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I ALREADY need more hard drive and RAM for my Mac Pro.

D

dupedd

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 20, 2007
46
0
I'm using up ALOT of hard drive very fast with my Logic recordings. I'm thinking of maybe getting the maximum 750GB Drive but I'm not sure.

I'll also probably need to get RAM. It 'freezes up', crashes(?) with my 3GB of RAM fairly often. I'm thinking of springing for 2x2GB sticks for a total of 7GB RAM but not sure I need all that either.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which and where to buy..?
 
Don't go to Crucial, there having a laugh

Go through the Kington site to one of there reseller and purchase it through them.

They are selling 2GB kit for £25 cheaper than Crucial.
 
Create a new account and see if you still have crashes when logged into that account. That will determine if you have a hardware or preference issue.
 
well it only crashes when I'm playing back and automating large Logic Express files(songs).
How would I create a new account anyway? I'm not sure what you mean.
 
dupedd said:
well it only crashes when I'm playing back and automating large Logic Express files(songs).
How would I create a new account anyway? I'm not sure what you mean.
Click to expand...

Go into system preferences --> accounts and click on the lock, then the plus sign, to create a new user account for your computer. This allows you to login as a "different person" and see if something in your personal prefs/setup is causing the problem.
 
You can buy both cheaper at OWC (Macsales.com). If you go through the specials page or through Accelerate Your Mac it's even cheaper. Newegg and Outpost also have drives on sale. You might want to try everything with the new RAM only and see if you still get crashes. Maybe there's a problem with one of your old RAM sticks.
 
I'm a little confused, which type HD do I want? Do I want a 3.5" serial ATA?

Is there any particular brand I should go with, Seagate, Maxtor, etc..?
How about, is there any reason to get a smaller HD? Should I just buy the most GB that I can afford?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/7L300S0/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/7H500F0/

For instance, it's proportionately cheaper to buy this 300GB Maxtor maxline III 7200RPM enterprise SATA-1 than this 500GB Maxtor maxline pro enterprise 7200RPM Sata I/II....I don't really know what all the other stuff means. I just know one is cheaper proportionately. If I'm using this for my Logic Recordings, do I want something more specific? Any help would great! Thanks


Edd
 
7200rpm, SATA-II, 3.5" should be fine.

Don't go for anything that spins slower, or SATA-I, as it won't be the same spec as your current drives.

Out of the two linked, I'd say go for the 500Gb (it's still not exactly expensive), even if I do personally prefer Seagate drives.
 
Would a certain type be better for running big Logic recording projects? Does it work like that? Which would you get?
 
You are running a media drive correct?

I have 2X150 as a system drive and 2X500 as a media drive. Lots of storage.

I am running with 4G of RAM and am not close to maxing out, and I am not very easy on the system when it come to plug ins.

If you do need more RAM, try macsales.com
 
pull it off.

step6_300.gif
 
stainlessliquid said:
pull it off.
Click to expand...

That's for Parallel IDE ATA. SATA doesn't have jumpers. There are some SATA drives on Newegg for around $100 with 16MB cache for 500GB drives. 750 for about $200, 1TB for about $300. OWC and Outpost usually have them for around the same price. I usually buy whatever's cheapest. Haven't had any issues with any of the brands I've used, and I've used them all.
 
to the OP, could you post your set up please? what HD do you already have, do you have more than 1 HD already?

thanks
 
The link below looks like a sweet deal and I guess the deal might go quick. I'd like to jump on it but I wanted to check here to see if this is indeed what I'd like for my Mac Pro.

to the OP, could you post your set up please? what HD do you already have, do you have more than 1 HD already?thanks -Willis
Click to expand...
I have a stock 4-core with stock 250GB drive and 1x1GB RAMw/ an additional 2x1GB of RAM. I've never used another hard drive, nor have I ever installed one in my life but I'm hoping to do this.

You are running a media drive correct? -synth3tik
Click to expand...
I only have the one. I am basically a novice to all of this and I'm not even sure what you mean by that question. Should I be running one drive for storage of the bulk of my work or something(EX: Storing all Logic recordings on 1 drive?)

My last concern has to do with voiding any recourse I might have with getting my Mac repaired after installing a new hard drive. I have not bought Mac Care yet but I intend to before my year to do so is up. Can anyone tell me or direct me to the rules on this? I'll start looking it up but I wanted to get all of this up so I could make a quick decision and jump on the NEWEGG deal below...Thanks for reading!

