Mac Pro (1,1) SSD Upgrade Advice

[Aaron Burr]

Hey gang,

I just picked up a first-gen Mac Pro for $250, and I want to turn this into a media server / mid-range gaming PC. Current configuration is:

"Quad" 2.66
5GB RAM
GeForce 7300
250GB Hard Drive

I have already ordered a PC Sapphire 6870 Reference card ($150 - don't care about boot screen or DVD player) and the power cables, so this brings my total cost to still under 500 dollars. I really don't want to invest a ton in this guy, so I ask for advice on how to handle my storage issue.

250GB is simply not enough. My goal is to eventually get three, 2TB drives and a solid state drive. My original "budget" for this system was $500. After seeing some videos of SSD performance, I've had to rethink that.

So now, I'm looking at getting a 64GB Crucial M4 ($115) (I know my MP only has SATA II) and a 2TB Seagate 5900 RPM drive ($70) for storage, putting me at about $100 overbudget (which I am OK with).

Does anyone out there have a similar set up? Would I be better getting a higher performing platter drive than the slower one? Are there any better deals I can get on an SSD? I really only need enough to load Mac OS and Win 7, so I may even be able to go with a 32GB SSD.

I appreciate any advice you guys can give me.

 

[derbothaus]

I appreciate any advice you guys can give me.

Get at least a 64GB-120GB SSD drive as you want some breathing room and in case you want to get Logic installed or something similar. You already said you need 2 modern OS's on there, think of all the patches ballooning that number. Who knows how big software will be in 2+ years.
I'd also suggest getting a 7200RPM drive as it will be interacting with that SSD so directly. I actually use a 10,000RPM drive to minimize Home library file loading even more. But I am not sold if it makes much difference to a standard 7200RPM, I just had it hanging around so, "Why not!".
7200RPM latency is quite a bit better and the cost is pretty identical. Get the slower 5400RPM later for just bulk storage if you need more space.
I'd go to newegg and see what HDD's are available for "open box". I would not skimp on the SSD. I'd skimp on the HDD as they are, by comparison, dirt cheap.

 

[Aaron Burr]

Thanks! I'm going with the 64GB Crucial M4 for sure and am going to look at the open box / OEM drives to see what works best.