Mac Pro 5,1 HS slow M.2 Performance

[Ithrial]

Afternoon all. I had a question about NVMe performance

Mac Pro 5,1
Quad Core Xeon with 32GB
HS 10.13.6
7950 3GB GPU

I went a little cheap on the adapter and boot NVMe (which is still way faster than the SSDs I was using)

Drive: Inland Professional 256GB M.2 2280 Gen3x2 SSD
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4QJH6D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Adapter: Glotrends M.2 PCIe NVMe/AHCI SSD to PCIE 3.0 x4 adapter with heatsink
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FN3YZ8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is booting from the drive fine. I'm running Boot ROM 141. Everything shows up in the NVMExpress as Link x2 (which is what I expected), link speed 5.0 G/Ts (sitting in slot 2 above the GPU).

I'm getting about half of the expected reads and writes using BlackMagic (about 650mb write and 750 read).

The only thing that looks odd to me is that the EFI listed in NVMExpress says MS-DOS Fat32.

Any thoughts as to what it might be? Its still 3x faster than the SSDs I was booting from on the SATAII but I'd like to make sure I didnt miss a step

 

[tsialex]

Afternoon all. I had a question about NVMe performance

Mac Pro 5,1
Quad Core Xeon with 32GB
HS 10.13.6
7950 3GB GPU

I went a little cheap on the adapter and boot NVMe (which is still way faster than the SSDs I was using)

Drive: Inland Professional 256GB M.2 2280 Gen3x2 SSD
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4QJH6D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Adapter: Glotrends M.2 PCIe NVMe/AHCI SSD to PCIE 3.0 x4 adapter with heatsink
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FN3YZ8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is booting from the drive fine. I'm running Boot ROM 141. Everything shows up in the NVMExpress as Link x2 (which is what I expected), link speed 5.0 G/Ts (sitting in slot 2 above the GPU).

I'm getting about half of the expected reads and writes using BlackMagic (about 650mb write and 750 read).

The only thing that looks odd to me is that the EFI listed in NVMExpress says MS-DOS Fat32.

Any thoughts as to what it might be? Its still 3x faster than the SSDs I was booting from on the SATAII but I'd like to make sure I didnt miss a step

A PCIe M.2 blade that is PCIe 3.0 with just two lanes will have half throughput with a Mac Pro since PCIe 2.0 x2 = ~750MB/s.

A PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 blade have ~1500MB/s with a Mac Pro.

Exchange your blade, since it's PCIe 3.0 x2, it's a bad fit for PCIe 2.0 slots of Mac Pro.

 

[MIKX]

Try putting the adapter in PCI slot 3 or 4.

I have never heard of your "Inland Professional" until now. Most cMP owners aare probably using Samsung 960 EVO or 970 EVO or 970 Pro. but NOT any of the "EVO Plus" range.

My 970 EVO in PCIe slot 3

 

[Ithrial]

A PCIe M.2 blade that is PCIe 3.0 with just two lanes will have half throughput with a Mac Pro since PCIe 2.0 x2 = ~750MB/s.

A PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 blade have ~1500MB/s with a Mac Pro.

Exchange your blade, since it's PCIe 3.0 x2, it's a bad fit for PCIe 2.0 slots of Mac Pro.

Thats what my understanding was, yet there were reviews and screenshots of folks getting the advertised 1500MB/s though probably in a Windows box. But they're probably getting full 3.0 speeds at the x2 lanes, which would be the advertised price.

I didnt want to spend EVO kind of money on the unit as I've already bought the unit, Logic Pro X, the USB 3 card, cables and wireless lol. The 700mb/s is good enough for now. I might splurge later and give my son this unit or something.

Thanks for quick replies gents!

Sean

 

[MIKX]

Ithrial

Did you try it in PCIe slot 3 or 4 ?

 

[fhturner]

Ithrial

Did you try it in PCIe slot 3 or 4 ?

That’s not going to change things. It’s an x2 lane device. In cMP PCIe 2.0 slots, max practical throughput is going to be around 700-750MB/s.

 

[Ithrial]

That’s not going to change things. It’s an x2 lane device. In cMP PCIe 2.0 slots, max practical throughput is going to be around 700-750MB/s.

No I didn't try it. Slot 3 operates at 2.5G/Ts so I knew that would be slower for sure.

 

[fhturner]

No I didn't try it. Slot 3 operates at 2.5G/Ts so I knew that would be slower for sure.

They’re actually all PCIe 2.0 @ 5.0GT/s on your 5,1, but slots 1 & 2 each get 16 lanes to the CPU, whereas 3 & 4 share 4 lanes via a switch. As long as you didn’t have anything super-taxing in the adjacent slot, you could safely run it in 3 or 4 while saving the 16-lane slots for GPUs or something else needing more lanes.

 

[Ithrial]

4 has my usb 3.0 card. 3 has a PCIe card that houses my Broadcom wireless. 2 is the nvme drive and 1 has the 7950. All but 3 operates at 5.

 

[tsialex]

4 has my usb 3.0 card. 3 has a PCIe card that houses my Broadcom wireless. 2 is the nvme drive and 1 has the 7950. All but 3 operates at 5.

The slot 3 itself is PCIe 2.0 4x = 5GT/s. Both slots 3 and 4 are 5GT/s, but they share lanes via a PCIe 2.0 switch.

 

[ye1hunter]

The slot 3 itself is PCIe 2.0 4x = 5GT/s. Both slots 3 and 4 are 5GT/s, but they share lanes via a PCIe 2.0 switch.

