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SSD upgrade
Mac Pro
early 2009
2×2.66 quad core xeon
28 gigs ram
OS X 10.9.1
FCP X 10.1
4 internal drives: 2 raided for media drive
would like to upgrade system drive to an SD drive.
What would you recommend?
Any other choices worth considering?
Are my assumptions correct:AT OWC I see:
1) OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD 3-year warranty $180 for 240 GB + adapter $15
My understanding: Big speed gain over my current 7200 internal drive.
If my system drive gets full, I could move my user folder to another drive.
Media is already on a non-system drive.2) OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSD 3-year warranty $185 for 240 GB + adapter $15
My understanding: No speed gain over 3G with this Mac; but may future proof it to a degree when I get a new computer? Only $5 more than 3G.3) OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD 5-year warranty $240 for 240 GB + adapter $15
My understanding: $55 more than Electra model. Some specs faster. No speed gain with this Mac over 3G model. 5-year warranty and may future proof it to a degree when I get a new computer? Is extra two-year warranty worth it for a SSD drive? Do these die like spinning HDs do?4) Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCI Express SSD $420 for 240 GB
adds two estata connections, takes up card slot.
My understanding: fastest option (by far?) at over twice the price. can’t be swapped out and used externally wout Thunderbolt expansion chassis $350). Won’t work internally with any future mac pro?
Takes up card slot. Adds two estata jacks that I could use with my voyager dock.Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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4 Replies
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I would recommend option 1 over 2 and 3 unless you have a slot for option 4 as the Mac Pro’s internal SATA is only SATA II and therefore limited to 3Gb/sec. The Excelsior is a direct PCIe implementation and really screams compare to the generic SATA SSDs.
Other options for the PCIe drive include Sonnet’s Tempo line. The SSD Pro allows you to add 2 SSD drives into one slot with the standard support 1 drive. Either offers far better performance that the normal Mac Pro SATA backplane.
Tim
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Tim Jones
CTO – TOLIS Group, Inc.
https://www.productionbackup.com
BRU … because it’s the RESTORE that matters! -
Thanks Tim,
Just to be clear:
You do not see any advantage to option #2 for the possibility of transferring the drive to another Mac in the future? I know my Mac Pro will run at at the slower speed. Only $5 more.
You do not think the 5 year warranty of option #3 is worth the extra $? Again I know i won’t see the speed advantage on my current Mac.
Even #1 I’ll see a significantly faster Mac?
The PCIe cards seem a little pricey to me but tempting.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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[Craig Alan] “Do these die like spinning HDs do?”
Yes, they do, and it will likely be an instantaneous and complete death. But an SSD will breathe new life into your MacPro!
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!Check out my Mormon.org profile.
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As for future use, the new Mac Pro’s don’t have any place for you to use the drive that you buy short of buying an external TB or USB chassis, so the 6Gb drives really don’t help now or in the future.
If you’re not adamant about OWC and it’s the warranty that you’re worried about, I’d recommend the Samsung EVO 840 series:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726
250GB, $169, 5 year warranty. Be sure to scroll down that page to the comparison chart.
The only reason to go with the PCIe card-based solutions would be to overcome the performance limitation of the Mac Pro’s SATA II interface.
As to reliability, SSDs of today have a MUCH larger write / read cycle rating over SSDs from just 2 years ago. An average current SSD will actually provide a longer useful life than commodity desktop spinning disks. Our lab tests show them to be as resilient as the much more expensive enterprise grade spinning drives.
Tim
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Tim Jones
CTO – TOLIS Group, Inc.
https://www.productionbackup.com
BRU … because it’s the RESTORE that matters!
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