Mac Pro 2010 SSD upgrade, what all should I look for?

[chrono1081]

Hi guys,

I haven't kept up with hardware specs in years and want to upgrade my Mac Pro 2010 to an SSD. I'm not well versed in SSD technology and am looking for recommendations.

I've also read that I will apparently need an adapter to adapt the SSD to the drive sled that goes into the tower.

I know OWC sells a kit but I've heard many bad stories about their SSDs and also saw that they don't support the new Mac OS file system.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

[GregoryN]

I use the OWC drive sled with a Samsung 1TB 850 series drive. Works perfectly and is plenty fast. Note that the bus is "only" 3G bits/sec so you are not using the full bandwidth of the drive itself.

 

[Nunyabinez]

Hi guys,

I haven't kept up with hardware specs in years and want to upgrade my Mac Pro 2010 to an SSD. I'm not well versed in SSD technology and am looking for recommendations.

I've also read that I will apparently need an adapter to adapt the SSD to the drive sled that goes into the tower.

I know OWC sells a kit but I've heard many bad stories about their SSDs and also saw that they don't support the new Mac OS file system.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

I use this one and it works fine.
https://www.amazon.com/NewerTech-Ad...12493320&sr=8-47&keywords=ssd+mac+pro+bracket

However, as GregoryN said, if you want the full speed of the SSD you need something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Express-Adap...12493596&sr=8-17&keywords=ssd+to+pcie+adapter

That assumes you have a free PCIE slot, but it will give you 6Gb/s.

I've used several different SSDs. My recommendation would be the Samsung 850. They are fast, compatible and pretty cheap right now. You can get a 500GB at Amazon for $139.

 

[LorenK]

I agree with the use of a pciE card for use with an SSD. It is the easiest install and with the right card you can add a second SSD. I have a 256 Samsung Pro and a 512 Samsung EVO and my computer boots in fraction of the time compared to spin drive.

 

[kohlson]

As a general statement, nearly any SSD into your Mac Pro will be a delightful improvement. For a few years I just duct-taped a Corsair 256GB underneath the top optical bay, using the available SATA connector. Boot times for an 8GB system went from about 100+ seconds or so to 35. Apps seem to open faster.

There has been much discussion about whether a Sata3 drive is not fully utilized on a Sata2 bus. For booting and app opening, the answer is "not much, if at all."

Other tasks may be able to take advantage of Sata3, but more advanced interfaces. If you have a free PCIe slot, as mentioned above, you can get adapters for 2.5-in drives. More advanced adapters can mount multiple drives (such as m.2 and NVMe) for even more I/O performance.