.5" adapter. However, you can get an OWC adapter or ICY Dock for under $20 for sure. In this case, the OWC SSD will be about $10-20 cheaper (the OWC SSD has free shipping in the US) and will give the same performance.

If you are willing to take the time to read this article (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738) from anandtech, it will explain how SSDs work, the TRIM command, and why they degrade over time. It is a great article and talks about a few different SSDs, however, newer ones have come out since the article. But the other info is definitely still current.

Whaditis

Jul 23, 2010, 08:36 AM

With the OCZ Colossus it's great because there is not need for a 3.5 adapter as it comes in regular hdd size. The price for a 120 gb is from 350 and up to 399.

Velin

Jul 23, 2010, 07:57 PM

This is a good thread for beginners to SSD drives. I often find the "pro" portions of this site to be the most helpful and informative. Whereas the iPad-iPhone forums are, um, not so good, frankly.

jetjaguar

Jul 23, 2010, 08:32 PM

im tempted to pick up a 120 or 160gb ssd and just raid my 4x1gb drives and place the ssd in the 2nd optical bay

strausd

Jul 23, 2010, 10:53 PM

im tempted to pick up a 120 or 160gb ssd and just raid my 4x1gb drives and place the ssd in the 2nd optical bay

Four 1gb drives? Dang, how old are those?!?

Killerbob

Jul 24, 2010, 03:35 AM

I just installed a 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300, and am now using it for my master drive (OS, Apps, and parts of Home). I reformatted my Raid0 array (2 x 750GB Samsung F1s) and is using it for my Vista images, some parts of Home, and BUs.

I now boot in seconds, and it all just seems snappier, and I can´t believe I waited... Great upgrade.

I know the RealSSD does not have some of the technical features the SandForce drives have, but it is faster, and when (if) I start seeing issues, I´m sure some smart person has figured out how to "refresh" the system disk, and the RealSSD has Garbage Collection on the chipset, which is entirely independent from OS and/or filesystem.

KB

MacFanUK

Jul 24, 2010, 03:53 AM

It really depends what you want to do with the drive. If it's just for OS/Apps, maybe consider the Crucial C300 as it has read speeds of up to 355MBs but it's write speeds are 75MBs.

Killerbob

Jul 24, 2010, 04:08 AM

It really depends what you want to do with the drive. If it's just for OS/Apps, maybe consider the Crucial C300 as it has read speeds of up to 355MBs but it's write speeds are 75MBs.

I don't know where you have these numbers from from? They are completely wrong. I just ran AJA, and:

Write (128MB) - 217.4MB/s
Write (256MB) - 216.6MB/s
Write (1GB) - 211.2MB/s

Using Xbench I find:

Sequential Uncached Write - 184.49MB/s (4K)
Sequential Uncached Write - 203.89MB/s (256K)
Random Uncached Write - 114.19MB/s (4K)
Random Uncached Write - 212.52MB/s (256K)

And, this was slow, as I am in the midst of downloading a massve BD at the same time, so the two apps did not run alone.

LB

jetjaguar

Jul 24, 2010, 09:58 AM

Four 1gb drives? Dang, how old are those?!?
oops 4 x 1tb

chad2323

Jul 24, 2010, 10:03 AM

Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2BD

Has anyone used these and are they any good? Buy Com has them for 200.00 after rebate figuring this will do for now. There's just so many SSD out there don't know which one to get.

Thank's

MacFanUK

Jul 24, 2010, 12:44 PM

I don't know where you have these numbers from from? They are completely wrong....

The speeds I quoted were for the 64GB C300 (as given by Crucial) but yes, the larger drives are much faster in write speeds.

macpro2000

Jul 25, 2010, 02:43 PM

The speed is awesome...just the capacities are so small at the moment.

Cave Man

Jul 25, 2010, 02:52 PM

The speed is awesome...just the capacities are so small at the moment.

Sheesh. My first Mac had an 80 MB hard drive in it. SCSI, too!

flatfoot

Jul 25, 2010, 02:57 PM

Sheesh. My first Mac had an 80 MB hard drive in it. SCSI, too!

Ha, mine had none! (Macintosh SE) :)

frimple

Jul 25, 2010, 03:20 PM

The speeds I quoted were for the 64GB C300 (as given by Crucial) but yes, the larger drives are much faster in write speeds.

Yes those are the quoted speeds and as AnnandTech shows here (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2944/9) it can at least achieve close to those numbers on synthetic sequential read tests.

Sadly for mac owners those speeds won't be possible until :apple: puts some SATA 6 ports in the machines... I'd guess it'll be 3 years from now judging on their blu-ray adoption timeline :rolleyes:

Altimeter88

Jul 25, 2010, 03:30 PM

I did a bunch of research before getting SSDs for my mac pro. For price and overall performance I went with an 80GB intel X-25m. There are better performers out there but the price was right and this is a consitant performing drive with a solid history of reliability which some of the better performing drives were lacking.

The biggest thing for me was access time and NOT sequential write speed. I know it comes in handy for large file transfers but I have several RAIDx0 and RAID 5 setups in my pro for doing that. What I wanted was the access time advantage when opening apps etc. which pretty much all SSDs excel at.

