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WD VelociRaptor and Mac Pro

The short answer is no.

The long answer is "if you really want to". The shape of the drive (it's a 2.5 inch server-size drive with a 3.5 inch heat sink) and locations of the pins make it difficult when combined with the drive trays the Mac Pro uses. You would need to remove the drive from the heat-sink packaging, mount it in something else, and then use a SATA and power cable to hook it up. Or you could convert a 5.25-inch bay to a 3.5 inch bay (and use the auxillary optical drive SATA/power connectors). Using a 5.25 inch bay is probably easier.
 
Alternatively wait till an ubergeek decides to make a ****ing fortune by buying them in bulk modding them and selling hem on for +$400 and all the gamers go crazy and he becomes next millionaire. Take your pick.
 
I dont see why it wouldnt work? I mean its a standard 2.5" drive in a 3.5" heat sink. The only thing that makes it "different" is its 10,000 rpm. I would suggest calling WD and ask them about compatiabily if you are serious. That way if they tell you it will work and it doesn't you can hold them to their word and get your money back.
 
On the web site it says the compatibility is for XP/VISTA/2000. The reason I'm not sure if it would work is because that it is a 2.5 in a 3.5 enclosure which might make the pins difficult.

I know someone said I could possibly put it in another enclosure and put that in the optical drive slot.
 
The reason for the incompatibility is that the sled mounts the drives centred, which in turn puts the SATA connectors in a non-standard position. Every other SATA drive has standardized connector positions, so that they can work in hotswap bays and tray systems like in the Mac Pro. The non-standard connector positioning breaks that.
You can see what I mean here:
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008...lociraptor-and-raptorx-sata-port-location.jpg

Aside from that, it works just the same as any other SATA drive, and if you can connect it properly, then there's no problem using it with a Mac.

Given that it's just a hunk of machined metal, anyone with enough time and the proper equipment could likely come up with a mounting bracket that would work in the Mac Pro. It's mostly a question of how much it would cost, as well as how much heat it would dissipate (although I've heard elsewhere that the VelociRaptor doesn't run abnormally hot without the heatsink, not sure how accurate that is however).
 
userblah said:
Hi, I'm thinking about purchasing a new Mac Pro (2 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon) and at the same time I was looking at a Western Digital VelociRapter and was wondering if it would work in my Mac Pro? Does anyone have experience with this?

The WD VelociRaptor web site is:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=459

Thanks,
Matt
Click to expand...

Like mentioned above, it cannot be used as an internal mounted in a normal sled, but in addition to mounting it in the spare optical bay there is one other option to use one or more of them while keeping them in their heatsinks.

Using an external hard drive enclosure (note that the case needs to be one in which the drive is connected inside the case with cables, not one of the more common "slide into place" SATA enclosures) gives you another option of using it with either:
• A PCI-e SATA card or...
• A SATA port extender kit (Newer Tech, or the new Sonnet Tech kits like http://www.sonnettech.com/product/esataextendercable.html ) that make the 2 unused SATA ports on your logic board usable as external connections.

I am using one that way and it works fine, but my experience with it has been disappointing when compared to some of the newer generation standard 3.5 drives (Western Digital 640G, Samsung 750G and 1Tb F1 drives) which have tested right at the same speed as the Velociraptor for most tasks on several review sites.
 
sickmacdoc said:
Like mentioned above, it cannot be used as an internal mounted in a normal sled, but in addition to mounting it in the spare optical bay there is one other option to use one or more of them while keeping them in their heatsinks.

Using an external hard drive enclosure (note that the case needs to be one in which the drive is connected inside the case with cables, not one of the more common "slide into place" SATA enclosures) gives you another option of using it with either:
• A PCI-e SATA card or...
• A SATA port extender kit (Newer Tech, or the new Sonnet Tech kits like http://www.sonnettech.com/product/esataextendercable.html ) that make the 2 unused SATA ports on your logic board usable as external connections.

