Which SSD for Mac Pro 2006 1,1

Hey guys,
I've done a lot of research the past couple days and I think I got a decent amount of knowledge but before I purchase I wanted to ask your opinions.
I have a Mac Pro 2006 with the original hard drives in it and I'm looking to speed it up. I see SSDs are now a lot more affordable so I gotta take advantage.
I use my computer for making music and recording but I do hip hop music, not live music or bands so I don't have to record a lot of tracks at once I just want to speed things up. Plus help my software move a little faster when I make beats.
I'm looking to get a SSD as my boot drive and I want around 250gb to be safe so I narrowed it down to these three:
Intel 730
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-SERIES-2-5-Inch-Internal-SSDSC2BP240G4R5/dp/B00IF4NG EU/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2Y5691XAL3WET
Crucial MX100
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFAGCWK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1& smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Samsung 840 EVO
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E3W1726/ref=gno_cart_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s mid=A19W1SYPKVVBJO
I read that there are better/faster SSDs out there but can my old 2006 Mac Pro even make use of better/faster drives speed? Are any of the 3 I've picked reliable enough to feel comfortable purchasing?
I still don't understand what TRIM is exactly, can someone help me with that? I'm gonna go look it up now but just wondered about that specifically with these 3 drives...
I'm also going with a Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB drive for the data... Is that overkill for my 2006 machine? Will I even notice a difference in speed with this Caviar Black as opposed to maybe the Blue or Green drive?
I appreciate the time guys! Thanks so much I'm excited to get my Mac Pro moving like my MacBook Pro with its 300gb SSD

An SSD is probably the best bang-4-buck improvement in performance, and today's are far better than 4 years ago (and avoid all the pitfalls of the early SATA III models).
The larger the SSD, the more "pipes" or channels, and you want to aim for 50% free, you need TRIM to be enabled, and yes you will notice.
Then you want to clone the SSD and have a system restore image that you can boot from and to run Disk Utility repair so that "trimming' is performed.
Sometimes you want to research when you buy one and get it delivered and check to see if there are firmware update for it for your Mac.
I could never go back and be satisfied with even a 10K drive though that can come close - almost - but with a lot of chatter noise.
The 2TB drive will do well. Now make sure to backup, use TimeMachine, and invest in drives and software to clone those. You could use 2-3TB WD Green for those depending on how much data and full that 2TB will be.

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PCIe x1 video Card for Mac Pro 2006?

Hello ,
My need is a little backwards of the regular request. We have a 2006 Mac Pro (upgraded to the dual quad-core Xeon 2.33ghz E5345) we are using for LTO data backup, not the usual graphics/editing setup.
So what we have found is the original NVidia card is PCIe 8x graphics, we also have an 8x RAID card and an 8x SAS HBA for the LTO tape drives. All this is taxing the PCIe bus on this older mac. We would like to free things up a bit by putting in a video card that does not attempt to use, or at least reserve a full 8 lanes for it's own use.
If this was a newer Mac Pro then no issue... But as it is now, I am getting lockups and freezes and other issues that I am sure are related to having 3 high-bandwidth cards in the same machine.
Anyone know of a good x1 business graphics card that can work for a Mac Pro (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
Robert

Move the cards.
Some slots can't be 16x, and one can't be 8 or 16x.
Also, the PCIe is 1.1 which means half the bandwidth of current specification.
A driver or utility ought to tell you it isn't getting bandwIdth I guess.
A PC with PCIe 2.1, or wait for next generation of motherboards that could have even more bandwidth, PCIe 3.0, to support things like ThunderBolt, SSD controllers with 8 and 16Gbit/sec in bandwidth.
Or a computer with more than 4 PCIe slots or an expansion chassis.
What could be cause?
drivers
IOKit
Rule out means trial and error of trying with just one thing changed at a time and get it working, then move on.
7300GT in slot #3 for starters.
Put your most demanding in slot #1 which is double width.
More air flow, boost the darn fan rpm and keep them @ 1200 rpm
I'd pull drive bay #4 and keep it free to allow more airflow for an 8x card
High density FBDIMMs. Odd but 4GB DIMMs run cooler and better, and in 1,1 the ideal is just a set of 4 (two on each Riser) for 4 x 2GB or 4 x 4GB.
Different SAS and RAID cards. Maybe they don't get along and have bus contention or driver conflict.
Are you using ATTO? usually a good bet.
You aren't using Mid-2010 Mac Pro and can't use 64-bit kernel, which is a shame but simplifies troubleshooting and no issue with 64-bit drivers.