I do have a second 80GB SSD not being used right now and have been thinking about putting the Raidon Pro Drive PD2520 in my mac just to put the second drive to use.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Raidon/PD2520/

I know with two SSDs I will bottle neck at the controller, but again sequential read/writes are not my main priority, nice yes, but access time I see as the biggest advantage for what I do and the Pro Drive would essentially give me a single 160GB SSD that can operate at or close to the controller speed while saving space. Again I am only considering this because I had purchased a second SSD that I originally intended to use in another machine which didn't end up happening. A single 160GB X-25m would be cheaper than two 80GB drives plus the PD2520, although the two drive RAID setup would likely perform better than the single 160GB. If I end up getting the controller I will post info on the results.

frimple

Jul 25, 2010, 03:38 PM

I know with two SSDs I will bottle neck at the controller, but again sequential read/writes are not my main priority, nice yes, but access time I see as the biggest advantage for what I do.

Assuming that you're going to use soft RAID you should be well within the limit with 2 drives. I think the ICH10R chipset tops out around 600MB/s and the best you'll get out of those is 220-250MB/s reads. I did soft RAID for a while and it worked well, plenty fast depending on what you need it for.

flatfoot

Jul 26, 2010, 04:18 AM

Sadly for mac owners those speeds won't be possible until :apple: puts some SATA 6 ports in the machines... I'd guess it'll be 3 years from now judging on their blu-ray adoption timeline :rolleyes:

Didn't Steve just say there won't be official Blu-Ray support in OS X at all? He wants you to rent/buy online from iTunes.

tomllama

Jul 26, 2010, 04:47 PM

FWIW: When I got my MP4,1 recently I opted for the OCZ Agility 2 based on the Anandtech info at the time and have been very happy with it (it simply sits in the 2nd ODD bay). I tried to get a Colossus to work with the MP1,1 I replaced and it was not recognized by Disk Utility so it was returned. Others have also had issues trying to get a Colossus to work.

frimple

Jul 26, 2010, 08:33 PM

Didn't Steve just say there won't be official Blu-Ray support in OS X at all? He wants you to rent/buy online from iTunes.

I'm OK with upping my SATA 6 estimate to never :rolleyes:

Killerbob

Jul 27, 2010, 01:47 AM

The speed of my RealSSD is not only faster than my "old" Samsung F1 Raid0 array, it is FASTER FASTER. The RealSSD has the new interface, but though the MP of course does not, I cannot believe it matters right now.

On the bus I have the RealSSD (OS, and Appl.), I have a Raid0 array (Samsung F1s), with Data and Images, and I have the original WD HD in the last bay, which I use for BUs.

With that much storage, and a NAS for films, music, and pictures, I can only upgrade for speed, which is why I upgraded from the Raid0 to SSD.

New interface or not, my MP cannot get any faster for me. I am sure that artificial tests will be able to show an improvement if I upgraded to the 2009/2010 MP, if if I elected for 4 SSDs in Raid0, if I upgraded to 32GB RAM, or if I upgraded.......... But, a boot time of 10 seconds, instant start of Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere, and a decoding time of films plenty fast enough, I am happy:D

gpzjock

Jul 27, 2010, 05:24 AM

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SSDMX120/
Looks ok to me what is the catch?

bobbydaz

Jul 27, 2010, 05:33 AM

flatfoot

Jul 27, 2010, 05:36 AM

I'm also looking to upgrade to SSD for my boot drive but what are the options for those of us in the UK? The OWC drive looks great but not available over here unfortunately, is it worth risking shipping from the US?

As there are no moving parts in an SSD, I think it wouldn't be risky concerning shipping. Don't know about warranty though.

gpzjock

Jul 27, 2010, 05:47 AM

Compared prices for the Crucial RealSSD 128 gb:
Amazon UK £274
OWC USA $299 or £192 after conversion, even with 20% customs tax that is £45 cheaper.

Rip-off Britain strikes again, if I take the plunge into SSD it will be via the good ol' US of A and some import charges.....

Having dealt with OWC before under warranty their 3 year replacement is valid in Europe too but you will have to pay the carriage to return it.

Boomhowler

Jul 27, 2010, 06:21 AM

I'd say that this will be THE SSD-drive for a Mac Pro.. when it arrives ;D

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3788/oczs-revodrive-pcie-ssd-preview-an-affordable-pcie-ssd

Insanely nice

Sweetmate

Jul 27, 2010, 12:27 PM

I'm looking to get an SSD, to put in a 2008 MP. I can get the OCZ Vertex 2 E 60GB for £140 here in the UK. Its about as much as I want to spend right now, and it does well in the Anandtech Benchmark (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/SSD/65?i=128.137.152.149.151.138.140.139.131.126.125.133.127.141.130.155.135.150.132.129.136.153.148.134 .154) results (well the 100GB is listed there, I'm guessing the 60GB will perform similarly).

Firstly it come with a 2.5 - 3.5 adaptor. Will this mean I can put it in a MP sled?

