anyone make ssd boot drive in mac pro? if so, how?

[robfilms]

i have a mac pro 2.8 8-core/harpertown which is my dedicated media making/video editing machine.

i am finally going to break down and upgrade its graphic card (stock gt8100) to accommodate final cut x and premiere pro. i'm leaning towards the 5770.

i also wanted to perhaps make the boot drive a 512gb ssd.

can it be done?

will i realize faster boot-up and system times?

has anyone on the mf forum done such a transformation?

any reliable websites offering "how-to" for such brain surgery?

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

be well.

rob

[bazookaman]

yes. I pretty much followed this guide: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/m...ive_combo/

Although some on here will tell you different, I've had zero problems with this setup since implementing it.

Oh and it works great. I'm only using a 120gb SSD for mine. As it only stores my apps, it's about 1/3 full.

[mattkime]

I realize that you're running some mighty apps but you should be able to fit everything on to a 256GB drive.

[tortoise]

robfilms wrote:
i have a mac pro 2.8 8-core/harpertown which is my dedicated media making/video editing machine.

i am finally going to break down and upgrade its graphic card (stock gt8100) to accommodate final cut x and premiere pro. i'm leaning towards the 5770.

i also wanted to perhaps make the boot drive a 512gb ssd.

can it be done?

will i realize faster boot-up and system times?

has anyone on the mf forum done such a transformation?

any reliable websites offering "how-to" for such brain surgery?

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

be well.

rob

Hi Robfilms

I think you are talking about the early 2008 MacPro model 3.1, and if so I just did the exact transplant you are speaking of. I currently use two Nvidia 8800GT video cards not sure about the card you mention, do not see it in MacTracker specs for our model? As to the size of the SSD I look at it as a long term investment and went for the 480GB (actually 512 but rated by them at 480 for reserves related to the needs of SSD drives) from our sponsor thinking it will go forward to my next MacPro when they eventually are released. I like having breathing room and not having to worry about drive capacity.
My method was to take this opportunity to upgrade to Lion at the same time so I did a clean install of Lion on the new drive, and having previously cleaned up my old Snow Leopard boot drive simply used migration assistant to suck everything over with complete success and no unexpected glitches. This left me with the ability to switch back to SL as needed while I get used to Lion.
As to the performance question it is all golden, boot times went from over five minutes to about 90 seconds (lots of apps set to launch on startup). Everything you do will be faster, it is just like getting a new computer. I can't think of any previous updates in the past 15 years that have been as dramatic as the changes the SSD made.

[robfilms]

tortoise wrote:
[quote=robfilms]
i have a mac pro 2.8 8-core/harpertown which is my dedicated media making/video editing machine.

i am finally going to break down and upgrade its graphic card (stock gt8100) to accommodate final cut x and premiere pro. i'm leaning towards the 5770.

i also wanted to perhaps make the boot drive a 512gb ssd.

can it be done?

will i realize faster boot-up and system times?

has anyone on the mf forum done such a transformation?

any reliable websites offering "how-to" for such brain surgery?

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

be well.

rob

Hi Robfilms

I think you are talking about the early 2008 MacPro model 3.1, and if so I just did the exact transplant you are speaking of. I currently use two Nvidia 8800GT video cards not sure about the card you mention, do not see it in MacTracker specs for our model? As to the size of the SSD I look at it as a long term investment and went for the 480GB (actually 512 but rated by them at 480 for reserves related to the needs of SSD drives) from our sponsor thinking it will go forward to my next MacPro when they eventually are released. I like having breathing room and not having to worry about drive capacity.
My method was to take this opportunity to upgrade to Lion at the same time so I did a clean install of Lion on the new drive, and having previously cleaned up my old Snow Leopard boot drive simply used migration assistant to suck everything over with complete success and no unexpected glitches. This left me with the ability to switch back to SL as needed while I get used to Lion.
As to the performance question it is all golden, boot times went from over five minutes to about 90 seconds (lots of apps set to launch on startup). Everything you do will be faster, it is just like getting a new computer. I can't think of any previous updates in the past 15 years that have been as dramatic as the changes the SSD made.
tortoise-

i have the same machine along with the same nvidia 8800gt graphics card (gt8100-huh?).

good to hear the ssd works so well.

did you employ migration asst on the mac pro using the snow leopard boot drive and the ssd installed in a slot while both were on the same machine?

so with snow leopard on one boot drive and lion on the ssd, you chose at start-up which drive/OS you want to work under?

