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New MPs shipping with slow HDs?

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big dainjerus

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 9, 2007
168
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I read on macworld or another site that the new mac pros are shipping with slow stock drives, is this true? If it is, would upgrading to the 500 GB HD be better? What ways are there around this?

I also read a post somewhere that said this, "nope, though i wish i did. The Harpertown is the new 45nm. I got the Clovertown 65nm Xeon 5355's. Also of note, the general public never gets what is shipped in the mac pros until months (read: 6+mos) later."

Any truth to that too or is he just mad he doesn't have a new one?

Thanks for the help...
 
I don't know what would be classified as "slow", but the new macpro's stock HD is 320GB and the speed of it is 7200PRM, which is the standard speed for a desktop computer harddrive. Anything faster, you'd be buying a Raptor or something like that.

So, no, I don't think that the new MacPros are shipping with slower harddrives. Since I have one myself.
 
The stock HD in the all the Mac Pros have never been that fast. I would always recommend putting in your own drive for the OS.

As for Apple not actually shipping Harpertown MP's, that is definitely not true.


edit: I would suggest the 500GB Samsung Spinpoint. Quick, reliable, and very quiet.
 
It's true that the stock drives have an 8mb cache instead of 16. I'm replacing mine with a 500 Gig Western Digital w/16mb cache. Hurry up NewEgg, dammit!

When SuperDuper gets updated to fully support Leopard, I'll be switching the stocker out. I had to get to work on some projects, so I'm using the 320 now.

I don't know where your friend got that Apple ships different chips to the general public for six months, but he's entirely wrong.

The new Mac Pros are rocking Harpertown.

:)
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I've been a mac guy and in a mac family since I can remember, but have never had to think long and hard about what to get since I usually got an imac or powerbook etc. But now that I have to make my own purchase I am trying to learn as much as I can, and around here it is hard to keep up with the technical jargon, even as I google terms that I am not sure of.

Are there any drawbacks to say a raptor that goes above the standard 7200RPM, such as heat or crashing? What benefits would having a faster HD give you? Are internal hard drives from someone else more likely to crash than the stock ones from apple or is it just a crapshoot either way?
 
Avg. access time is a better measure of drive performance than cache size or spindle speed. faster spindle and larger cache are desirable but not at the expense of access time.
 
big dainjerus said:
Thanks for the replies guys, I've been a mac guy and in a mac family since I can remember, but have never had to think long and hard about what to get since I usually got an imac or powerbook etc. But now that I have to make my own purchase I am trying to learn as much as I can, and around here it is hard to keep up with the technical jargon, even as I google terms that I am not sure of.

Are there any drawbacks to say a raptor that goes above the standard 7200RPM, such as heat or crashing? What benefits would having a faster HD give you? Are internal hard drives from someone else more likely to crash than the stock ones from apple or is it just a crapshoot either way?
Click to expand...

Apple uses whatever drives they can get for the cheapest. They aren't any different than the ones you get from NewEgg or wherever else they sell drives. They aren't any more prone to failure.

I've never used 10,000 RPM drives, but people who have say they are great if you don't mind the extra noise.
 
Mike Teezie said:
Apple uses whatever drives they can get for the cheapest. They aren't any different than the ones you get from NewEgg or wherever else they sell drives. They aren't any more prone to failure.

I've never used 10,000 RPM drives, but people who have say they are great if you don't mind the extra noise.
Click to expand...

I am assuming this means that apple does the same with their RAM? Or is that a different story because of the heatsinks etc?
 
Mike Teezie said:
Apple uses whatever drives they can get for the cheapest. They aren't any different than the ones you get from NewEgg or wherever else they sell drives. They aren't any more prone to failure.

I've never used 10,000 RPM drives, but people who have say they are great if you don't mind the extra noise.
Click to expand...

Cheapest is a gross over simplification, more accurate to say they award contracts based on best unit price based on desired specifications.
 
Seagates are usually good. If you go seagate, make sure you get the new .11 model.

I've used both WD and Seagate, but have been hearing a lot of good things about Samsung drives lately (very very quiet drives). Those are definitely my top 3 companies for buying HDs right now.
 
Mike Teezie said:
Apple uses whatever drives they can get for the cheapest. They aren't any different than the ones you get from NewEgg or wherever else they sell drives. They aren't any more prone to failure.

I've never used 10,000 RPM drives, but people who have say they are great if you don't mind the extra noise.
Click to expand...

I had a WD Raptor 10,000 in my G5 tower and there was no extra noise. It was a nice drive, but I didn't see an improvement to justify the cost.

The new MacPro has the option of installing 15,000rpm SAS drives, which—while pricey of course—should be pretty hardcore.
 
Samsung F1 drives are currently your best bet for the fastest SATA drive.
The WD Raptor still has the best access time profile but speed, capacity, temps and noise level all are a staple of the F1. I got the tera drive currently in my PC and can´t wait to transplant it to my fancy new octo MP that is due next week.
 
Mike Teezie said:
Indeed. Cheapest isn't really a fair word.
Click to expand...

Cheapest is a perfectly crommulent word, though with inaccurate connotations. ( tongue deep in cheek )

English is a varied and colorful language, it is a shame that lack of vocabulary can be cited as a leading reason for lack of nuance ( brevity not withstanding ).
 
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