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Adding an SSD disk in the free superdrive bay

C

CC88

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 29, 2010
489
118
Hi there.

I own a MacPro 1.1 with a boot SSD disk and 3 striping 7200rpm raid.

So all the four bay drive are off.

Is there any chance to install another SSD disk in the free superdrive slot?

How to do that? Any guide?

Regards.
 
Mac Pro 1,1 uses PATA SuperDrives so adding an SSD there isn't that wise as PATA has maximum bandwidth of 133MB/s while most SSDs have +250MB/s. You could kill your RAID 0 and put one of the HDs in the SuperDrive bay and then put SSD in empty HD bay as an HD won't take that big performance hit from the PATA interface (you will need an adapter though).

Someone else should be able to show you what peripherals you need etc
 
two extra SATA ports on the MB easy to jump off and then use those ?
just run Y adapters for the power in the optical bay ?

I liked that setup actually cause you could have two optical and 6 SATA ?
 
spinnerlys said:
Crap, forgot about the PATA. Maybe there is something like an S-ATA splitter?
Click to expand...

Nah, SATA can't be split as each device gets its own channel. There are port multipliers but OP is better off with a PCIe SATA card (better compatibility and much faster).

IMO the best option is to buy an eSATA PCIe card and 2.5" eSATA enclosure and use the SSD externally or break the RAID and use one of the HDs externally (even FW800 is fine)
 
What if you have both optical drives full (two optical disk drives) and all four drive bays full (Three 1TB HDs and one SSD) what are you options for installing additional internal drives?
 
WardC said:
What if you have both optical drives full (two optical disk drives) and all four drive bays full (Three 1TB HDs and one SSD) what are you options for installing additional internal drives?
Click to expand...

You can add 4 additional 2.5" drives in the PCIe section with a custom drive sled.
 
I've just done this!

I just installed my SSD in the optical drive bay, behind the bottom optical drive, I ran a SATA cable up from the additional ports on the motherboard, I needed to install a Blu-Ray drive, so running the SATA cables up made sense, then just got a power adapter... easy as pie..
 
Hellhammer said:
Nah, SATA can't be split as each device gets its own channel. There are port multipliers but OP is better off with a PCIe SATA card (better compatibility and much faster).

IMO the best option is to buy an eSATA PCIe card and 2.5" eSATA enclosure and use the SSD externally or break the RAID and use one of the HDs externally (even FW800 is fine)
Click to expand...

There are 2 unused SATA ports in the 1,1. Why not use those?
 
Does the 2010 macpro also have limited bandwith in the lower optical bay like the 1.1? I installed my ssd there on mine, should I move it to one of the other bays?
 
Where are the extra SATA ports physically located in the 1.1?

What "power-adaptor" is required to run an SSD in the Optical bay?

Will a straight sata-sata cable work, or does it need a right-angled one or something weird?
 
troutweed said:
Where are the extra SATA ports physically located in the 1.1?

What "power-adaptor" is required to run an SSD in the Optical bay?

Will a straight sata-sata cable work, or does it need a right-angled one or something weird?
Click to expand...


The ports are located behind the PCIe fan cover.

Take a look at tear down manuals for your Mac Pro and watch videos which explain how to disassemble it. OWC has a video online: Click

For powering the SSD, you'd need a Molex to SATA adapter. As you can see, they come in different forms, pick the one which suits you the best.

The cable doesn't have to be angled, a straight one is ok.
 
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