Just for my own clarifiaction, I have an Intel 660p in slot 4 and a Samsung 970 Evo in slot 3.
The Intel is operating like a x4 PCIE 2 and the Samsung is operating like a x2 PCIE 2. System report confirms these link widths. They are both on passive kyro adapters. People are showing 1,500 Mb/s speeds with their Samsung 970 Evo's.
Is this because they are only using one slot, a different PCIE board, 16 lane... ?

 

[tsialex]

Just for my own clarifiaction, I have an Intel 660p in slot 4 and a Samsung 970 Evo in slot 3.
The Intel is operating like a x4 PCIE 2 and the Samsung is operating like a x2 PCIE 2. System report confirms these link widths. They are both on passive kyro adapters. People are showing 1,500 Mb/s speeds with their Samsung 970 Evo's.
Is this because they are only using one slot, a different PCIE board, 16 lane... ?

No, this is not related to the slot.

Check your blade with other adapter and your adapter with other blade, 2 lanes with a 4x device shows that something is wrong with your hardware.

Slots 3 and 4 are both 4x, they just share lanes via a PCIe switch and any M.2 device will work with 4 lanes. You can even install 2 4x M.2 drives on 3 and 4 and both will show 4 lanes being used each.

 

[ye1hunter]

No, this is not related to the slot.

Check your blade with other adapter and your adapter with other blade, 2 lanes with a 4x device shows that something is wrong with your hardware.

Slots 3 and 4 are both 4x, they just share lanes via a PCIe switch and any M.2 device will work with 4 lanes. You can even install 2 4x M.2 drives on 3 and 4 and both will show 4 lanes being used each.

Ok, I will check it out and report back. The Samsung is 250 GB. Is it possible that this has something to do with it?

 

[tsialex]

Ok, I will check it out and report back. The Samsung is 250 GB. Is it possible that this has something to do with it?

No, 2x devices are a dirty WD trick. Even 128GB Samsung blades are 4x.

 

[ye1hunter]

No, 2x devices are a dirty WD trick. Even 128GB Samsung blades are 4x.

Sir, you are correct. Swapped cards, used drives in same slots. It's one of the kyro boards. Samsung is now showing x4 in slot 2 and Intel is x2 in slot 1. I actually ordered the boards from two different vendors on Amazon (one in US, other in Poland). Looks like I'll be ordering from the one in the US again. I'm not going to blame the vendor, maybe it's a different revision/firmware on one of them.

 

[tsialex]

Sir, you are correct. Swapped cards, used drives in same slots. It's one of the kyro boards. Samsung is now showing x4 in slot 2 and Intel is x2 in slot 1. I actually ordered the boards from two different vendors on Amazon (one in US, other in Poland). Looks like I'll be ordering from the one in the US again. I'm not going to blame the vendor, maybe it's a different revision/firmware on one of them.

It’s a defective adapter, kryoM.2 is a dumb and passive adapter with zero firmware. Ask for a replacement, it’s defective.

 

[ye1hunter]

It’s a defective adapter, kryoM.2 is a dumb and passive adapter with zero firmware. Ask for a replacement, it’s defective.

I'm on it. Thank you so much!

EDIT: UPDATE: Got the new card and yes, slot's 3 and 4 are both hitting 13-1500 read/write.

 

[macagain]

Thats what my understanding was, yet there were reviews and screenshots of folks getting the advertised 1500MB/s though probably in a Windows box. But they're probably getting full 3.0 speeds at the x2 lanes, which would be the advertised price.

I didnt want to spend EVO kind of money on the unit as I've already bought the unit, Logic Pro X, the USB 3 card, cables and wireless lol. The 700mb/s is good enough for now. I might splurge later and give my son this unit or something.

Thanks for quick replies gents!

Sean

Inland actually has a x4 version as well, they call it "Premium" instead of "Pro". 39.99 at amazon https://www.amazon.com/Inland-Premi...teway&sprefix=inland+pram,aps,160&sr=8-2&th=1 or 34.99 if you have local microcenter to pick it up from...

I decided to cheap out as well and just picked one up today... As soon as my kryom.2 arrives, I'll pop it in see how it goes...

 

[SilverCard]

Inland actually has a x4 version as well, they call it "Premium" instead of "Pro". 39.99 at amazon https://www.amazon.com/Inland-Premium-512GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B07P6STQ54/ref=sr_1_2?crid=OULOA3LD04WX&keywords=inland+premium+nvme&qid=1558999636&s=gateway&sprefix=inland+pram,aps,160&sr=8-2&th=1 or 34.99 if you have local microcenter to pick it up from...

I decided to cheap out as well and just picked one up today... As soon as my kryom.2 arrives, I'll pop it in see how it goes...

Please let us know the speeds with the kyro!

 

[Php4u]

Inland actually has a x4 version as well, they call it "Premium" instead of "Pro". 39.99 at amazon https://www.amazon.com/Inland-Premium-512GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B07P6STQ54/ref=sr_1_2?crid=OULOA3LD04WX&keywords=inland+premium+nvme&qid=1558999636&s=gateway&sprefix=inland+pram,aps,160&sr=8-2&th=1 or 34.99 if you have local microcenter to pick it up from...

I decided to cheap out as well and just picked one up today... As soon as my kryom.2 arrives, I'll pop it in see how it goes...

Good day,

Did you ever get the Inland Premium card? If so how doe sit perform?

Thanks!