And secondly my problem is that my current boot drive is a Raid 0 array of 2x500GB SATA drives, of which I've used 700GB. My User folder is most of that (573GB) and I am happy to keep that on the Raid Array instead of the SSD but my Applications, Library and System folders comes to 114GB. Most of that is the library folder at 84GB. Most of the library folder is Final Cut Studio files (DVD studio templates, motion templates) and iLife support files like audio and idvd). How would I go about (selectively) cloning what I need from my boot drive to the 60GB SSD without a) my user folder and b) all the /Library files that would put me way over the 60GB limit. Would I have to uninstall FCS, and iLife and reinstall them after I've set up the SSD and choose to install all those files to the array?

strausd

Jul 27, 2010, 04:24 PM

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SSDMX120/
Looks ok to me what is the catch?

That is a good SSD. I have heard a lot of good things about it and plan on getting one myself soon.

Baby Mac

Jul 29, 2010, 08:17 PM

I've got the OWC 120GB on order. I first heard of it at diglloyd (an over the top review, which made me a wee bit suspicious, and then I noticed all the OWC sponsored ads, another red flag). But OWC (aka macsales) has a good history at ResellerRatings. Some other reviews have identified OWC as a legitimate player in the SSD market.

Cave Man

Jul 29, 2010, 09:14 PM

I've been buying from OWC for years. They're top shelf.

strausd

Jul 29, 2010, 10:31 PM

I currently have a 120GB OWC SSD in my cart at OWC. Once I order my new MP I will order that too and put it in the empty optical bay. An article I read talks about the new Sandforce controller on the OCZ Vertex 2 and why it makes the SSD better than the Intel x25-m. OWC SSDs also use this same controller, which means their drives are also considered better than the intel x25-m.

Baby Mac

Jul 30, 2010, 12:19 AM

I currently have a 120GB OWC SSD in my cart at OWC.

Ha ha, I did the same thing. HDD and RAM in the OWC cart for a couple of days while they work on my mini with upgraded CPU. Thursday morning I put the OWC order in, knowing that the the mini is getting here on Monday from China, but OWC's order will still get her faster, on Saturday from IL.

mdb

Aug 2, 2010, 09:29 PM

Which SSDs are recommended?

I have had good luck with a 2 Intel SSD's (X25 80GB), both in a MacPro and in a MacMini.

I bought a 200GB OWC Mercury Extreme SSD in late Feb 2010. Worked great until one week ago, when it died, a victim apparently of the sleep bug problem.

OWC is unwilling to guarantee destruction of the data on your device if you return it for replacement. This is problematic for business users.

OCZ seems to have better after sale support, with an excellent web forum. We'll give them a try for the replacement of the OWC drive. Hopefully it will be more reliable than the OWC drive.

johnnymg

Aug 2, 2010, 10:15 PM

Another very happy Crucial C300 owner here.

I'll definitely be using that drive in the MP when I get one. :)

Killerbob

Aug 3, 2010, 12:34 AM

I have the C300 (250GB) in my MP, and have not seen any speed issues. I filled it up completely moving some IMG files around (to convert them to ISO files), and at one point I had less then 5GB left. I deleted the files, and I still get the same results in GeekBench.

I guess the Garbage Collection is working...

flatfoot

Aug 3, 2010, 01:00 AM

strausd

Aug 3, 2010, 01:10 AM

OWC SSDs have been proven to be the fastest drive out there thanks to the new Sandforce controller.

flatfoot

Aug 3, 2010, 01:29 AM

OWC SSDs have been proven to be the fastest drive out there thanks to the new Sandforce controller.

Other vendors using the SF-1200: Corsair, G.Skill, Mushkin, OCZ, Patriot, Super Talent...

strausd

Aug 3, 2010, 01:38 AM

Other vendors using the SF-1200: Corsair, G.Skill, Mushkin, OCZ, Patriot, Super Talent...

Doesn't OWC use the new Sandforce 1222? I'm not sure what other SSDs have made the upgrade.

flatfoot

Aug 3, 2010, 02:13 AM

Doesn't OWC use the new Sandforce 1222? I'm not sure what other SSDs have made the upgrade.

Hm, not so easy to tell... On many price-comparison sites it just says "SF-1200" when "SF-1200 series" (i. e. SF-1222) is meant.
I just ordered an OCZ Vertex 2 Extended yesterday and I think I'll be very satisfied with it. :)

EDIT: Just did a quick search: The OCZ Vertex 2 series uses the SF-1222.

Killerbob

Aug 3, 2010, 02:55 AM

Geekbench doesn't test HDD/SSD performance.

Correct. I meant XBench:rolleyes:

Killerbob

Aug 3, 2010, 03:13 AM

mctheriot

Aug 3, 2010, 11:01 PM

What benchmarking SW are you guys using to test your systems? I'm getting ready to add an SSD drive and would like to test before and after results. Is XBench the "standard"?

Thanks,
Mark

Cave Man

Aug 3, 2010, 11:39 PM

I use Intech Speedtools.