At Newegg for $120:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

* 500GB
* 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
* SATA 3.0Gb/s

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

***************OWC has the same thing(?I think) for $150
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

***There's this Wester Digital Caviar at OWC for $115
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD5000AAKS/

This Western Digital Caviar at Newgg is same but with an 8MB cache for $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136178
 
How fast are you actually filling up your existing HD? I would tell you to spring for a 1TiB drive (maybe 2 drives in a RAID 1 config). I would also probably recommend 8GiB of RAM as well (RAM is cheap, so why not).


That should be sufficient. The HD is probably more important, due to you not wanting to consistantly have to go out and buy disks. But that really does depend on how fast you are filling up your existing drive. Using RAID 1 will also help mitigate the fear of drive failure (well for one drive at least).

Of course this is all IMHO.
 
First, get some descent drives, try to get the new series of Seagate 7200.11 drives, Enterprise class Drives (ES). They are way more reliable for professional use.
DONT DO RAIDS, you dont need them, is just snob. Is far more risky, because if one drive fails you loose everything. They are not for professional use, unless they are Hardware based RAIDS with failure proof (RAID 1, RAID 5, etc...)

So, keep the 250 for boot, get 2 x 500GB Seagate 7200.11 ES from newegg.

A very good ram choice is www.transintl.com they are recommended by Barefeats thats a seriuos professional benchmarking site.
The ram is also very cheap. Get 4gb (2x2gb).
So for around 350USD you upgrade to a nice setup, with 7GB of ram and 1250GB of HD.
Dont get bigger drives than 500GB, they are to expensive now (the ES series is more expensive).
Good luck
 
dollystereo said:
First, get some descent drives, try to get the new series of Seagate 7200.11 drives, Enterprise class Drives (ES). They are way more reliable for professional use.
DONT DO RAIDS, you dont need them, is just snob. Is far more risky, because if one drive fails you loose everything. They are not for professional use, unless they are Hardware based RAIDS with failure proof (RAID 1, RAID 5, etc...)

So, keep the 250 for boot, get 2 x 500GB Seagate 7200.11 ES from newegg.

A very good ram choice is www.transintl.com they are recommended by Barefeats thats a seriuos professional benchmarking site.
The ram is also very cheap. Get 4gb (2x2gb).
So for around 350USD you upgrade to a nice setup, with 7GB of ram and 1250GB of HD.
Dont get bigger drives than 500GB, they are to expensive now (the ES series is more expensive).
Good luck
Click to expand...
The Mac Pro supports RAID 1 (mirroring) which means that if you lose one drive your data is still intact. It is just has slower writes than striping. It isn't any more of a pro level drive use than owning a MacPro in the first place.

But I will say do not use RAID 0. I honestly wish it was never a RAID option on user level systems. If a drive dies in a RAID 0 config you are screwed (well without backups).

I am not sure on the recommendation of 500 GiB over the TiB drives. It really depends on how fast the OP fills up their drives. If they fill them up fast then having to manage where their data is going (across 2 or more drives) can become quite frustrating. But I do agree with the use of the Seagate ES line. They rock.
 
Think Carefully Before Buying Western Digital

I've recently vowed to avoid Western Digital drives because of their Digital Rights technology that they've started putting into their drives that restricts users from sharing certain files.

I'd never reward that sort of thing with my business.
 
diamond.g said:
The Mac Pro supports RAID 1 (mirroring) which means that if you lose one drive your data is still intact. It is just has slower writes than striping. It isn't any more of a pro level drive use than owning a MacPro in the first place.

But I will say do not use RAID 0. I honestly wish it was never a RAID option on user level systems. If a drive dies in a RAID 0 config you are screwed (well without backups).

I am not sure on the recommendation of 500 GiB over the TiB drives. It really depends on how fast the OP fills up their drives. If they fill them up fast then having to manage where their data is going (across 2 or more drives) can become quite frustrating. But I do agree with the use of the Seagate ES line. They rock.
Click to expand...
Yea, I was talking about Raid 0, like having 2 boot raid drives and 2 drives for a big Raid 0 for performance, that generally is not necessary.
If you work with Hi Def not compressed video (then you have a Raid professional base solution, Caldigit, Firmtek, Sonnet, Xraid), in any other situation the normal speed of one drive is more than enough.
I said 500GB drives, because they are cheaper, and for $/Gb they are the best.
Good luck.
 
solvs said:
That's for Parallel IDE ATA. SATA doesn't have jumpers. There are some SATA drives on Newegg for around $100 with 16MB cache for 500GB drives. 750 for about $200, 1TB for about $300. OWC and Outpost usually have them for around the same price. I usually buy whatever's cheapest. Haven't had any issues with any of the brands I've used, and I've used them all.
Click to expand...

That's not true. I bought a 750 Seagate drive and found it had the jumper and I pulled it off. Speed is much better now.
 
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