adding 6Gb/s eSATA to early 2008 (3,1)

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Level 1

31 points

adding 6Gb/s eSATA to early 2008 (3,1)

I would like to install a combo eSATA/USB 3 pci card:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/

However, I was under the impression that the 3,1 only supports 3Gb/s. I purchased an SSD drive at 3Gb/s instead of 6. Scrolling down the product page, it does show my model as supported. I'm hoping that I'm wrong on this. I'll get the card and pop the SSD drive into my MacBook Pro and get a 6Gb/s for the Mac Pro.

Opinions?

Mac Pro 2X4 2.8, Mac OS X (10.7.1), 14GB RAM, NVIDIA 8800, 256GB SSD

Posted on Mar 5, 2012 9:43 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 6, 2012 10:02 AM in response to Don T

The bus speed for the connection to the card is determined by the card, not what the rest of the eSATA connections built into the computer are, so you should benefit from the faster SSD drive. However, I don't think you can boot from either the eSATA or USB 3 connections, in case that's an issue for you. BTW, the combination of the two connections on one card is pretty cool; I had to go with two PCIe cards to get them.😟

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Answer 2

Don T Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 6, 2012 10:15 AM in response to FatMac-MacPro

Thanks for the excellent answer. I knew it had to do with bus speed or a limitation on eSATA drive speed in that model. Both made sense and I couldn't get a good answer anywhere.

Yep, that's a great card. The OWC SSD3 I put in my Mac Pro 2008 makes it feel like a much newer model and has me delaying my ususal 3 year replacement cycle (not to mention Apple's tardiness on updated Mac Pros). I'd like to move my Aperture library to a 4 bay eSATA enclosure at RAID 5.

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

Don T Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 17, 2012 2:05 PM in response to Don T

Haven't tested the USB 3, as I don't have any of those peripherals yet. The e-SATA works fine. I can boot to an external drive with a system installed. Copied a 36GB folder to it in 0:07:13. Tried the same copy via FW 800 and it was about 15 minutes. The SSD, by the way is my boot drive. I'm considering a 4 bay enclosure, RAID 5 connected via e-SATA to house my Aperture library.

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Answer 4

Jul 18, 2013 5:56 PM in response to Don T

I have just dropped one of these Caldigit cards in my Mac Pro 2008 3,1 but not hooked anything up to it yet.

At the same time I am trying to install an Apricon Velocity X2 card with a MacSales SSD mounted on it.

I have tried clean installing OS X 10.8.4 onto the SSD and cloning with CCC and Super-Duper, but it won't boot.

Anyone successfully using the Apricorn and Caldigit cards in their Mac Pro?

I have an ATO 5770 Mac GPU in the bottom slot, then Apricorn, then Caldigit. Slowest slot at the top is empty.

Maybe I should switch slots?

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Answer 5

Jul 19, 2013 4:07 AM in response to Hamish B.

Ok I solved my problem.

Apricorn Velocity is in top slot (x4 speed)

Caldigit is in slot 2 (x16 speed).

Working fine now

thanks

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