Killerbob

Aug 4, 2010, 12:58 AM

Another good one is AJA; http://aja.com/products/software/

xgman

Aug 4, 2010, 09:56 AM

I've ordered the new OCZ Vertex 2, 3.5" version of the 480GB drive that is just coming out.

johnnymg

Aug 4, 2010, 10:06 AM

I've ordered the new OCZ Vertex 2, 3.5" version of the 480GB drive that is just coming out.

Did you consider 2x256 in a RAID. Would likely be less expensive and faster than a single 480.

regards
JohnG

iRobertM

Aug 4, 2010, 10:27 AM

I've ordered the new OCZ Vertex 2, 3.5" version of the 480GB drive that is just coming out.

Thanks for posting this! I just canceled my intel x25-m 80GB order and picked up the 120GB version of this drive.

strausd

Aug 4, 2010, 02:49 PM

Thanks for posting this! I just canceled my intel x25-m 80GB order and picked up the 120GB version of this drive.

Good choice, the SF controller on the OCZ Vertex 2 makes it much faster than an Intel x25-m.

VirtualRain

Aug 5, 2010, 12:22 AM

Good choice, the SF controller on the OCZ Vertex 2 makes it much faster than an Intel x25-m.

The Vertex 2 is a good drive (and probably the best bang for the buck today), but the Intel is no slouch in random read performance where it matters most in an OS/Apps drive...

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/oczvertex2_042810130947/22700.png

strausd

Aug 5, 2010, 12:58 AM

The Vertex 2 is a good drive (and probably the best bang for the buck today), but the Intel is no slouch in random read performance where it matters most in an OS/Apps drive...

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/oczvertex2_042810130947/22700.png

The x25-m is better at that, but the Vertex 2 beats it in pretty much every other test.

Many more tests here (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2899/1).

Eastend

Aug 5, 2010, 07:51 AM

Living in DK the choice is "almost" made for you;

Crucial RealSSD, 256GB, Dkr. 4'800.00 (from Danish vendor)
OWC Mercury, 250GB, Dkr. 5'500.00 (from US vendor, incl. shipping, taxes and import fees)

Unfortunately there is no easy way to get OWC products in DK, except to import yourself, and that means lots cost.

KB They shipped me the 60 GB SSD and icy dock, it runs great in my Quad Mac Pro. I live in Japan the shipping was only about 30 bucks or so. However, the dollars a little weak now as compared to the yen, so it was like free shipping.

flatfoot

Aug 5, 2010, 08:28 AM

Just installed my OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 60GB.

Luis Ortega

Aug 5, 2010, 08:33 AM

I bought a 200GB OWC Mercury Extreme SSD in late Feb 2010. Worked great until one week ago, when it died, a victim apparently of the sleep bug problem.

What is the sleep bug problem?

xgman

Aug 5, 2010, 09:41 AM

Did you consider 2x256 in a RAID. Would likely be less expensive and faster than a single 480.

regards
JohnG

Don't have room for 2 SSD's. All slots will be otherwise occupied.

Sean Dempsey

Aug 5, 2010, 09:58 AM

What is the sleep bug problem?

When earwigs crawl into your ears while you sleep.

xgman

Aug 5, 2010, 02:36 PM

that is just way too disgusting, :eek:

jchoiny

Aug 10, 2010, 06:10 PM

Wow, what a thread has this turned into.....

Thank you all for all of your input, thoughts, etc.

As for me, I ended up ordering the new Mac Pro with 6 core and SSD in the first bay. 2TB for the other slots. Looking forward to it now...

strausd

Aug 10, 2010, 06:11 PM

jchoiny

Aug 11, 2010, 01:47 AM

Yup, ordered through Apple business dept at my local store. Also ordered the outgoing 30 inch ACD. Got a business discount.

strausd

Aug 11, 2010, 02:17 PM

Well since you got a discount thats not too bad. That would have been a beating if you ordered that for full price.

Killerbob

Aug 19, 2010, 04:15 PM

Just letting you all know;

I have now been using my Crucial RealSSD (250GB) for about a month, and have it filled up completely, deleted files off again, and used heavily for Video editing, and as a matter of fact have not seen ANY decline in performance. Funny enough, my AVA System test numbers are actually better than when I first ran them.

KB

davidp158

Aug 26, 2010, 01:34 PM

Can you describe the "sleep bug problem" a bit? First I've heard of it.

I have had good luck with a 2 Intel SSD's (X25 80GB), both in a MacPro and in a MacMini.

I bought a 200GB OWC Mercury Extreme SSD in late Feb 2010. Worked great until one week ago, when it died, a victim apparently of the sleep bug problem.

OWC is unwilling to guarantee destruction of the data on your device if you return it for replacement. This is problematic for business users.

OCZ seems to have better after sale support, with an excellent web forum. We'll give them a try for the replacement of the OWC drive. Hopefully it will be more reliable than the OWC drive.

deconstruct60

Aug 26, 2010, 03:50 PM

OWC is unwilling to guarantee destruction of the data on your device if you return it for replacement. This is problematic for business users.