(if so, very clever!)

lastly, are the connectors for the ssd the same for the other drives on the mac pro or is an adaptor needed?

be well.

rob

[tortoise]

tortoise-

i have the same machine along with the same nvidia 8800gt graphics card (gt8100-huh?).

good to hear the ssd works so well.

did you employ migration asst on the mac pro using the snow leopard boot drive and the ssd installed in a slot while both were on the same machine?

That is correct, merely installed the SSD in another drive bay although it could be done many other ways with external enclosures it just seemed to me the easiest way to go with the MacPro.

so with snow leopard on one boot drive and lion on the ssd, you chose at start-up which drive/OS you want to work under?

Well I don't really choose at each boot up, the SSD Lion is my default boot drive and SL is there at the ready if needed by merely changing start up drive in preferences or during start up. I have to revert to SL occasionally while I get used to the changes in Lion, also dealing with the bloody iCloud migration from MobileMe before the end of the month deadline.

(if so, very clever!)

lastly, are the connectors for the ssd the same for the other drives on the mac pro or is an adaptor needed?

Adapter is needed from our sponsor again, this is the one we use for the model 3.1 MacPro.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/

Quantity: 1 NWTADPTADRV, $19.99 each
Newer Technology AdaptaDrive 2.5" to 3.5" Drive Converter Bracket. Fits all 3.5" SATA drive bays, including desktops, enclosures, or backplane trays as found in the Mac Pro. Fully SATA 3.0 Revision (6Gb/s) compliant. 5 Year Newer Technology Warranty.

Have fun, it really is a very easy conversion and the rewards are just unbelievable, frankly I expect to get a few more years out of this computer and feel no compelling need for a new MacPro whenever they are released. This sucker is full of Highpoint RAID card and OWC eSATA card and extension cables to the eSATA ports on motherboard and the dual Nvidia 8800GT and everything is running great. Can't imagine what a new MacPro might have to offer except Thunderbolt and that is another kettle of fish that has yet to be of much use.

[rz]

I have the same Mac Pro (3,1) Early 2008. Just got the 240 OWC SSD a few weeks ago. Had to slim down my home directory. Toyed with the idea of putting home directory on another drive, but I realized most of the stuff I had in my home directory was stuff that could go anywhere, so I just moved all that stuff to another drive. Having 4 other internal drives makes that part easy. I've got about 200GB used out of 240. I could probably thin it a little more... I have some virtual machines that I could probably move elsewhere.

As tortoise suggested, I got the bracket as well. Installed the drive in another bay, used SuperDuper to clone my startup drive, then took my old startup out and booted from the SSD. Only issues have been that every program thinks it's starting for the first time the first time they're run from the new drive. And I had an issue with MS Office needing to be reactivated. Otherwise everything has been flawless.

I leave my machine running or asleep all the time, so I don't really notice how much faster it starts up, but as I recall my startup time went from just over a minute to just under 30 seconds. The biggest improvement has been overall snappiness. Programs start with one bounce now instead of several bounces. Safari was taking about 8 bounces previously, now it's one bounce. It's not night and day, but it is a nice improvement. I recommend it.

[robfilms]

tortoise/rz-

you are inspiring me to take the leap to install an ssd boot drive.

two other thoughts:

first-i'm now running snow leopard.

i wonder if it pays to wait for the release of mountain lion or just buy lion and install.

second-i wonder if i could find a way to mount/use the ssd drive in the unused 2nd optical drive?

how do other mac pro folks use the 2nd optical drive space?

again, thanks for sharing.

be well.

rob

[kj4btkljv]

robfilms wrote:
how do other mac pro folks use the 2nd optical drive space?

I've got a 2nd optical drive in my 2nd optical drive space. Came installed in there when I bought it. Hardly use it, however.

And, I just bought a 120GB 3G SSD drive today from OWC for my MacPro 1,1. Can't wait to get that sucker installed.

:devil:

Jeff

[robfilms]

kj4btkljv wrote:
[quote=robfilms]
how do other mac pro folks use the 2nd optical drive space?

I've got a 2nd optical drive in my 2nd optical drive space. Came installed in there when I bought it. Hardly use it, however.

And, I just bought a 120GB 3G SSD drive today from OWC for my MacPro 1,1. Can't wait to get that sucker installed.

:devil:

Jeff
jeff-

i might have misread your response.

are you installing the ssd drive in the 2nd optical bay of your mac pro?

be well.

rob