I need a a second hard drive for a Macpro

I did the same thing and would say that if it will be a single drive then a Maxtor or Western Digital. Just do not get a Seagate.

Once it is installed, open Disk Utility ( in Application<Utilities ) and partition the drive.

Once you have installed the drive all yu need to do is to change/confirm the partition map scheme is set to GUID Partition Table (Partition tab > Options…) and then you should partition the drive as you like. For video editing it is best to have a single large partition.

hello i see you recomend the maxtor and western but not a seagate any reason? i have a mac pro and want to up grade more drive too

power pc mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

The Seagate drive seem to have performance issues under certain circumstances although for large sustained tranfers of data, for video editing for instance, they're excellent. However, for a boot drive or which which high instances of small reads/writes you can get better.

Of course, Seagate now own Maxtor, and are selling them as budget drives, so in time, their technologies will merge, and it's not in Seagate's interest to create competition with themselves, but for now there are still some differences.

Can I take the expansion drives out of my old G4 and easily put them in the new MacPro? I'm not sure if they'll fit on the sled or not. Someone told me they thought no, but that doesn't make sense to me.

Can I take the expansion drives out of my old G4 and
easily put them in the new MacPro? I'm not sure if
they'll fit on the sled or not. Someone told me they
thought no, but that doesn't make sense to me.

no you can not use the HDs from your G4. the mac pro uses SATA hard drives and your old G4 uses ATA. they have completely different interfaces. the only thing you can do is buy external usb or firewire enclosures for those drives.

SATA II drives specifically it seems. I have an 10,000 rpm raptor drive I was going to put into my macpro, it’s not the right kind of SATA drive though. Disappointed, now I have to find a case for it.

I just brought for a very good price a Western Digital 500 GB WD Caviar SE 16 7200 RPM SATA internal Hard Drive.

In system requirements it says:

Windows 2000/XP
SATA host adapter card or SATA interface connector on motherboard
3.5 inch internal drive bay

Will this work in my MAX PRO or should it return it?

Mac Pro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4) ATI X1900 30in display 2 G ram

"SATA II drives specifically it seems. I have an 10,000 rpm raptor drive I was going to put into my macpro, it’s not the right kind of SATA drive though. Disappointed, now I have to find a case for it. "


This statement is incorrect. The Raptor WILL work in the MacPro. It's not SATA II, but it more than makes up for the speed deficency in other areas. It's a fast drive!! Other than the extra seek noise, the Raptor makes a great boot drive for the MacPro. I plan to order one myself.

"I just brought for a very good price a Western Digital 500 GB WD Caviar SE 16 7200 RPM SATA internal Hard Drive. Will this work in my MAX PRO or should it return it?"

It will work. I'm running one in mine as I write this...

Just curious though... why did you buy a drive if you weren't sure it would work in your computer first? Don't tell me because you got a good deal on it... It's not a good deal if you can't use it.

thanks!

Just curious though... why did you buy a drive if you weren't sure it would work in your computer first? Don't tell me because you got a good deal on it... It's not a good deal if you can't use it.


Thanks for the reply. You are correct about the deal but:

I wanted a big hard drive to match the 500 G Hitachi that came with my MAC PRO in order to use it as the drive for LEOPARD's Time Machine when it comes out. On the day of the sale I got to the store 1 hour after it opened and they had only one left. I knew I could get advice on this forum as to if it would work or if I needed to return it.

I also could use the WD 500 g SATA in my HP Windows PC that I am giving to my wife once I get used to the MAC.

Mac Pro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4) ATI X1900 30in display 2 G ram

Is this SATA2

"HD3ATA-WD-500GB 500GB Western Digital RE 2 SATA RAID Edition 16MB Cache 7200rpm 8.9ms with 5yr WD Warranty(WD5000YS)"


it says RAID Edition-- what is that supposed to mean?

This is little more expensiv but I assume this is even better:

HD3ATA-MX-500GB 500GB Maxtor DiamondMax 11 7200RPM 3.0Gb SATA II Hard Drive with 16MB Data Buffer.(6H500F0)

15" PowerBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)