MP 14,8 2023 Mac Pro - adding internal PCIe storage?..ADDED!

[wgr73]

Hey guys!

I have my new M2 Ultra Mac Pro with only a 1 TB SSD.

I’m looking to add 4+TB in the PCIe slots

What do you recommend? I see OWC sells a few different setups (8TB setups are nice as well).

I’m not sure what all works in the new M2, but by the looks of it even the older 2019 PCIe stuff should work.

Am I missing something?

Not really looking to add the Apple 4TB NVME stuff

Edit: Ended up adding the 8TB setup from OWC! Love it. Blazing fast, faster than the onboard SSD!

 

[VelNZ]

Hey,

I've got a 2023 Mac Pro on the way too and have been researching storage options as well. OWC have some good options, including the monster 26GB/s cards, but for something cheaper also check out Sonnet: https://www.sonnettech.com/product/computer-cards/cards.html They have banners on most of their PCIe cards that they work in the 2023 Mac Pro.

 

[Mac3Duser]

it's good to read that some have bought this mac pro, what will be your use?

 

[Spock]

it's good to read that some have bought this mac pro, what will be your use?

Bragging rights and/or decoration.

 

[wgr73]

it's good to read that some have bought this mac pro, what will be your use?

I do a lot of VM work, video editing, and some photo work.

 

[wgr73]

Hey,

I've got a 2023 Mac Pro on the way too and have been researching storage options as well. OWC have some good options, including the monster 26GB/s cards, but for something cheaper also check out Sonnet: https://www.sonnettech.com/product/computer-cards/cards.html They have banners on most of their PCIe cards that they work in the 2023 Mac Pro.

Thank you!

Purchased this one: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDACL8M208T/

8TB seems to be the best bang for the buck.

And I’ll have this system for a long time. I'll post up my review when I get it!

 

[MisterAndrew]

Bragging rights and/or decoration.

I think you're right because I can't think of anything in particular that can't be handled by a less expensive Mac (M2 Ultra Studio for Apple Silicon or 2019 Mac Pro for slots), but I hope it works out well for the folks who bought one. Seems like an odd choice for VM stuff. I think the extra RAM of the 2019 model would be better for that.

I think the best buy for a Mac Pro would be a refurbished base 2019 plus an RX 6900 XT and a RAM upgrade. That takes care of PCIe slot needs and GPU power.

 

[wgr73]

I don't really have anyone to brag to but myself 😅

I like the way it looks, I like having a newer system, and I like Apple Silicon.

I have a Studio on order as well, but with no expandability I kind of don't like that. I'll probably just cancel that order

 

[Longplays]

Bragging rights and/or decoration.

From a PC person isn't that how they look at almost all Mac users?

 

[wgr73]

Very Fast! BlackMagic is reporting 10,200 Read/10,300 Write with SoftRaid enabled.

8TB is exactly what I wanted!

 

[Longplays]

Very Fast! BlackMagic is reporting 10,200 Read/10,300 Write with SoftRaid enabled.

8TB is exactly what I wanted!

View attachment 2222701

No unboxing videos/photos?

No undressing/uncasing videos/photos?

I expect you to speedily get work done.

 

[wgr73]

Shoot I'm sorry! lol. Too excited to get to the play around!

 

[Analog Kid]

Very Fast! BlackMagic is reporting 10,200 Read/10,300 Write with SoftRaid enabled.

8TB is exactly what I wanted!

View attachment 2222701

That is a beautiful thing...

 

[wgr73]

That is a beautiful thing...

I'm am totally happy with it!

Did a reboot and it's pulling 10,000W/13,000R consistently

 

[AAPLGeek]

[deleted]

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Very Fast! BlackMagic is reporting 10,200 Read/10,300 Write with SoftRaid enabled.

8TB is exactly what I wanted!

View attachment 2222701

Are you getting that from the OWC card, for from the built in storage? It's great regardless! I'm guessing it's the OWC card. Curious what your internal SSD reports.

 

[wgr73]

Are you getting that from the OWC card, for from the built in storage? It's great regardless! I'm guessing it's the OWC card. Curious what your internal SSD reports.

Yep OWC.

Internal is 5,000-6,000/7,000.

Crazy owc is quicker

 

[Yebubbleman]

I do a lot of VM work, video editing, and some photo work.

Curious, which VM tools are you using?

 

[wgr73]

Curious, which VM tools are you using?

Parallels

 

[PowerMike G5]

Very nice.

Can you show us what your PCIE Expansion Utility looks like with that card running in an PCIE 4.0 x16 slot.

It will give us a good idea on how many additional lanes are left when using a RAID controller card like this.

When I went to an Apple Store recently, I saw the stock cards already taking up 88% of Pool A. So curious here.

 

[wgr73]

Very nice.

Can you show us what your PCIE Expansion Utility looks like with that card running in an PCIE 4.0 x16 slot.

It will give us a good idea on how many additional lanes are left when using a RAID controller card like this.

When I went to an Apple Store recently, I saw the stock cards already taking up 88% of Pool A. So curious here.

 

[PowerMike G5]

Thanks, but I'm asking for the PCIE Expansion Slot Utility that shows you the PCIE lane usage between the 2 pools allocated. I've attached mine for reference.

I'm trying to see how much allocation a full PCIE 4.0 x16 card takes up in the new Mac Pro to better get a sense of how much bandwidth there really is for those 6 open slots in that machine.

 

[elfamosisimoJON]

How hot can the OWC card gets? do you hear any fan noise? do you have iStats or something similar to monitor de temps of each ssd?

 

[wgr73]

Thanks, but I'm asking for the PCIE Expansion Slot Utility that shows you the PCIE lane usage between the 2 pools allocated. I've attached mine for reference.

I'm trying to see how much allocation a full PCIE 4.0 x16 card takes up in the new Mac Pro to better get a sense of how much bandwidth there really is for those 6 open slots in that machine.

View attachment 2223542

I’ll get this in the morning. My bad

 

[wgr73]

How hot can the OWC card gets? do you hear any fan noise? do you have iStats or something similar to monitor de temps of each ssd?

I actually don’t even have the power plugged into the OWC enclosure.

I’ll turn istat on to monitor