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

Which SSD for Macbook Pro 2011 Mavericks?

Hi,
Can anyone advise me which SSD should I get to run my MBP 2011 (Mavericks)?
I am debating btw Samsung 840Pro and Crucial M500 (250GB). I have read that Samsung 840Evo is not "Mac friendly".
Based on UserBenchMark, I have to go for the Samsung (http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-840-Pro-256GB-vs-Crucial-M500-240GB /1408vs1551).
Thanks!
B

Thanks Clinton - It really helps!
Last question. Cost wise Samsung 840Pro is 1/3 more expensive thant Crucial M500.
On a MBP early 2011 running Mavericks, am I going to see a 31% speed increase compare to the M500 (link below)?
I am not budget driven and happy to spend more if I have a better ROI.
Thank you.
Bertil
FYI - http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Samsung-840-Pro-256GB-vs-Crucial-M500-240GB /1408vs1551

Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 for Mac Pro 2006?

The official documentation is confusing because Apple lists the 2006 Mac Pro as "incompatible" with Windows 7 here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986 but at the bottom of the same page it states that the update is for the "Mac Pro with NVIDIA Geforce 7300 GT" which is the original card that the 2006 Mac Pro came with. The page makes no reference to the specific model other than that.
Also, the compatibility page for the update here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3967 lists graphics "Device ID 0x0393, or 0x009D" as the applicable units, one of which, ID 0x0393, matches the 7300 GT in my 2006 Mac Pro.
Again, no reference to specific Mac Pro generation is made on any page, including the driver download page
here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/firmware_hardware/graphicsfirmwareup date10imacandmacprocompatibilitywithwindows7.html
only the points I outlined.
Is this an error on the part of Apple or is it for the 2006 Mac Pro?

Marketing seems to write the technical hardware articles lately!
Even though not supported officially, and while Windows 7 Pro 32-bit will only allow 2GB RAM, it does boot and install. 64-bit you have to jump through extra hoops is all.
UEFI made it easier to have a BIOS and/or EFI subset, but UEFI came out 1/2006 and Apple probably settled on EFI32. It wasn't until 2008 that UEFI 2.1 showed in Mac Pro and which marks the "official support" point in time and hardware reference.
I was surprised - dumbfounded - to see the 7300GT firmware update too. And I had to remove mine when installing Windows Vista x64 in the past, and for the RC last year.

Maximum HD size for Mac Pro (2006) Dual Core 2.66GHZ

I have purchased a second hand Mac Pro which has 4 empty HD bays, I would like to put at least 1TB, perhaps 2TB in each bay for a total of between 3 to 6TB maximum storage in the empty bays, but apparently Apple only formally supports up to 2 TB of storage with four 500 GB hard drives (one in each internal bay).
Has anyone had any problems with larger than recommended HD's?

1 TB and 2 TB are fine
Disks larger than 2.2 TB:have a problem being formated with the later OSX versions:
Format large disks
That bug appeared in 10.8.4, and has not yet been fixed.
using a Disk Utility from any older Mac OS X, including the mentioned 10.6 DVD (if your Mac can boot from it) or any saved Installer DVD or thumb drive will work.
Another work-around is to move that drive to an external enclosure and Erase it there (provided your enclosure is modern enough to deal with drives over 2.2TB.
Also, some disks larger than 3 TB or so have problems with the screws retaining the disks in the sled being too long because of the extra platters in the large disks

Which monitor for mac pro and FCP

Hi,
I'm using a quad core mac pro with a Dell 2407wfp. In this setup I mainly do FCP editing. The monitor is 4 years old and I like to replace it for a larger one. I recently saw a setup with a Samsung P2770HD full hd and a tv tuner on board. Will this be good enough for FCP editing and reviewing HD content?
TIA

Will this be good enough for FCP editing and reviewing HD content?
Probably not - but I have no experience with that monitor.
Not what you asked but why not keep the Dell for displaying FCP timeline, bins, etc and purchase a quality HDTV and the means to feed it a hd signal (eg AJA Kona series, various Blackmagic cards, Matrox MXO series, etc) for viewing output?
x

Which OS for Mac Pro (3,1) 2 x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon?