Who does offer that kind of guarantee for flash drives? For hard drives a quick trip to powerful magnetic directly impacts the storage media ( even on non working drives). For a flash drive other that physically destroying the flash chips (putting the whole drive in a crusher? Or baking at melting temperatures ? )

Eastend

Aug 27, 2010, 08:57 AM

I have had good luck with a 2 Intel SSD's (X25 80GB), both in a MacPro and in a MacMini.

OWC is unwilling to guarantee destruction of the data on your device if you return it for replacement. This is problematic for business users.

OCZ seems to have better after sale support, with an excellent web forum. We'll give them a try for the replacement of the OWC drive. Hopefully it will be more reliable than the OWC drive.

I'll give you a guarantee that OCZ will not do this also. However, if you ever do find someplace that will give you a guarantee like you wish, please let me know, because I'd like one also.

Baby Mac

Aug 29, 2010, 01:30 AM

I get it. You shipped it to them in one piece for an exchange, and you would have liked to know that they took a hammer to it! :p

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 07:22 AM

Hi guys!

Does this look any good?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-OCZSSD2-1VTX60G-Vertex-2-5-Inch-Drive/dp/B001NPCTBE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1285244383&sr=8-1

I guess I'd have to add the adapter to 3.5 that it recommends too

philipma1957

Sep 23, 2010, 07:30 AM

the ssd is good if 60gb is big enough. I am not sure the adapter on the same page will work.

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 07:31 AM

60gb will be fine size wise

Do I need a specific adapter then? I just assumed that if it adapts it there's no problem?

Thanks for your help

philipma1957

Sep 23, 2010, 07:36 AM

that adapter allows side mount not bottom mount. mac pro trays bottom mount the drives. Icy dock mounts will work. I will look for a link for you.

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 07:38 AM

That would be superb thank you :)

philipma1957

Sep 23, 2010, 07:41 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994064&cm_re=icy_dock_2.5_3.5-_-17-994-064-_-Product

uk link below

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cremax-DOCK-MB882SP-1S-1B-inch-Converter/dp/B002B4HHZ4

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 07:51 AM

Thank you!

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 07:58 AM

Sorryl be a pain!

Would this work?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/256965-Vertex-0-1ms-1500G-OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G/dp/B00433IGWO/ref=sr_1_155?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1285246610&sr=1-155

Its a few quid more but presumably better?

It says raid in the title so must it be used in a raid configuration?

Thanks again!

bobbydaz

Sep 23, 2010, 08:35 AM

cheaper here...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-047-OC

This is the drive I'm looking at for my new SSD Boot.

johnnymg

Sep 23, 2010, 08:40 AM

philipma1957

Sep 23, 2010, 08:46 AM

some quick research shows the lower priced one to be slower http://www.ocztechnology.com/res/manuals/OCZ%20Vertex%20SSD%20Data%20Sheet_1.pdf

higher price will do faster work. http://www.ocztechnology.com/res/manuals/OCZ%20Vertex%202%20Data%20Sheet.pdf

both will work both will be fast one of them is 20 pounds less. It is your wallet. My self I would look at ocz forums to see if they are using them in mac pros

philipma1957

Sep 23, 2010, 08:51 AM

Anyone here use the OCZ vertex 2 SSD in their MP?

The 120GB looks reasonable. ???
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Vertex-Solid-OCZSSD2-1VTX120G/dp/B001NPCTBO/ref=sr_1_3?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285249123&sr=8-3

Would this bracket work with the bottom mount MP trays?
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-3-5-Inch-Adaptor-Bracket-OCZACSSDBRKT2/dp/B002I8MUU0/ref=pd_sim_e_2

the 120gb is the 1vtx model that is a bit slower. the 2vtx is faster.

the bracket hooks to the ssd via the bottom 4 screw holes and the uses the side holes to hook to the computer thus it does not work in a mac pro. the 4 screw holes on the bottom match a 2.5 inch drive not the mac pro sled 3.5 inch footprint..

johnnymg

Sep 23, 2010, 12:58 PM

the 120gb is the 1vtx model that is a bit slower. the 2vtx is faster.

the bracket hooks to the ssd via the bottom 4 screw holes and the uses the side holes to hook to the computer thus it does not work in a mac pro. the 4 screw holes on the bottom match a 2.5 inch drive not the mac pro sled 3.5 inch footprint..

Thanks for the heads up on the drive # and adapter.

The 2vtx is the same price as the OWC extremePro so it's not such a great deal after all.

cheers
JohnG

sparkie1984

Sep 23, 2010, 01:25 PM

Thanks for everyones help!

I ordered the vertex 2 in the end! Got the sled that was recommended too! I thought for £20 extra get the newer one!

sparkie1984

Sep 24, 2010, 01:17 PM

Well ssd and caddy are here!!!!!

Will be installing them tomorrow! Can't wait :)

SpookyLars

Sep 24, 2010, 02:44 PM

Well ssd and caddy are here!!!!!

Will be installing them tomorrow! Can't wait :)

Congrats. I can't wait to hear how it turns out.

sparkie1984

Sep 24, 2010, 02:50 PM

Thanks mate!

The icy box caddy fits perfectly into the pro and I've just updated the firmware! Will do Osx tomorrow now as it's 9pm an I'm knackered :(

It very slickly packaged too! Looks great!

