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Adding a HD to a Mac Pro (what do I get?)

B

braxton

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 25, 2008
9
0
I have an early 2008 mac pro with the 300 GB HD that came in it. I have a Lacie RAID for back ups, but I would like a second HD in my machine to store files I use regularly and free up space on my start up disk.

I have looked around and I am not sure what to get, I have looked around Apple's site but a lot of the drives seem to require early 2009. This is the HD I have.....

Intel ESB2 AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ESB2 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported


Another drive like this would be sufficient for what I need but I guess I just don't know where to look. Plus when I start looking at other sites I get a little confused (A.K.A. I an Technically challenged).

So any help in where to find a drive like this or a better alternative would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Since you're not looking to RAID the other drive then unless I'm mistaken any 3.5" SATA drive will work in one of the extra 3 drive bay's you have in the Mac Pro.

What is 'better' for you really depends on your needs, if it's simple data storage then a data transfer rate of 3 Gb/s and a 16MB buffer (which is pretty standard now) should be enough that you won't even notice drive speed.

As for brands, I find Seagate has served me well (I've got a 1TB Segate drive in my second bay), but I know a lot of people like Western Digital as well.
 
braxton said:
Intel ESB2 AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ESB2 AHCI
Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported
Click to expand...
Well, to start, that isn't the drive, it's the controller.

Pretty much any SATA drive you like will work just fine in your Mac. If you can give some indication of the type of work you do, and how much space you want, I'm sure some experts can point you in the right specific direction.
 
edesignuk said:
Well, to start, that isn't the drive, it's the controller.

Pretty much any SATA drive you like will work just fine in your Mac. If you can give some indication of the type of work you do, and how much space you want, I'm sure some experts can point you in the right specific direction.
Click to expand...

Well that is technically challenged part of me I guess. :D

I work at a photography studio doing color correction, retouching, printing etc.... I could get by with 750 GB but would probably get the 1tb since there doesn't seem to be a big price difference.
 
I have 2 x 750GB Samsung F1's in my 2008 Mac Pro (along with a couple of others). Nice and quiet, nice and fast.

The 1TB version is even faster.

Have a look around for the Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB (Model: HD103UJ).
 
I use WD Black's and WD Green's. You can get a fast 1TB WD Caviar Black for less than $150 USD.

I wouldn't recommend the Green drives since they tend be slower. They are great for storage or backups though.

If you are in the US you can get a WD Black at Best Buy for $149.99 USD. Here is the link.
 
Cynicalone said:
I use WD Black's and WD Green's. You can get a fast 1TB WD Caviar Black for less than $150 USD.

I wouldn't recommend the Green drives since they tend be slower. They are great for storage or backups though.

If you are in the US you can get a WD Black at Best Buy for $149.99 USD. Here is the link.
Click to expand...
I just picked up a few off newegg for $99.99 and free shipping. ;)

Hmm... $50? I'll keep it. :p
 
That Western Digital deal is tempting me. I am leaning towards it, may sleep on it though. ;)

Thanks for everyones help! I really appreciate it.

Do I just plug in the drive format it and go? I have replaced drives but never added a second internal one before.
 
You can do a lot of research if you want, or you can believe me when I say that you probably won't go wrong with the WD Caviar Black. I did a bunch of research. There doesn't seem to be a consensus, but (as far as I could figure out) the Caviar Black seemed to get recommended more often than most drives and seemed to score as well or better than most drives in reviews.

I bought two of them from NewEgg and they're living up to the billing.
 
mchalebk, that seems to be what I am finding also. I think somebody has had some problem with every drive. So I am pretty sure I am gonna give the WD a shot.
 
braxton said:
mchalebk, that seems to be what I am finding also. I think somebody has had some problem with every drive. So I am pretty sure I am gonna give the WD a shot.
Click to expand...
I don't think you'll be dissapointed. ;)

Even with the first set of tests that gave me the wrong impression of one out of three, I still wasn't jaded on these drives. Fortunately, subsequent testing has dispelled any issues at all. :D I've got 12 WD's in three flavors, and all seem to be doing quite fine.

All three of the Caviar Blacks are fast enough, and haven't shown any bad sectors or SMART errors, whether connected to the board or a RAID card. :)
 
The WD 2TB green drive is as fast as the WD 1TB Black drive and is nice and big. :D Great for photos!

The Samsung 1.5 TB (HD154UI) is also about the same speed as the WD 1TB Black drive, about the same price and of course 1.5 times larger. It's also a "green" drive so in about a year you'll save $50 or $60 bucks! :D

As for price shopping just use google like:

http://www.google.com/products?q=HD154UI&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&scoring=p Samsung 1.5TB

or

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=WD+Green&hl=en&cid=13525827378907671917&sa=title#ps-sellers WD 2TB HDD.

etc.
 
Tesselator said:
The WD 2TB green drive is as fast as the WD 1TB Black drive and is nice and big. :D Great for photos!

The Samsung 1.5 TB (HD154UI) is also about the same speed as the WD 1TB Black drive, about the same price and of course 1.5 times larger. It's also a "green" drive so in about a year you'll save $50 or $60 bucks! :D

As for price shopping just use google like:

http://www.google.com/products?q=HD154UI&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&scoring=p Samsung 1.5TB

or

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=WD+Green&hl=en&cid=13525827378907671917&sa=title#ps-sellers WD 2TB HDD.

etc.
Click to expand...
Great... Now the Samsung HD154UJ shows up for something more reasonable. :p Certainly better than the $225 from just a few days ago. :eek: :D

The WD20EADS is still a tad more expensive, but not bad if the capacity is needed in a single drive for space considerations. ;) It wasn't an issue for me, so I skipped it. :p Saved my self $30. ;) But was $50 more just two days ago (newegg). :eek:

ARGH... Why does this always happen? :D :p
 
7200.11 or the newer 7200.12

i love my 7200.11's and plan on more when the currents are full!
 
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