I purchased my Mac Pro 3,1 2 x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 10.5 (Leopard)-
I want to wipe the disc clean and clean install lion.
I do know that sometimes it's better for older configurations to stay with "older" OS platforms....???
thanks

Is there not a full 10.7 OS Disc?
There is no official DVD at all, but there is a thumb drive with both 106 and 10.7 on it for US$70.
On an older Mac, about 2010 or older, you need access to one of:
• The Mac App Store ( such as on a Mac with a working 10.6.8 or better)
• working Recovery HD
• a bootable 10.7 Installer, on thumb drive, Hard drive, or DVD
So for ONE 2010 or older Mac with a bad drive, you would have to buy the US$70 Apple thumb drive, or have previously made a DVD or Hard Drive when you previously downloaded 10.7. Or you re-install 10.6.8 then overwrite it with the downloaded 10.7.
• another Mac with 10.7 installed so you could transfer Recovery HD to the down Mac with "Lion Recovery Disk Assistant"
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery Disk Assistant
On some 2010 and most 2011 models, if Recovery HD is messed up or not Installed, but you have a working Broadband connection [with DHCP enabled], the Firmware has been upgraded so it will boot from the Internet and do the whole job using "Lion Internet Recovery" as described in the second section of this glossy article:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/
If no DHCP is available [no Router upstream, either yours or your ISP's], it may not work.

Imac for dummies which book for mac pro

I am a switcher who has just bought a Mac Book Pro OS X version 10.9. A friend recommended imac for dummies but there are a number of editions, can you please tell me one which would be best suited to my needs.

You should purchase MacBook for Dummies. Not iMac for Dummies. You can purchase MacBook for Dummies off of Amazon right here. It is the latest edition
Austin

Original Apple SSD for Mac Pro Identification

Anyone can tell the technical data and name of original SSD (256/512gb)
Someone tells that it was toshiba, someone that original intel....where is the truth?

you want to buy an SSD? then look at the reviews or just get Samsung 840 or EVO.
Apple use to use both you mention based on storage size and Toshiba were slow and all smaller SSDs have fewer channels.
Whatever they used you can get 500GB Samsung $319 today.
And there are other uses, for graphic catalogues, scratch.

Will there be an update for older Mac Pro, 2006 models?

Im running Lion, but Mountain Lion is not compatible with Mac Pro 2006 model(the first one).

No, because the reason you cannot use Mountain Lion is of a hardware nature.
There are some who claim they have successfully booted Mountain Lion on a Mac Pro 1,1. See this article.

How can I connect older Mac Pro (2006) to my network wirelessly?

I just got a new (2012) MacPro that I can connect wirelessly to my network. I'm moving the old Mac Pro (2006) running OS 10.7.5 that had been connect via ethernet cable to the other end of the house. What do I need to get to connect it wirelessly?
Thanks,
Carmen

Carmen,
Since the Wireless card was optional back then, you may not have gotten it in your original config?
You can verify if the hardware is installed several places, as Bob mentioned, do you have the option to enable wireless under your System Prefs \ Network (I would imagine not, since your asking). However, while very unlikely, it may be installed but your not able to see/select it for some reason?
So, just to make sure, you can also verify via looking under "System Information" (you'll want some info from there anyway).
"Apple Menu : About This Mac : More Info : System Report : Network : (look for Wi-Fi etc.)" if it exist you'll see the card and info about it.
If you don't have the option nor see a card was installed you can go about this a few ways.
1. The absolute easiest route (to NOT have to deal with 3rd party drivers or possible 3rd party issues when you upgrade your OS etc) is check out places like Macsales and see if they have any of the original Air Port extreme cards available and install yourself. - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/BCM94322MC/
2. You could talk with Macsales and ask which external USB wireless card works best with your rig (least fussy) and go that route. While several brands work just fine, you just never know when something changes in an update and then your faced with the old pointing fingers thing. Rare, but still....
Also, while your in the System Information area you'll want to note your model, if it's 2006, I think that's Mac Pro 1,1 ?
Hope that helps.