Thanks for the help all those who did! Especially phillip :)

OracleRedux

Oct 3, 2010, 12:55 PM

I am currently torn between ordering the OWC 60 GB Mercury Extreme Pro from the US and the OCZ 60GB Vertex 2E from eBuyer here in the UK. The two are roughly the same price, when adjusting for import tax and shipping. I am currently looking at getting the OCW SSD since I am purchasing the OWC Multi-Mount kit to stick the SSD in the optical drive bay at the same time.

My question is; does anyone have any recommendations, for or against, based on experience or an article I have missed?

johnnymg

Oct 3, 2010, 09:30 PM

I'm currently leaning toward this 3.5" 120GB OCZ vertex 2 drive. Do any of you mac fans have this bad-boy yet? I especially like the fact that it's 3.5" so no rip-off drive adapter is needed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590

Edit: I ordered this SSD.

cheers
JohnG

fensterbme

Oct 3, 2010, 09:41 PM

strausd

Oct 3, 2010, 11:17 PM

OracleRedux

Oct 4, 2010, 03:13 AM

I went with the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE drives...

I think most of the Sandforce drives offer similar performance, and I almost went for the OCZ Vertex drives as they were a bit cheaper than the OWC.

What made me pay a bit more for the OWC drives was because they published how much over provisioning they do and that the RE series drives are really over provisioned (which is what I ended up choosing) and even more importantly they come with a Five Year Warranty, whereas the OCZ only comes with a 3 year warranty.

The similarity in performance metrics is something I have also noticed. However, obviously being in the UK, any in-warranty repairs / replacement, will be expensive, the only saving grace being that SSDs are relatively light and cheap to ship. Also, I can't really justify the increased premium for an RE edition, although I might suffer the consequences in the long run.

The one difference which I haven't seen discussed explicitly is OWC's mention, understandably as a Mac-centric seller, of so called "garbage collection" tech which attempts to overcome the shortcomings of OSX, specifically lack of TRIM support which seems set to be the de-facto standard for maintaining performance of SSDs over their lifetime.

fensterbme

Oct 4, 2010, 08:24 AM

The one difference which I haven't seen discussed explicitly is OWC's mention, understandably as a Mac-centric seller, of so called "garbage collection" tech which attempts to overcome the shortcomings of OSX, specifically lack of TRIM support which seems set to be the de-facto standard for maintaining performance of SSDs over their lifetime.

Well OWC knows they have a primary Mac user base, and I've noticed that in their marketing speak they call out features that Mac users will care about more than say a MS-Windows centric reseller. Specifically I don't think the OWC SSD's have any specific garbage collection features beyond what the SandForce controller already provides, and those features would help any OS that doesn't support TRIM not just OS-X (I could be wrong). But OWC calls these features out a bit more in the marketing than other SSD manufactures.

I do think OWC does a fantastic job implementing a SandForce based SSD and as I stated earlier the fact that they sell two product lines with different levels of over-provisioning is really great, I'm surprised other SSD companies don't do the same. But if I'm living over the pond and the OWC drive costs notably more than the OCZ drive I'd probably just buy the OCZ drive, unless you were wanting the more over-provisioned RE series drives as I think the OCZ and OWC drives are similar enough in performance and design.

Nigel10

Oct 4, 2010, 08:54 AM

I just put in a Corsair Force 120. It uses the Sandforce and has basically the same specs as the OWC and OCZ, plus it comes with a 3.5 adapter in the box. Bought it for $229 at Frys (with rebate).

xgman

Oct 4, 2010, 09:20 AM

I just received the ocz vertex 2 360gb drive today after a long wait. Seems the parts for the larger size drives are much more scarce and so there has been a long wait. I ordered this drive for a couple reasons. One is that it has the highest speed specs of any of the drives. The same as the vertex pro. (see below). Also it is the highest capacity drive outside the overly expensive "pro" line that you can still get these higher speeds. After 360gb the specs fall off for the next higher capacity 480gb version, especially the iops rating. Lastly the fact that it is already a 3.5" drives save the trouble of using an adapter. I knew the 360 would be a lot more expensive than the smaller sizes, but I didn't want to skimp on size for the future if I was going to spend any amount for a quality, fast ssd, and I didn't want to have to worry about running short on space in the future, or moving my home directory etc. So I decided to bite the bullet, go for it, and do it right the first time.

Vertex 2 3.5" drives 90-360GB Max Performance
Max Read: up to 285MB/s
Max Write: up to 275MB/s
Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s
Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 50,000 IOPS

90GB - OCZSSD3-2VTX90G
120GB - OCZSSD3-2VTX120G
180GB - OCZSSD3-2VTX180G
240GB - OCZSSD3-2VTX240G
360GB - OCZSSD3-2VTX360

johnnymg

Oct 4, 2010, 09:33 AM

I just received the ocz vertex 2 360gb drive today after a long wait.
snip................

