MP 7,1 Choosing a PCI NVMe Card?

[choreo]

I am trying to decide between adding either:

• The new Sonnet M.2 4x4 Silent PCIe Card and adding (4) Samsung 1TB 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSDs, or
• The OWC 4TB Accelsior 4M2 PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD

Any opinions? The Sonnet is only about $100 more - just wondering if it might be a more reliable option since I am reading about some suspected Accelsior problems on the forum with the 7,1? Of course, I guess the Sonnet has not even started shipping yet?

 

[Polymorphic]

I just got the Sonnet. I'm running 3x Samsung drives in it right now (mix of 960 Pro and 970 Pro). No problems to report. Disk speed tests are nominal.

 

[LeonPro]

What's the problem with the previous Accelsior cards which I assumed were the previous fan version? Looking at this newest fan-less version which now makes sense in a 2019 Mac Pro to make use of the existing gigantic fans and airflow, it claims to use x16 lanes for a whopping acclaimed 11,000 MB/s+ read/write. My only reservation with this are the measly surface area of the heatsink which barely covers the cards. If it generates that much speed and therefore heat, they should have equipped it with a gigantic heatsink that covers the whole PCIe board. The good thing about Sonnet is that it appears to be a hardware RAID 0 and 1 solution which makes is more versatile (any other RAID config and you'll need to purchase SoftRAID).

Which brings me to OWC's Accelsior 4M2. Granted real world speed is acclaimed 6,000 MB/s, I prefer this more in terms of proper cooling, but at the expense of slower speed and a full time software RAID solution which you don't have to purchase as they are including a SoftRAID license.

That makes the Sonnet more expensive, but people buying a 2019 Mac Pro I assume have factored in these costs in their expansion as they were configuring their system.

 

[choreo]

I just got the Sonnet. I'm running 3x Samsung drives in it right now (mix of 960 Pro and 970 Pro). No problems to report. Disk speed tests are nominal.

Did you get the new "fanless" version?

 

[joevt]

The good thing about Sonnet is that it appears to be a hardware RAID 0 and 1 solution which makes is more versatile (any other RAID config and you'll need to purchase SoftRAID).

If it had hardware RAID, then wouldn't it support booting RAID? Since it does not supporting booting from RAID, then I think maybe RAID 0 and RAID 1 are supported by Disk Utility, while RAID 5 is supported by Soft RAID?

 

[LeonPro]

If it had hardware RAID, then wouldn't it support booting RAID? Since it does not supporting booting from RAID, then I think maybe RAID 0 and RAID 1 are supported by Disk Utility, while RAID 5 is supported by Soft RAID?

Ah good point. Which makes sense why RAID 5 isn't supported. So OWC looks like a better value overall with the included RAID licensing and massive cooling. Sonnet is great for pure speed alone.

 

[Polymorphic]

Did you get the new "fanless" version?

Yes, I purchased this one: https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m2-4x4-pcie-card/overview.html

 

[joevt]

Yes, I purchased this one: https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m2-4x4-pcie-card/overview.html

Does it have hardware RAID or do they expect you to use Disk Utility or SoftRAID?

 

[choreo]

If it had hardware RAID, then wouldn't it support booting RAID? Since it does not supporting booting from RAID, then I think maybe RAID 0 and RAID 1 are supported by Disk Utility, while RAID 5 is supported by Soft RAID?

According to this, it does not support boot in RAID configuration.

M.2 4x4 NVMe SSD Silent PCIe Card - Tech Specs - Sonnet

View videos, reviews and tech specs for M.2 4x4 NVMe SSD PCIe Card, and determine hardware and OS compatibility.

www.sonnettech.com

Also looks like the OWC has a 5 year warranty vs 2 years on the Sonnet (if that matters)?

 

[flowrider]

I posted this:

I'm using two SSD cards with six Samsung SSDs. One SM951 AHCI, Two 970 Pros and Three 970 EVOs. My cards are a HighPoint 7103 and a Syba I/O Crest. No problems with the cards or SSDs. I'm not using RAID. I used both cards in my 5,1 cMP before I received my NcMP 7,1.

In another thread that you were a part of.

Lou

 

[choreo]

FYI - I received a response to some questions I had from Sonnet Tech Support which said:

1) Yes, we have a new ‘silent’ version here, AND the original version with fan here.​

​

2) Fanless version, in stock and available now.​

​

3) You can use single-sided M.2 2280 modules like these shown here with these cards.​

​

See our Compatibility Chart here for a list of known-compatible configurations.​

Looking at their compatibility chart, The Samsung 970 EVO Plus has a superscript notation which says "Current version compatible with macOS. Older modules require firmware update, which must be installed under Windows."

So, if I were to order a set of Samsung 970 EVO Plus sticks, how would I know I am ordering the "current version"? I don't own anything with Windows installed.

 

[LeonPro]

FYI - I received a response to some questions I had from Sonnet Tech Support which said:

1) Yes, we have a new ‘silent’ version here, AND the original version with fan here.​

​

2) Fanless version, in stock and available now.​

​

3) You can use single-sided M.2 2280 modules like these shown here with these cards.​

​

See our Compatibility Chart here for a list of known-compatible configurations.​

Looking at their compatibility chart, The Samsung 970 EVO Plus has a superscript notation which says "Current version compatible with macOS. Older modules require firmware update, which must be installed under Windows."

So, if I were to order a set of Samsung 970 EVO Plus sticks, how would I know I am ordering the "current version"? I don't own anything with Windows installed.

You won't know. You take a chance by ordering from a large retailer and be assured you are not receiving an old firmware. I ordered from my local big chain computer store for same day pick up and verified in the OS System Report that it has the latest firmware.

Here's a topic on the memory card:

Samsung M.2 970 EVO Plus firmware upgrade problem solved

EDIT : If you buy a Samsung 970 EVO M.2 blade, install it but before formatting check the FIRMWARE revision in " About this Mac/ NVMe "first. It should be 2B2QEXM7. If it is 1B2QEXM7 you will have problems with the blade. ==================================================== I bought a 500gb...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[flowrider]

So, if I were to order a set of Samsung 970 EVO Plus sticks, how would I know I am ordering the "current version"? I don't own anything with Windows installed.

The 970 EVO Plus has been the subject of numerous threads on this site. As I remember, the firmware was updated by Samsung back in September, So if you ordered now from a legitimate seller the chances off getting one from the original stock are pretty rare.

Lou

 

[KeesMacPro]

The 970 EVO has been the subject of numerous threads on this site

I suppose you mean the 970 EVO PLUS , the 970 EVO (PRO) never caused firmware issues afaik.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Yes I did ? Corrected!

Lou

 

[t90]

The 970 EVO Plus has been the subject of numerous threads on this site. As I remember, the firmware was updated by Samsung back in September, So if you ordered now from a legitimate seller the chances off getting one from the original stock are pretty rare.

Lou

I’ll second that! By this point it’s likely safe.

I ordered a 2TB Evo Plus on April 14 from Amazon, it has a manufacture date 2020-03-26 and came with the 2B2QEXM7 firmware.

Runs perfectly fine under MacOS Catalina, no kernel panics or issues!