Mac Pro 2006 Kernel Panic

My stock Mac Pro 2006 just started showing the Kernel Panic screen at start-up. First saw the Kernel Panic this afternoon after leaving the system for less than an hour with a game running (EV Nova in a Pause screen). A reboot brought the system back up for a while, I was running Safari for maybe 10-15 minutes when the Kernel Panic screen showed up again.
Tried the three stock Apple-recommended reboot options, reboot with X key down, reboot with Opt key down and PRAM reset and reboot. No luck; the Panic Kernel screen came on after each one. Also tried the original OS X 10.4 install disk during and Opt key reboot; same Kernel Panic.
And 10.5 and 10.6 universal upgrade disks; the 10.6 disk got to the grey screen with the Apple logo and the spinning activity symbol which stopped after a while, the Apple logo went away and no further screen activity; the 10.5 disk actually got to a light blue screen with a cursor, but no other icons, the cursor did change to a text I-bar at certain areas in the center of the screen and the disk drive would spin up after some mouse or keyboard activity, no screen activity and no further progress.
The boot drive appears to be accessible as the OS on it shows up during the Opt key start-up. I also reset the PRAM several times, so do not think that is the problem. Could the battery need replacing or possibly I have a RAM module just go bad on me?
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Dave

Update: I have switched out every RAM module (4 X 512 MB) in turn and switched the two riser cards in every combination of one pair of RAM in the top riser card. After each reboot, the kernel panic screen comes back. Could one bad riser card, even if unpopulated and on the bottom cause the kernel panic? Any way to test my system more without swapping parts other than the RAM in and out?

Mac Pro 2006 worth it?

Someone local to me is selling his Mac Pro 2006. Its a 2 x 2.66 Dual Core with 6 Gigs RAM. No warranty.
I have been reading about this model and that it cannot boot 64 Bit Snow Leopard and Windows Vista/7 64 Bit because the EMI is only 32 bit.
I was planning on adding another 6 gigs to have a total of 12 Gigs and want the system to see all the RAM both in Mac OS and Windows.
The system is 4 years old at this point and don't want to send $1500 for something obsolete but I do love the Mac Pro form factor because of the expandability and don't have $2500+ to buy a new Mac Pro.
Your thoughts? Pro's ? Con's?
Thanks all...

The Specials section is nearly empty, but yes, and I'd expect to see a lot more models, espcially if/when 2010 model is rolled out.
That said, I use my Mac Pro for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, and while it feels a little more sluggish than what 2009 model would be (I'm using my own custom built PC with "best of class" parts and oc'd processor) it is quiet, decent system still after 3 yrs.
The cost of, and lack of parts, like graphics, RAM etc was one reason I went and built my first PC.
The plus side of that olde Mac Pro is you don't need to jump into Snow Leopard which is still rough around the 64-bit edges of drivers, still runs Tiger if need be as well - latest can be bleeding edge and it can cut both ways.
If you can get a 60 day guarantee and cut the price to $1200 it might be fine. Otherwise, check out used/ref'd iMac line.

Mac Pro 2006, no display, TDM works. Video uploaded. Been to Apple.

Hi,
I have a Mac Pro 2006 and it's ben broken for a little while now. I tried all I could to fix it, reset everything, pressed all reset buttons on Logic Board, changed GPU. But the problem remains. When I start it the mac chimes, as usual and starts up in Target Disk Mode if I hold T (as it's obviously supposed to). The video shows you what happens when I start it up in regards to diagnostic LEDs.
http://youtu.be/jCMPG7Be9WE
Back in the Autumn I took it to an Apple Store. They said it needs a new Logic Board. I don't believe they are correct. If it starts in TDM and starts in alternative boot mode (holding alt key) but does not display anything surely it is a different issue and I shouldn't have to pay for a new LB, which they quoted me £300 ($500US) for?
Can anyone offer any suggestions?
Thank you.

My MacPro 3.1 (QuadCore 2.8 GHZ, 8 GB RAM, ATI X2600, Mac OS X 10.6.1) has the same Problems for some days.
At first I thought it didn't boot up at all, just after several trials....
Then the screen kept blank for several days....
Today I realized that it was booting and kept running until sleeptime.
Via remotelogin I can see a smaller desktop, Aperture tells (my iPhone has new Photos and Aperture is my default for iPhone synching) me the GPU is not supported and SystemProfiler reports that the GPU is not recognized.
I don't know what's happening, I had some graphical faults in the past week (the space for the fast-user-switching-name was blank for a few days and so on, reboots helped)...
Then the disks (booting Leopard from a 2x500GB RAID-0) were just recognized after every 4th to 5th reboot...
Seems to be really a GPU Problem, will try to swap the ATI X 2600 from one slot to another within the next days...

Which SSD for Mac Pro 2006 1,1

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