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What are the Best HD's for the Mac Pro?

G

Gunga Din

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2008
476
5
Old Trafford
Ok I changed my mind. I'm gonna be using my Raptor to install windows on and replace the stock 320GB HD.

Is there 500 GB HD good ? Which do you recommend? I read about the Samsung F1 etc. But I can't really find any info on which of these HD's is the newest and most reliable.

For those opting to use the stock 320GB HD for backup , maybe Time Machine etc. What are you then using for the Main HD for OSX and apps? Also, should I get the exact same size 320GB HD to match up with the stock one for Time Machine? (suggestions for a 320 GB HD? , I saw a few nice WD ones).

I'd like to order my 3rd HD this weekend and just wanted some feedback. Thanks.

Great for comparing HD's http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html

This is the one i'm thinking about getting. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140

I know this has been talked about in a few places, but I havent seen many options directly pertaining to my setup.
 
I'm on the same boat. I need 2 good 500gb drives to raid (don't bother explaining Raid risks to me - I know them). The Samsung Spintpoint F1 drives seem to fail frequently (Newegg reviews), the Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache 500gb drives seem to have the wrong firmware installed and seem to have performance issues.

What else is left?
 
Mr.PS said:
I'm on the same boat. I need 2 good 500gb drives to raid (don't bother explaining Raid risks to me - I know them). The Samsung Spintpoint F1 drives seem to fail frequently (Newegg reviews), the Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache 500gb drives seem to have the wrong firmware installed and seem to have performance issues.

What else is left?
Click to expand...

Ok so this is my updated plan.

Segate Drive 320GB HD for Mac OS/APPs
Stock 320GB HD for Time Machine Backup
Raptor 150GB HD for Windows XP

Sound ok? I don't require a ton of storage.
 
Which Raptor Drive?!?

Allright, I think I finally figured out my HD Set-up. I am a filmmaker, ordered the new Mac Pro for Editing, and decided on these drives
1x The Raptor 150GB for Windows Boot,
2x Samsung 750 GB F1 (1 for Pro Apps) (1 for Scratch Disc)
1x Stock Apple HD for OSX

About to make my order over @ newegg, but as far as the Raptor 150GB Drives, several came up, so I am wondering which one of these people are getting or recommending to work in the Mac Pro.

Thanks!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=Raptor+150GB&x=0&y=0
 
Mr.PS said:
I'm on the same boat. I need 2 good 500gb drives to raid (don't bother explaining Raid risks to me - I know them). The Samsung Spintpoint F1 drives seem to fail frequently (Newegg reviews), the Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache 500gb drives seem to have the wrong firmware installed and seem to have performance issues.

What else is left?
Click to expand...

I just got a 500gb Seagate Barracude 7200.11 32mb cache that I was going to put into my Mac Pro. You're telling me this won't work? If so, why?
 
cineapple said:
So did I.
Just saw this posted in another thread. Did you get the ES.2 drives?

Not sure if there is a problem with the ES.2, or if Seagate has addressed this.
Anyone here know?

Here is the firmware update link
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/other_downloads/cuda-fw
Click to expand...

After my experience with the Seagate 7200.10 500GB drive I'm never touching Seagate drives again. As I said above I'll be relegating my Seagate drive to being a Windows only drive.
 
Mr.PS said:
I'm on the same boat. I need 2 good 500gb drives to raid (don't bother explaining Raid risks to me - I know them). The Samsung Spintpoint F1 drives seem to fail frequently (Newegg reviews), the Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache 500gb drives seem to have the wrong firmware installed and seem to have performance issues.

What else is left?
Click to expand...

Please stop saying that the Samsungs fail frequently. As someone pointed out on another thread, it is a problem with a SATA chipset made by someone other than Intel. It is not the drives failing. They should work fine with an Intel chipset and they are fast and quiet. So far, nobody here has reported a single problem with an F1 on a Mac.
 
Cromulent said:
After my experience with the Seagate 7200.10 500GB drive I'm never touching Seagate drives again. As I said above I'll be relegating my Seagate drive to being a Windows only drive.
Click to expand...

In my recently sold PowerMac I used two of those drives without any problems whatsoever. What was the issue with yours?
 
cineapple said:
So did I.
Just saw this posted in another thread. Did you get the ES.2 drives?

Not sure if there is a problem with the ES.2, or if Seagate has addressed this.
Anyone here know?

Here is the firmware update link
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/other_downloads/cuda-fw
Click to expand...

I got the regular one I think, and firmware SD15, so at least I won't have to fix anything.. Here's hoping it'll be fine. All the Barracuda-drives I've been using earlier has treated me great, which is why I have 3 (one 500 and two 750) Barracudas laying around waiting for my new Mac Pro to be shipped..

Croumlent said:
They were slow in comparison to other 7200RPM SATA2 drives.
Click to expand...
I see, then your "need for speed" exceeds mine. :)
 
cineapple said:
Which raptor drives are people getting, model #?
Click to expand...

Get the WD1500ADFD and not the AHFD. the AHFD has a polycarbonate window so you can see the parts moving and has half the MTBF of the ADFD which does not have the window. The window doesn't act like a heatsink as the normal metal does.
 
cineapple said:
Which raptor drives are people getting, model #?
Click to expand...

Don't get any raptor drive! They aren't any faster than current Sata II drives and you sacrifice storage space and noise level. I bought one last year and returned it right away. I couldn't stand the rat-a-tat-tat noise that comes from the raptor. Performance wise, the raptor booted up 3 seconds faster than my stock seagate. Big deal. The raptors are OLD technology and are due to be replaced soon. You are much better off buying a WD caviar, Samsung or any other drive for the same price while getting more capacity.
 
Faster boot drive is good no?

I'm thinking of having the raptor as my main boot drive and sumsung or seagte as my 3 other drives. The raptor is fastest at boot times and makes sense as the main drive. for everything else use one of the faster 32mg cache drives
 
Gunga Din said:
Ok so this is my updated plan.

Segate Drive 320GB HD for Mac OS/APPs
Stock 320GB HD for Time Machine Backup
Raptor 150GB HD for Windows XP

Sound ok? I don't require a ton of storage.
Click to expand...

I still havent got any feedback on what most people are using as their boot drive for Mac OS/Apps. Its been awhile since i've bought a new computer. I really like WD HD's but are there any other recommendations for a good HD? thanks
 
Since I'd like to do video editing on my next mac pro, should I go with a SATA 3 Gb/s? Is it supported by the mac pro? I'm thinking about the WD Caviar SE16... Any thoughts?
 
LeKiD said:
Since I'd like to do video editing on my next mac pro, should I go with a SATA 3 Gb/s? Is it supported by the mac pro? I'm thinking about the WD Caviar SE16... Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The 3 Gb/s drives are SATA 2, so yes they are supported. I'd go with the Samsung F1 drives with 32MB cache if I were you (in fact I did :)).
 
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