Excellent. Please post some benchmarks after you get this badboy up and running.

cheers
JohnG

OracleRedux

Oct 6, 2010, 05:31 AM

Many thanks for all the replies.
The long and the short of my inability to make a decision is that I am drawn to OWC's excellent reputation for customer service. In addition, I plan to order their multi-mount regardless of which drive I choose - so the postage is a non-issue and even with import tax, VAT etc, the OCZ from ebuyer and the OWC end up being the same price.
Furthermore, I have seen reports of problems with the OCZ drives on Mac systems and the only reviews of the OWC drives I can find are so glowing that they are quite possibly slightly biased - on macperformanceguide.com for example. Also, the Vertex 2 is not available in the UK, only the Vertex 2 Extended edition, which would appear to be the inferior drive. Comparative performance metrics on sites such as Anandtech are unfortunately only done with slightly different versions of the respective drives, such as the 100GB Vertex 2, and the 50GB RE of the OWC Mercury Extreme.
I would be happy to pay a slight premium for either if they stood out from one another.

xgman

Oct 7, 2010, 03:25 PM

Excellent. Please post some benchmarks after you get this badboy up and running.

cheers
JohnG

Seems that the 360gb vertex 2 drives have some issues and there are problems with large file transfers, so I sent the 360 back and a 250GB ocz colossul SSD works perfectly albeit maybe just a hair slower on some specs than the vertex 2.

johnnymg

Oct 9, 2010, 04:02 PM

jkmad7

Dec 3, 2010, 07:59 AM

Greetings folks -

This is my first time posting here.

I'm upgrading to snow leopard server my late 2006/7? mac pro.
(I forget when I bought the system, but it's three years old and running....)

I believe the backplane is SATA v1, which is the 1.5Gb/sec.

So, two questions: has anyone upgraded this version successfully to an SSD (it appears so, having read the entire thread, but I wanted to be sure):

And is the speed increase really worth the cost (considering I can get a velociraptor 300gb 10,000 rpm drive for $100 from newegg)?

Thanks much!

Update - i went with the velociraptor. I did some more research around here and confirmed that the OCZ Vertex 3.5" would work fine, but I need more space, and can't afford $400 and above for a reasonable sized boot drive. I'll upgrade in a couple of years if need be.

Soop53

Dec 3, 2010, 06:10 PM

I just installed a new 120g OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD and Icydock for a boot drive. I also upped my stock 2g to 8g from OWC. Could be happier!!! I can't believe I waited this long to upgrade my beloved early 2008 Mac Pro.

bedifferent

Dec 3, 2010, 11:33 PM

Just installed the 3.5" version of the OCZ 2VTX120G. Currently offered with a rebate that puts the 120GB into the low $200's. Doesn't get much better for Oct 2010.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227590

This drive is VERY easy to install in the MP as it mounts right up to the standard drive sled.

I used super duper to clone the boot drive over to the SSD. Took a total of ~15 minutes from opening the package to booting from it. Took me almost as much time figuring out how to remove the sled as the rest of the install. :eek:

AJA reports 230 MB/sec for read/writes. :p

FWIW: the stock WD Black is very fast for a spinner. AJA reports 130 MB/sec read/write.

regards
JohnG

Got the exact SSD (except I opted for the 2.5" model as to place it behind my optical drives). I cannot believe the difference, not just in boot time but in applications and overall system performance. Newegg had a sale that ended on 11/28 that got me $20 off, so it was just under $200! The only issue is losing 880GBs on my main drive, so I've had to place all my personal documents, etc on one of my internal SATA HDD bays. Good thing that doing so doesn't impact performance (I've read, and experienced, that OS X write times on SSD aren't great).

I spent a lot of time researching and learned that OCZ supplies the best SSD's on the market today.

N00biePoster

Dec 29, 2010, 04:06 AM

Got the exact SSD (except I opted for the 2.5" model as to place it behind my optical drives). I cannot believe the difference, not just in boot time but in applications and overall system performance. Newegg had a sale that ended on 11/28 that got me $20 off, so it was just under $200! The only issue is losing 880GBs on my main drive, so I've had to place all my personal documents, etc on one of my internal SATA HDD bays. Good thing that doing so doesn't impact performance (I've read, and experienced, that OS X write times on SSD aren't great).

I spent a lot of time researching and learned that OCZ supplies the best SSD's on the market today.

Long time reader, first time poster - this is a great thread. Am looking for some help:

My OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 3.5" SSD 120 GB is in the post. I am running 2006 MP with 3 mechanical HD, the 4th bay is empty for the SSD. I run the OS X 10.5 from bay 1, and alternately backup to bay 2 and 3 (as well as time machine). How do I restore / copy the boot drive to the new SSD, without copying the User files? Do I move the User dir to the HD in bay 2, amend the boot volume to point to that dir, then remove the original User dir from the boot drive? Any guidance or links to walkthrus appreciated.

2006 dual core 2 x 3 GHz MP, 10GB RAM, 1.25TB mechanical [750GB/250GB/250GB/null], 120GB OCZ SSD, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, Apple Display

xgman

Dec 29, 2010, 01:37 PM

Long time reader, first time poster - this is a great thread. Am looking for some help:

My OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 3.5" SSD 120 GB is in the post. I am running 2006 MP with 3 mechanical HD, the 4th bay is empty for the SSD. I run the OS X 10.5 from bay 1, and alternately backup to bay 2 and 3 (as well as time machine). How do I restore / copy the boot drive to the new SSD, without copying the User files? Do I move the User dir to the HD in bay 2, amend the boot volume to point to that dir, then remove the original User dir from the boot drive? Any guidance or links to walkthrus appreciated.

