Question about adding Hard Drive and Optical Drive to Mac Pro

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm converting my home from Windows to Mac and just sold my Windows laptop to get a MacBook Pro. Within the next couple months I plan to upgrade my Windows Desktop to a Mac Pro.

The Windows desktop I have I plan keep as a secondary computer but it has two internal 250 GB SATA (3.5") Maxtor Hard Drives. I have no use for two hard drives once I do the upgrade so plan to keep one and remove the other. My question:

Can I simply add this to the Mac Pro as a 2nd hard drive for extra data. It wouldn't replace the main hard drive that comes with the Mac Pro. Would this be possible and is this hard to do? I'm relatively new to Mac so don't know if it uses common PC Components.

As well, depending how the hidef war plays out I want to eventually add a HD DVD or Blu-Ray Reader/Burner. Can I in addition to the Superdrive that comes with the Mac Pro add this as a 2nd drive if it's a common off the shelf optical drive?

i know there are some possible changes coming soon to the Mac Pro but I assume this is one thing that won't change between the current and new model.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    MacPros come with SATA-3 hard drives but a regular SATA also works, in fact the SATA drive from my old expired G5 is the second drive in my MacPro.



    There's a second optical bay in the MacPro, so yes you can add another drive.



    Both theses upgrades are user friendly. Adding a hard drive is simple, the optical drive takes more work. Search on the Apple site for a downloadable MacPro user guide, which contains directions for both upgrades.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    leonardleonard Posts: 528member
    Mac Pro Do it Yourself Manuals http://www.apple.com/support/manuals/macpro_diy/
  • Reply 3 of 4
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    The maxtors will work no problem. The optical drives present a small problem. Apple uses a smaller lip on the front of their trays. If you're going to buy an off the shelf drive, you're going to half to remove the lip or it will catch on the front of the Mac Pro's case. Removing isn't easy and basically requires a power supply. That being said, MCE tech sells 18x superdrives and Blu-Ray that already have those modifications.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I realize this is an old thread but...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    The maxtors will work no problem.



    Yes. The only drives that might be a problem now is Hitachi brand SATA drives. I did find in the manual for a Firmtek SATA card that Hitachi drives can cause problems because they Spread Spectrum Clocking turned on. I don't know if the Mac Pro chipset can handle that or not, but that is something to consider.
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