Help With PCIe SSD (M.2) in 2009 Mac Pro - Which slot is best?

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Hi,

I'm thinking about getting a real PCIe SSD (M.2 chip on an adapter, NOT a SATA SSD mounted onto a PCI adapter) for my 2009 Mac Pro. It will likely be a 256GB Samsung M.2 SSD on some random adapter card.

Curious, though, about speeds. I heard that, on 2009+ Mac Pros, it doesn't matter which lane the PCIe SSD goes into - that you only have to be selective if you are running a 2008 model and lower. Is this true?

BOTTOM LINE: My graphics card takes two lanes up, so my #3 and #4 lanes are the only ones available. Is it just as efficient to put the card in either the #3 or #4 lane? #2 (x16) is simply taken up by the thickness of my GPU. I'd like to know if there is a slowdown and how much slower it may be. Currently, I have two SATA SSDs in RAID 0, in my drive bays, and I get about 500MB/s read/write with those together. Hoping that the PCIe SSD will be much faster, regardless of which lane its in.

-Thanks

 

[Mephjstopheles]

See this Thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...he-09-mac-pro-bootable-ngff-pcie-ssd.1685821/

Slot 3 or 4 are preferred for optimal speed.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

See this Thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...he-09-mac-pro-bootable-ngff-pcie-ssd.1685821/

Slot 3 or 4 are preferred for optimal speed.

Thanks for that! Also managed to find a random installation video for a PCIe SSD, and the person happened to use slot #3. Seems like, in pre-2009 models, #2 is recommended; but I guess it any slot can be used in the 2009 Mac Pros.

 

[Mephjstopheles]

The Lycom Adapter and an sm951 in Slot 2 will only have half of the speed.

See also this Thread for an awesome 4 Blade Adapter: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/amfeltec-x16-pcie-with-4-ssds-5900-mb-s.1936311/

 

[G4DPII]

Been looking at the Lycom adapter for my 08, seems like a nice little bit of kit. Also choice of sizes in SSD blades is making it very tempting.

 

[AlexMaximus]

Although the Lycom works fine, keep in mind the ssd flash Blade is getting very hot till the thermal throttling Kicks in. You should use an optional heat sink or use an Adapter with adequate cooling.

http://www.angelbird.com/en/prod/wings-px1-1117/

Been looking at the Lycom adapter for my 08, seems like a nice little bit of kit. Also choice of sizes in SSD blades is making it very tempting.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

The Lycom Adapter and an sm951 in Slot 2 will only have half of the speed.

See also this Thread for an awesome 4 Blade Adapter: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/amfeltec-x16-pcie-with-4-ssds-5900-mb-s.1936311/

1500MB/s is fine with me. Faster is better, but that's still 1000 more than what I get with two SATA SSDs set in RAID 0. BTW - come to think of it, I think the cards my brother bought for his server were Lycom ones. I'll look into those.