Advice on upgrading to SSD for Mac Pro (optimized for AfterEffects & Photoshop)

Hello,
I'm an animator (I use AfterEffects CS5, but will be upgrading to CC soon) and I'm going to start work on a new AE project in a few months for an animated film that will be very demanding (lots of different shots -- meaning multiple projects, all of which will also incorporate large HD stock footage elements as well as multiple layers of art created in Photoshop).
So I'm looking to upgrade my current desktop Mac Pro (a 2010 2x2.66GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon) with SSD drives (and possibly a new graphics card) in order to speed up my system and optimize it for both AfterEffects and Photoshop. (In the past I've created projects using external 7200 RPM hard drives connected via eSATA). I've also decided, for now, not to purchase the new Mac Pro, but rather try and make a smaller investment to speed up my current system.
I'd love any advice that pro users would have that have made similiar upgrades, both in terms of the best equipment (SSD drives and graphics card) and the best way to set up AfterEffects/Photoshop projects using these SSDs.
For example:
1. Should I be purchasing 1 or 2 SSDs, and how should I be using these drives to optimize my system for AfterEffects and Photoshop?
2. Should I install my operating system (I'm on OS 10.8.5 but plan to upgrade to Mavericks when I upgrade to CC) on one separate SSD, and then install my Adobe applications on a 2nd SSD, or can I put both the operating system and applications on a single SSD? And should I be saving my projects on a SSD (if so, which one, if I'm supposed to purchase 2?
3. Should I assign a 2nd SSD as a scratch disk for AfterEffects or Photoshop?
4. I plan on using my current external hard drives (a 12 TB RAID array connected via eSATA) to store the footage and Photoshop elements being used in my AE projects (these files will be multiple GBs, and I can't afford to purchase SSD drives to hold these elements on) and also to store the renders from AfterEffects (which will also be very large files). Is this OK, or will this slow me down and negate whatever speed I've gained from moving to SSDs?
5. In researching how to switch over to SSD, I've considered purchasing 1 or 2 SSD drives. The one I'm currently looking at is called the Murcury Accelsior_E2, a PCI Express SSD sold via OWC. It comes in a few different sizes (120 GBs, 240 GBs, 480 GBs, 960 GBs). Just wondering if this is a good purchase -- the reviews seem to be very positive:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDPHWE2R960/
6. I'm also considering upgrading my current graphics card (ATI Radeon HD 5870) to the NVIDIA Quatro 4000 or NVIDIA Quatro 5000, but I'm wondering how much of a speed boost this would give me.
Here's an overview of my current system:
Computer: 2010 Mac Pro with 2x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 64 GB DDR3 ECC
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870
Hard Drives (Internal): 2x 2TB Hitachi HD
Hard Drives (External): 12TB OWC Mercury Elite Pro RAID drive array (connected via eSATA)
Apologies in advance for the long message, but I've always recieved great advice from these message boards and I'd appreciate any help!
Thanks,
Dan

Thanks so much for jumping back into the discussion, The hatter! I had some earlier questions from before that I was hoping you could answer:
Currently I own a 12 TB OWC Mercury Elite Pro RAID drive array (connected via eSATA) which I use to save projects, project files, and renders. So (unless I am mistaken) you're recommending that I continue to use this RAID array to save projects, project files, and renders.
(I was looking into purchasing a Mercury Accelsior_E2 for my SSD via PCI -- it has eSATA, so I can continue to connect my RAID array)
Then I would use my new SSD via SATA II for my system, apps, and OS (minus home folder media files, data, documents) and my SSD via PCI for scratch disks for Photoshop/AfterEffects.
Currently I have 2 x 2 TB internal hard drives, which have all my OS + home folder media files.
Can I get more details in terms of the step-by-step instructions when it's time to install/clone? Here's how it looks to me (apologies if I have this out-of-order, and feel free to correct me if I've missed a step or have it wrong -- thank you in advance!):
1. Purchase SSDs (via PCI and internal SATA II) and install them inside my Mac Pro.
(Is there any formatting I need to do at this point to the SSDs once they are all plugged in...?)
2. Install TRIM Enabler
(Once it's installed, what do I do with TRIM Enabler? Is it an app that runs 24/7 in the background, or is it an app that I need to launch on a regular basis and perform commands on the SSDs...? Very confused on what TRIM Enabler does.)
3. Use CCC to clone system from old internal hard drive to new internal SSD drive. When using CCC, deselect media folders in home account before cloning (so I am NOT cloning media folders from old hard drive to new SSD drive).
(What specific media folders should I be deselecting? I'd like to keep my music, movies, iPhoto/Lightroom files, and email archive where they are now -- on the 2 x 2TB internal drives that shipped with my Mac Pro. Is there a link that provides more info on this process? Never used CCC before but I assume it's not too hard to use...?)
4. CCC clones system gets 'cloned' (minus the media folders) to the SSD that is installed via SATA II in empty internal drive bay inside Mac Pro.
5. Repair the SSD with DU after cloning and before using and booting from SSD.
(What is DU? How does it work? Not familiar with DU...?)
6. Reboot computer from system running on SSD.
7. Open Photoshop/AfterEffects (now running from SSD) and assign new scratch disk (the SSDs on PCIe SSD controller).
8. After 100% sure that system + apps that have been cloned is working via SSD, delete ONLY system and apps from old hard drive (but do not delete media files).
(Now that my system is on a separate SSD drive, when I do things like purchase new music from iTunes, will it get downloaded to the old location (my old hard drive with all my media)? In other words, are there steps I have to perform in order to relink my media folders now that they're on a separate drive?
Thanks,
Dan

