Mac Pro mid-2010 High Sierra?

[bjolester]

I'd also recommend doing a "clean install" of HS, especially if all you are using it for is music production with Logic Pro X 10.4.

Thank you, I will definately do a "clean install" when I get to the point where I am ready to install HS.
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I think you'll be fine with the Apple supplied SSD. However, your OWC SSD is suspect, and I would NOT use that as a boot drive.

Lou

Thank you, good to know that the Apple 512gb SSD will be fine as a "boot" drive for High Sierra, even though it is seven years old!

Are OWC SSDs not well regarded? Or are they just not compatible with the new file system of High Sierra? (BTW: I plan to continue using my OWC SSD as a "master" for storing my Logic Pro files)

 

[nordicappeal]

I also have a Mac Pro 5.1 mid-2010 with High Sierra and no problems.

 

[flowrider]

Are OWC SSDs not well regarded? Or are they just not compatible with the new file system of High Sierra? (BTW: I plan to continue using my OWC SSD as a "master" for storing my Logic Pro files)

I certainly will never buy anything from them again:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-ssd-upgrade-2012-macbook-air-buyer-beware.1459847/

Lou

 

[Squuiid]

Are OWC SSDs not well regarded? Or are they just not compatible with the new file system of High Sierra? (BTW: I plan to continue using my OWC SSD as a "master" for storing my Logic Pro files)

OWC are generally regarded as expensive and of poor/average quality. Their SSDs are based on Sandforce controllers and are garbage.
Your options for SSDs are HyperX Predator 480GB with PCIe adapter (Kingston or Lycom) or any good SATA SSD such as the Samsung 850 or 860 EVO/PRO range mounted on a Newertech Adaptadrive (ironically made by OWC).

 

[bsbeamer]

You do not need a chip-based adapter for the SSD if connecting directly to the SATA port. I'd suggest looking for a sled adapter that will let you connect directly to the port vs. a go-between device or directly connecting without a sled (many use rubberbands or tape).

People have had success with Icy Docy, Adaptadrive, and some others, but the blue OWC SSD sled works with the mid-2010: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009P4NEKA/

This also would work, believe 3D printed and used in conjunction with your existing sleds:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M366L82

Samsung 840 & 850 (and now 860) EVO SSDs are great performing for the price. Have a bunch of them in my 5,1.

 

[Squuiid]

Samsung 840 & 850 (and now 860) EVO SSDs are great performing for the price. Have a bunch of them in my 5,1.

840 EVO drives are a blip in Samsung’s excellent SSD track record and are probably one of the worst SSDs ever created. Can’t buy new anymore so unlikely to be an option but avoid nevertheless.
840 Pro, 850 and 860 are all great however.

 

[h9826790]

840 EVO drives are a blip in Samsung’s excellent SSD track record and are probably one of the worst SSDs ever created. Can’t buy new anymore so unlikely to be an option but avoid nevertheless.
840 Pro, 850 and 860 are all great however.

The 840Evo WAS a problematic SSD because the slow read performance (which only affect old data). However, after the firmware update, there is no more report about this SSD has any issue. So, I can't see how bad it is now (if still available on the market).

But anyway, since the 860 Evo is already launched (and a quick search shows that's much cheaper than the 840 Evo on amazon), there is simply no reason to buy the 840 Evo anymore.

 

[Dr. Stealth]

Mac Pro 5,1 mid-2010 with High Sierra 10.13.3. All working fine along with Win 10. The initial 10.13 release was a little buggy, to be kind, but now that we're at 10.13.3 things have gotten much better.

 

[AidenShaw]

The 840Evo WAS a problematic SSD because the slow read performance (which only affect old data). However, after the firmware update, there is no more report about this SSD has any issue. So, I can't see how bad it is now (if still available on the market).

Completely agree - I have a couple of dozen of these and no reliability or performance issues (all with the firmware upgrade).

My vote for "worst SSD" would go to some of the OCZ drives, or any drive with a Sandforce controller. However, I've been exclusively Samsung Pro and EVO drives for many years - so buying Samsung has kept me away from whatever crap might be out there.

The worst SSD was one that came in a Dell Ultrabook about 8 to 10 years ago. Didn't support TRIM (a killer failure), and strange 1.8" form factor that dropped off the face of the earth. Was OK when new, but the small size and lack of TRIM meant that it went from "fast" to "molasses" within a year. Ultimate failure was that it didn't support "secure erase" - so even a hard reformat and restore wouldn't trick it into "TRIMming".

 

[Squuiid]

Completely agree - I have a couple of dozen of these and no reliability or performance issues (all with the firmware upgrade).

My vote for "worst SSD" would go to some of the OCZ drives, or any drive with a Sandforce controller. However, I've been exclusively Samsung Pro and EVO drives for many years - so buying Samsung has kept me away from whatever crap might be out there.

Haha! True, I may have overstated that somewhat. OCZ clearly wins that prize.

However, the 840 EVO ‘fix’ was more of a hack than a fix really...
https://www.anandtech.com/show/9196/samsung-releases-second-840-evo-fix

“Ultimately Samsung’s second fix is a bit of a brute force solution to the problem, but at this point there doesn’t seem to be anything Samsung can do about 19nm TLC cell charge decay other than to refresh the data, as the problem is intrinsic to the NAND itself.”

Sure, this works but it’s not ideal, and performance on a single unit I have is still not what it should be despite running this latest firmware.

More importantly, the 840 (non EVO) is also affected and never got a fix until many years later.
This includes the ton of mSATA drives shipped by Dell which, again, we’re very late to get a fix.

The 840 was released in October 2012 and the eventual ‘fix’ arrived in June 2016. A joke.

https://www.techspot.com/article/997-samsung-ssd-read-performance-degradation/

Needless to say, I would very much hesitate to actively encourage someone to go out and buy an 840 off eBay

 

[AlexMaximus]

Completely agree - I have a couple of dozen of these and no reliability or performance issues (all with the firmware upgrade).

My vote for "worst SSD" would go to some of the OCZ drives, or any drive with a Sandforce controller. However, I've been exclusively Samsung Pro and EVO drives for many years - so buying Samsung has kept me away from whatever crap might be out there.

The worst SSD was one that came in a Dell Ultrabook about 8 to 10 years ago. Didn't support TRIM (a killer failure), and strange 1.8" form factor that dropped off the face of the earth. Was OK when new, but the small size and lack of TRIM meant that it went from "fast" to "molasses" within a year. Ultimate failure was that it didn't support "secure erase" - so even a hard reformat and restore wouldn't trick it into "TRIMming".

Speaking of Trim... Does anyone know if the Hyper x Predator Supports it on high Sierra? Can a ssd crash if it does not - there is a warning on my terminal, so far I did not risk it.

 

[Squuiid]

Speaking of Trim... Does anyone know if the Hyper x Predator Supports it on high Sierra? Can a ssd crash if it does not - there is a warning on my terminal, so far I did not risk it.

It 100% works. Ignore the warning when activating it. Same warning for all.

 

[AlexMaximus]

It 100% works. Ignore the warning when activating it. Same warning for all.

Perfect! Thank you so much!