Swapping out 320GB drive from new Mac Pro

[cerbx1]

The standard drive shipped with a new Mac Pro is 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache. I can't afford a raid card and the 300GB Serial Attached SCSI 3Gb/s; 15,000 rpm; 16MB cache drive.<p>

Would a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive be a better alternative than the standard drive? And if so how much?

Thanks

 

[kittiyut]

The standard drive shipped with a new Mac Pro is 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache. I can't afford a raid card and the 300GB Serial Attached SCSI 3Gb/s; 15,000 rpm; 16MB cache drive.<p>

Would a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive be a better alternative than the standard drive? And if so how much?

Thanks

The standard drive is a seagate 7200.10 so at least you get more cache and some other advantages that the newer ".11" offers.

 

[UK2TX2CA]

Hi kittiyut,

The as-shipped HD in my MP which arrived 2 days ago was a 320GB Western Digital WD3200AAJS aka WD Caviar® SE drive.

 

[kittiyut]

Hi kittiyut,

The as-shipped HD in my MP which arrived 2 days ago was a 320GB Western Digital WD3200AAJS aka WD Caviar® SE drive.

I guess Apple just buys whatever drives they can get for the cheapest price. However, I think I would prefer yours over the "old" 7200.10 though.

 

[ASFx]

As soon as I got my new mac pro 2 weeks ago, I moved my 320GB drive to slot 2, then put a 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA Raptor the I pulled out of my PC into slot 1 and reinstalled Leopard. I now use the 320GB drive for time machine.

 

[bigbossbmb]

FYI you don't need to physically move the hard drive from slot one when you get the machine

It really doesn't matter, just stick the new drive in slot 2 and format.

 

[arcsbite]

I was told by the apple genius when my pro went in was that having it any slot other than 1 will slow down the boot in.

 

[kittiyut]

I was told by the apple genius when my pro went in was that having it any slot other than 1 will slow down the boot in.

Did he give you a logical explanation or he just said so? I would agree if he said that the system looks for a startup disk (OS) starting from bay 1 but once you've got everything installed, you can tell which startup disk to use and it doesn't matter which bay it resides in - I can't see how this could "slow down the boot in"

 

[ASFx]

Having my OS drive in any slot other than #1 would bug me anyway

Only takes a minute to switch slots so im fine with it.

 

[cerbx1]

Raid Card

As soon as I got my new mac pro 2 weeks ago, I moved my 320GB drive to slot 2, then put a 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA Raptor the I pulled out of my PC into slot 1 and reinstalled Leopard. I now use the 320GB drive for time machine.

What RAID card did you install to run that with, or did you have to install one?

Thanks

 

[cmturner2]

My Mac Pro arrived Friday, the 320GB it shipped with has been sitting on the shelf ever since.

I'll most likely hit it with DBAN then throw it on eBay/craigslist when I get a chance.

Replaced with WD RE2 750GB drives.

 

[ASFx]

What RAID card did you install to run that with, or did you have to install one?

Thanks

I didn't need a raid card for my setup.