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Mac esata cards – recommendations?
well, i’m finally upgrading my eSATA card. since going to Mavericks, my old one stopped working, knew i had grab new drivers, so aimed for that today. i have the LaCie eSATA 2…and LaCie no longer makes nor supports them, i.e., no new drivers.
my computer is an early 2009 Mac Pro, so too old to upgrade to USB 3, so eSATA is still my next best alternative.
for any of you still using eSATA in a Mac, what card would you recommend, or are they all pretty much the same?
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!) -
12 Replies
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I’ve got a 2009 Mac Pro (4,1) and use the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 eSATA/USB 3 card. I’ve had it for a number of years now and have no complaints.
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Like Andrew said, the Caldigit cards are pretty good.
Kannan Raghavan
The Big Toad Films Pte. Ltd. -
Hey, cool! So it has 2 USB 3.0 ports, too! That would be perfect. I asked the tech guy at the Mac Store today and he said he was pretty sure my MacPro 5.1 was not upgradable to USB 3. i do believe i’ll order one of these puppies! Thanks for the tip.
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!) -
…and more reading now, i’m hearing different opinions on whether the PCI bus in my MacPro 5.1 can even utilize the speed in a USB 3 port? $180 bucks for that CalDigit card (not bad if USB 3 will work), or $30 bucks for a different card with no USB 3.
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!) -
I have a 4,1 Mac Pro (not a 5,1 like you) and the USB 3 ports are w-a-y faster than the USB 2 ports. Certainly worth the $$$ IMO given that USB 3 and Thunderbolt are the most popular on external drives these days and there’s no way to add Thunderbolt to these older machines.
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so, just to reconfirm before i buy, you Mac (older than mine) IS benefitting from USB 3? i keep reading that the busses weren’t available until the 6.1 Macs, but i’ll get that card if it really works. thanks again!
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!) -
[tad newberry] “so, just to reconfirm before i buy, you Mac (older than mine) IS benefitting from USB 3? i keep reading that the busses weren’t available until the 6.1 Macs, but i’ll get that card if it really works. thanks again!
“The Mac Pro 6,1 (the black, cylinder model that came out a couple of years ago) is the only Mac Pro that shipped with USB 3 ports. If you want USB 3.0 ports on any other Mac Pro you have to add them via a card that plugs into one of the PICe slots (same thing with the eSATA ports). Apple has a tendency to not really embrace non-native hardware and not all USB 3.0 cards are created equal so some cards will work better than others.
I’ve had a very good experience with the CalDigit card I mentioned on my 2009 Mac Pro (model 4,1) under both 10.8.x and 10.9.x.
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thanks for clarifying again. i’m ordering that card right now. take care!
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!) -
No worries. Asking questions up front is typically preferable to trying to clean up a mess after the fact. 🙂
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ya, thanks. exactly…and doing all those returns and exhanges…
😉
thanks for helping out a bonehead!
__________________________FCS3 / Adobe CC
3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro
24GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870
…and a few TeraBytes o’ storage
(then it’s on to PetaBytes, ExaBytes and MosquitoBytes!)
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