2006 dual core 2 x 3 GHz MP, 10GB RAM, 1.25TB mechanical [750GB/250GB/250GB/null], 120GB OCZ SSD, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, Apple Display

If you move it first as you said then you should be fine. Otherwise if you have room, clone the whole thing and then move the user dir after. You could boot to a snow lep dvd and use disk utility to clone the drive to the ssd.

N00biePoster

Dec 30, 2010, 05:04 AM

If you move it first as you said then you should be fine. Otherwise if you have room, clone the whole thing and then move the user dir after. You could boot to a snow lep dvd and use disk utility to clone the drive to the ssd.

Thanks for the advice. /Users is too big to move onto the SSD, at about 200GB. nb am running 10.5.8 (Leopard). I'll erase HD2, copy /Users from HD1 to HD2, point the OS to the /Users dir on HD2, then clone HD1 to the SSD. Simples.

N00biePoster

Dec 30, 2010, 06:04 PM

If you move it first as you said then you should be fine. Otherwise if you have room, clone the whole thing and then move the user dir after. You could boot to a snow lep dvd and use disk utility to clone the drive to the ssd.

Works a treat. Thanks for the advice. I have one app that is not in a happy place - Sonos, a music server. I think it hard codes the path of my music files, and so is confused with the new empty /music dir. Will have a play around - any adivce on this greatly received.

xgman

Jan 3, 2011, 12:32 PM

Works a treat. Thanks for the advice. I have one app that is not in a happy place - Sonos, a music server. I think it hard codes the path of my music files, and so is confused with the new empty /music dir. Will have a play around - any adivce on this greatly received. You do see this occasionally with some "stubborn" (badly written) apps. Can you try reinstalling it to re-set the preferences? You have to fiddle with the app settings sometimes or worst case a complete uninstall and reinstall should do it.

gugy

Jan 3, 2011, 08:42 PM

does anybody know if I can put 2 SSDs on a 3.5" bay on the MacPro?
It seems that OWC have such a bracket for that but I am wondering if there is only one cable/slot to connect to a single drive.

Thanks

mjsmke

Jan 4, 2011, 04:16 AM

I recently received my 120GB OWC Mercury Extreme. Very impressed with the performance. I moved the home folder to another drive before cloning with CCC and had no problems.

Also no issues with sleeping. I only restart every 2 weeks or after an update so i just log out and sleep over night. Unless CCC is running (weekly).

ontheplains

Mar 2, 2011, 05:21 PM

Gonna bring this baby back from the grave.

This thread has been incredibly helpful so far, thank you guys so much for posting all this info. Now I have a question of my own.

I am interested in adding an SSD to my Mac Pro and have been for a while, but thought I'd read that it wouldn't work for some reason. How silly. My problem is that my home folder is currently ~1TB. If I were to move my Music (and therefore iTunes folder) to another HD in another bay, that'd free up a good 3/4 of that. Would it also be possible - and not detrimental - to do a similar move for my Pictures folder?

I would like to buy the 80-100GB Vertex 2 2.5" and use the Icy Dock, and I don't really have the money sitting around to go much higher right now. My Applications folder is currently just in my Boot Drive's folder and not my Home folder - if I were going to do what you guys are doing, I'm guessing I'd want to move it back to the Home folder. So if I'm calculating how much space I need on my SSD, which folders in my Home folder should I count as needing to go to the SSD and which can simply be put on another drive?

Thanks all!

philipma1957

Mar 2, 2011, 06:05 PM

You have waited this long and you have seen prices drop. WHy not wait just a bit longer put together a few more dollars and get a larger ssd.

Eastend

Mar 3, 2011, 03:12 AM

My Applications folder is currently just in my Boot Drive's folder and not my Home folder - if I were going to do what you guys are doing, I'm guessing I'd want to move it back to the Home folder. So if I'm calculating how much space I need on my SSD, which folders in my Home folder should I count as needing to go to the SSD and which can simply be put on another drive?

Thanks all!

Read this link, also explains how to do it. You'll save lot's of space. You can also move some folders with alias or just move your music to another disk and reset it in iTunes preferences. The below URL will show you how to move your entire home folder.

http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move...-os-x-and-why/

Cmd-the-World

Mar 3, 2011, 01:14 PM

Hi

I bought a Corsair Force F120 and I thought that the included bracket was enough to secure it to the drive bay (waiting for Mac Pro to arrive), but after reading this thread I realised I was mistaken.

I am planing to install Windows 7 on the SSD. My question is am I able to attach the SSD with it's adapter in the optical bay and boot from it. After the installation would I be able to remove the optical drive (as I need space for a small power supply) and use the optical drive in an external enclosure when the need arises? Example for reinstallations or maintenance? (by the looks of things Lion is going to be download only)

Thanks in advance