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3 drives to me = RAID3
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by Michael Holmes on Jul 24, 2012 at 11:18:08 pm
I shoot videos of local bands as a hobby. I have been mixing/mastering songs for these bands for 15 years, so this is a natural extension.
I would like to upgrade my 2010 Mac Pro 2x2.4 Quad Core. This computer is only for (1) FCP X and (2) Pro Tools HD Native. Currently my system works well on single cam editing as long as I don’t use a 3rd party plug-in…………then it drops frames big time. I am about to start using two FS100 camcorders, and I am worried that the Mac Pro won’t handle dual cam editing very well. I edit 100% in ProRes.
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(1) One 256GB SSD for OS/Apps
(2) One 512GB SSD for Event/Project folders.
512GB would be tight on some shoots, but I could even go to a Mercury Electra 960GB SSD.
Yes, very pricey storage, but if this would solve data transfer problems, it would be worth it.
If I only need one video card, I can use a PCIe slot for an external SATA drive unit (4 bays) I already have to handle all backup storage. So, the loss of the two HD bays to SSD would not be a big issue. HD bays are less dear than PCIe slots.

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Pop SSD into drive bay with adapter in FW800 drive adapter, use CCC to clone system and recovery partition.
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Hi guys,
I bought a Early 2008 Mac Pro.
I'm thinking about disk upgrade, to improve its performance. First i thought about Apricorn velocity x2 with a SSD mounted on it.
Then i saw this
Cavalry PCIe MLC SSD (256GB)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G5Q6Y26?psc=1
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Could i also boot from this?
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I have not seen LSI mentioned and would avoid that one
Dual boot CONFIRMED for new Apricorn Velocity DUO X2!!! ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)
SATA Express meets the '09 MacPro - Bootable NGFF PCIE SSD ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)
handheldgames
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I have a Mac Pro 1.1, Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 2.66 GHz with 11GB of RAM. Graphics card is ATY,RadeonX1900.
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Hi fferrari,
I find it sad that The hatter is right that so many view without any suggestions. I have a similar issue that I'm dealing with and my budget does not alow me to purchase a new MacPro. I'm also looking for a new graphics card to edit High Def video on my 1st Gen MacPro 2006. I tried the ATI 5770 but somehow forgot to notice that it requires Snow Leopard 10.6.x to work properly. I need something that works with Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard due to software issues and also with Windows XP SP2 via Bootcamp witch is on the Tiger HDD.
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Rio

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Hi,
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Sonnet is bootable. Nice. But you said you don't need that.
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FirmTek has 6G cards also.
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<edit> Bus-powered 2.5" drives or SSDs are not supported.
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My prior Seagate drive was a FW 800 and I found that a tad slow but tolerable. But it died under warranty and Seagate no longer makes it or any FW portable drives so they replaced mine with their latest drive, which is USB 3.0. They even bumped me from 1.5 TB to 2TB since they don't make 1.5 TB drives anymore either.
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I'm having a hard time trying to figure out which brand to go with that'll be compatible with my Mac Pro 2009 model and will work well under OSX Mavericks.
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LOTS of choices, depends if you want ones that will work without fuss (ATI 5770 & 5870 plus Mac edition EVGA 680 and Sapphire 7950) still give you boot screens if you option boot.
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