Modding #3: SSD

Original: conventional HD with 512 GB

Replacements (as of 2014): 
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB Media (System Drive)
WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0 3 TB (Data Drive)

Upgrade Process: Plug'n'Play. The four internal HD SATA slots gave me much room for experimenting with different HD setups. I finally ended up with a rather large SSD for the system and a WD Green 3 TB for massive data and yet decent sounds/temperatures.

Trim Support: Out of the box, Trim support is only available for SSDs provided by Apple.

Update - as of Mavericks 10.10.4, Apple finally allows TRIM support for third party SSDs. Ars Technica provides for the instruction, and it just works:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/06/latest-os-x-update-allows-you-to-enable-trim-for-third-party-ssds/

So no further workarounds required. You might need to execute this command with every further OS X update, we will see.

With OSX 10.9.4, Chameleon TRIM Enabler no longer works easily, and TRIM must be activated manually. I can confirm the following solution as working (two Terminal commands):

sudo perl -pi -e 's|(^\x00{1,20})[^\x00]{9}(\x00{1,20}\x54)|$1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00$2|sg' /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOAHCIBlockStorage

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/

Source: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/Chameleon_SSD_Optimizer.html#OSX_Trim_Commands

 
Then reboot the system, and TRIM support should be back again.


Benefit: Even with the SATA2 interface, the switch to SSD provided to be the single most important performance boost. This is not about benchmarks, it's about everyday usage. Booting time is ridiculously short. Startup times of the most frequently used apps improved significantly.

So even with the slower SATA2 interface, an upgrade of every MacPro to SSD for the system is highly recommended.

Be careful to check TRIM support with every single upgrade in the System Profiler, such as here:

Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB:

  Capacity:    500,11 GB (500.107.862.016 bytes)
  Model:    Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB              
  Revision:    EXT0BB6Q
  Serial Number:    S1DHNEADA18741V    
  Native Command Queuing:    Yes
  Queue Depth:    32
  Removable Media:    Yes
  Detachable Drive:    No
  BSD Name:    disk0
  Medium Type:    Solid State
  TRIM Support:    Yes
  Partition Map Type:    GPT (GUID Partition Table)
  S.M.A.R.T. status:    Verified