I am using one that way and it works fine, but my experience with it has been disappointing when compared to some of the newer generation standard 3.5 drives (Western Digital 640G, Samsung 750G and 1Tb F1 drives) which have tested right at the same speed as the Velociraptor for most tasks on several review sites.
Click to expand...

The velociraptor is one of the fastest drive out there. Look Barefeats.com
 
Actually . . .

If you are not squeamish, it really is a snap to install. I yanked the power from my machine and pulled all the drives. You may also want to remove the fan cowling from the front to give you some room to work. After those steps all I did was remove the SATA/POWER bracket from its mount (2 phillips head screws) and attach it to the back of my drive. Viola'. ;)

I think it is fair to mention I am actually a PC enthusiast and system builder, so I am not at all shy about tearing into the guts of my systems. This is my first Mac, and I have to say they are put together beautifully; just not designed for much "tinkering".
 
Phurious said:
If you are not squeamish, it really is a snap to install. I yanked the power from my machine and pulled all the drives. You may also want to remove the fan cowling from the front to give you some room to work. After those steps all I did was remove the SATA/POWER bracket from its mount (2 phillips head screws) and attach it to the back of my drive. Viola'. ;)

I think it is fair to mention I am actually a PC enthusiast and system builder, so I am not at all shy about tearing into the guts of my systems. This is my first Mac, and I have to say they are put together beautifully; just not designed for much "tinkering".
Click to expand...

I just installed two Velociraptors in a RAID 0 for my boot disc.. I used spot 2 and 3 as it was easiest to do without removing the fan box (I tried and tried and couldn't get it out).. Anyway, all is good except the drives aren't perfectly flush and so it's a bit stiff to lock the side latch... how did you get yours to go flush btw?

As for performance... WOW! Screams.. makes the prior Raptor look like it was standing still!
 
UnixMac said:
I just installed two Velociraptors in a RAID 0 for my boot disc.. I used spot 2 and 3 as it was easiest to do without removing the fan box (I tried and tried and couldn't get it out).. Anyway, all is good except the drives aren't perfectly flush and so it's a bit stiff to lock the side latch... how did you get yours to go flush btw?

As for performance... WOW! Screams.. makes the prior Raptor look like it was standing still!
Click to expand...

I detailed the process here https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5680628/
 
Phurious said:
I detailed the process here https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5680628/
Click to expand...

Thanks, I had no luck with the fan box, so I opted to swap discs around and mounted these into bay's 2 and 3.. as such, I'm not sure if they're not fitting flush because of that or because I didn't do as good a job as you in plugging them in.. Has anyone tried to remove the bracket entirely and just plug the two cables in directly? Is that an option?
 
New Velociraptor with SATA connector in right place.

VelociRaptors in with new connector for 3.5" HOT SWAP.
When these come out, they will correct these issues.

Article Update, 6/28: We should throw in one rather significant caveat here however. Currently these new drives do not have an industry standard connector layout. They won't fit in a 2.5" sled for a standard hot-swap chassis config but we've been told WD is planning on coming out with a new model that will offer a standard (3.5" presumably) connector layout.

http://hothardware.com/News/VelociRaptors_In_RAID_5_A_Case_Study_In_Speed/
 
UnixMac said:
Thanks, I had no luck with the fan box, so I opted to swap discs around and mounted these into bay's 2 and 3.. as such, I'm not sure if they're not fitting flush because of that or because I didn't do as good a job as you in plugging them in.. Has anyone tried to remove the bracket entirely and just plug the two cables in directly? Is that an option?
Click to expand...

In order to get the drive to fit you have to remove the SATA/POWER connector from it's bracket and plug the drive in directly.
 
Phurious said:
In order to get the drive to fit you have to remove the SATA/POWER connector from it's bracket and plug the drive in directly.
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought, and I tried it but it seemed as though the power cable was fixed/part of the bracket while the data cable was removable.. I'll try it again when I get the patience. This project has tested my temper! :mad::apple:
 
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