Will a 3.5" SSD fit in the spare optical bay?

[mattmower]

I see the OCZ have a 3.5" version of the Vertex 2E 120GB coming soon. I am looking at buying one of the 2.5" versions for the boot drive of my, hopefully, soon to arrive 6-core.

I was wondering what, if any advantages, the 3.5" form-factor might have (better cooling? do these things get hot?) and whether, in any case, a 3.5" drive would fit into the spare optical bay.

Since the 2.5" drive seems to come with a 3.5" adapter anyway I'm not sure if it matters at all.

Anyone have a view?

Thanks.

Matt

 

[Honumaui]

3.5 no adapters ? thats the only thing I really see

at this point would rather have the smaller size and use adapters ? thats me though ?

 

[Hellhammer]

You may be interested about the new ICY DOCK 5.25" to 4x 2.5", not sure does Mac Pro have everything that it needs but it looks very tempting

 

[kultschar]

I see the OCZ have a 3.5" version of the Vertex 2E 120GB coming soon. I am looking at buying one of the 2.5" versions for the boot drive of my, hopefully, soon to arrive 6-core.

I was wondering what, if any advantages, the 3.5" form-factor might have (better cooling? do these things get hot?) and whether, in any case, a 3.5" drive would fit into the spare optical bay.

Since the 2.5" drive seems to come with a 3.5" adapter anyway I'm not sure if it matters at all.

Anyone have a view?

Thanks.

Matt

So with the current OCZ 2.5" you dont need an ICY DOCK? Im planning on whacking one in my spare optical slot

 

[strausd]

You don't need to worry about heat with SSDs

 

[Loa]

You may be interested about the new ICY DOCK 5.25" to 4x 2.5", not sure does Mac Pro have everything that it needs but it looks very tempting

Hello,

Problem (in a sense) with this enclosure is that it's not port multiplied. You need to get 4 sata cables to it, and in the empty optical bay of the 09 and 10 PM, you only have 1 free cable. You'd need to buy a 4 port (internal) PCIe SATA card and to snake those 3 extra cables (not an easy job) all the way to the optical bay.

Apple really didn't design the optical bay with such a possibility in mind. Open up your mac and try to see where you'd put 3 sata cables, especially how they'd go from one thermal zone to another (PCI zone to optical bay zone).

Loa

 

[Transporteur]

Problem (in a sense) with this enclosure is that it's not port multiplied. You need to get 4 sata cables to it, and in the empty optical bay of the 09 and 10 PM, you only have 1 free cable. You'd need to buy a 4 port (internal) PCIe SATA card and to snake those 3 extra cables (not an easy job) all the way to the optical bay.

Apple really didn't design the optical bay with such a possibility in mind. Open up your mac and try to see where you'd put 3 sata cables, especially how they'd go from one thermal zone to another (PCI zone to optical bay zone).

It would be a shame if this enclosure supports port multiplying. Forcing the bandwidth of 4 SSDs (~1GB/s) through a single SATAII connection (~270MB/s) wouldn't make much sense.

Getting three (or even 4, which would be advisable since mixing the ODD SATA port with 3 ports from a third party controller wouldn't work for a decent RAID) additional SATA cables in the ODD bay isn't a big deal. I did it once myself. You're done in roughly 15 minutes.
Since even 4 SSDs require less power than a single Superdrive, the power can be taken from the spare ODD bay connector. All you'd need is a SATA to Molex power adapter.

 

[Loa]

I did it once myself. You're done in roughly 15 minutes.

I'd like to see pictures of the result. I looked at my own PM 09 and snaking even one sata cable up there seemed like a very tight fit: going all the way to the front, then back around the optical bay tray. Fitting four???

Not that I don't believe you, but I'm really curious to see how you managed it.

Loa

 

[Transporteur]

I'd like to see pictures of the result. I looked at my own PM 09 and snaking even one sata cable up there seemed like a very tight fit: going all the way to the front, then back around the optical bay tray. Fitting four???

I actually don't have pictures of that. I'm now back to a single drive in the lower ODD bay so I can't serve with any pictures.
I've got pictures from gugucom who did the same with three SATA cables plus a molex power cord. I'm not sure though if I can publish them, sorry.

However, this is how I did it and what you'd have to pay attention to.

First of all you need standard SATA cables, not the strong ones. I first chose the strong cables, which are extremely sturdy and about twice as thick as the standard ones. I only managed to get two of them up in the ODD bay. The standard ones fit perfectly.
1m cables are required to reach from a third party controller to the ODD bay.

I strongly recommend to dismount the PCIe fan and the power supply cable cover. This makes it much easier and gives you access to the small hole in the upper left corner of the logic board which connects the ODD bay and the PCIe section.

 

[Loa]

First of all you need standard SATA cables, not the strong ones.

That must have been my problem. I was surprised at how thick and sturdy the cable I had actually was.

the small hole in the upper left corner of the logic board which connects the ODD bay and the PCIe section.

Just to make sure I understand: this little hole is right at the front of the Mac, yes?

Thanks for the info

Loa

 

[Loa]

Alos, I don't know how much the Icy Dock will cost, but similar items have been around for a while:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993017

Very cheap!

Loa

 

[CaoCao]

yes, heck some people make a 5.25" to 4x2.5" converter, I swear I saw a 5.25" to 8x2.5" once designed for the Mac Pro

 

[Transporteur]

Just to make sure I understand: this little hole is right at the front of the Mac, yes?

Yes. At the top left corner of the logic board is a little hole that leads directly into the ODD bay. The stock SATA cables for the ODD port lead through that hole, too. There's still much space left.

yes, heck some people make a 5.25" to 4x2.5" converter, I swear I saw a 5.25" to 8x2.5" once designed for the Mac Pro

Just follow the link provided by Hellhammer in post #3 for the 5.25" to 4x2.5" converter.

 

[skiffx]

if you dont need the 2.5 go with 3.5 since price/gig is better than smaller 2.5 drives.