Keeping my 2008 Mac Pro alive (HD and fans?)
Howdy. I have a Mac Pro from 2008 that is currently working great, but I fear the HD and at least one fan is failing. The HD sounds like it's spinning up/down too frequently and once in a while I hear... clicks. I also hear a constant whining sound that increases and decreases with consistency -- the only thing I can think of is that it's one of the ,amy fans starting to go. the computer is nowhere near time to be replaced. So I have a few questions.
HARD DRIVE:
I want to swap out the hard drive BEFORE it fails. I want to get an SD drive (256GB I think) AND a replacement internal HD for documents (1-2TB).
What should I look for when shopping new egg or other places to make sure I get something compatible with my 2008 Mac Pro?
What's the best process I would use to get everything off my internal drive on to the new drives? I do use use Time Machine to back up to an external drive. I wouldn't mind if I have to first moving everything to the ssd and then selectively move documents off the ssd and on to the new HD. Would I somehow just restore the Time Machine backup to the new ssd drive? How?
Once I have the new drives in place, can I still use Time Mahine to back up both the ssd and the new HD? Or does each one needs its own drive to back up to?
FANS:
I should probably first determining if my fan hunch if correct. I don't see any fluctuations in fan RPMs using iStat. Is it OK to use my finger or a pencil to stop each of the fans for a few seconds to see if the whining stops? Or will that burn out the motor? If it does wind up being one of the fans, are those easy to find replacements? I'd rather replace that, too, before it fails so that nothing fries in the computer if it does fail.
Thanks so much!
Nothing you're asking for here is difficult.
I have a 2008 as well and am planning for a SSD in the near future. I rather like the SATA2 units OWC is offering. You can use either SATA 2 or SATA3 and it's possible to upgrade your system to benefit from the SATA3 units that are being offered, but it's quite expensive because you need a bootable SATA3 board (about $1000) so I'll take advantage of the lower cost SATA 2.
So far as the replacement hard drives go, any SATA drive will work, with the best values being the multi-terabyte drives. Drive speed is also a cost issue and if you require very high performance then you want 7200 RPM minimum. But the new "intellient power" models perform very nicely for "normal" usage. Sources I use include Amazon.com, transintl.com, OWC, and NewEgg.
I had a couple of fan failures on my PowerMac G-5s and found good replacements on Amazon for reasonable prices. They're virtually all sold as "PC fans" so you need to make sure they're the correct spec. (It's not hard.)
Stopping a fan momentarily won't harm a healthy one, but use a pencil eraser unless you're a machanic or a masochist... LOL.
Good luck
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@ Grant
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SSD: Loading CS5 plus other little monsters might matter.
Lots of small I/Os
latency of 1/100th where nanoseconds replace those "long" milliseconds
System: Small and fast.
DLLoyd even goes for short-stroking drives to get and maintain highest I/O
The new 10k VRs hit 200MB/sec - I still use them and still find them useful, long lasting, feel responsive with whatever I ask of them. I know they get criticized and "cost too much"
Just bought a new WD Black and yes it is better than the 2008 model I was using.
600GB 10K $200 vs $150-220 for WD Black. your choice
I can destroy a 7.2k drive, I have brought ever 10K drive back after a simple WD Extended Test in Lifeguard.
I don't really care about $$/GB or I wouldn't have just bought Intel 128GB $149
Database: the pros put the index in memory and page fix (virtual volumes in memory; cache; hold disk drive index in memory). Caching storage has been around for almost 40 yrs.
Today you can use SSDs as front end cache to hold DB indexes and frequent data for web servers and such adn use slower secondary storage.
SSD + SAS + 4TB storage
Separating the system from data: #1 must
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Several sources has stated that this card will work in the Early 2008 Mac Pro, but I am having issues. The card tests as bad and on restart the card is not seen as being installed. I can Screen Share and verify through System Profiler that the card is not seen by the system. Is anyone else having this issue, or is it just my luck?
and this is an Apple version card, right? not a PC.
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ATI Radeon HD 5870 Upgrade
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2008 Mac Pro 10.5.8 shuts down after hours of no use, Set to never shut down. Can be resumed pressing any key but all programs not in startup list need to be restarted and unsaved data lost . New behavior. No system changes.
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<Email Edited By Host>Vista Ultimate 64-bit recognizes 8 cores. 32-bit recognizes one physical cpu.
I've had very little trouble in two years. And now I do like Windows 7 but also eager for the RC.
I've been using the latest Nvidia. There is a method to the madness of how to uninstall/delete and install graphics drivers, or madness in the method. The W7 drivers are easier.
Nope. Something else. More sensitive to disk errors. You aren't running a program to boost fans. Something.
And some AV software is more prone to causing trouble. But all you need is a good AV/malware program, and even Norton AV 2009 is acceptable, or Avast or one of the others.
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