NVMe & Extra fans : QUESTIONS : Mac Pro 4,1

[izapp]

Hello everyone,

Now that I have migrated successfully to 10.14.1 on my Mac Pro 4,1 (Early 2009)
I have a few questions about adding NVMe in slot 3.

I already have 1,2 & 4 of PCIe slots occupied :
1. Sonnet Tempo SSD Adapter Card (w/ Samsung 850 Pro 265gb)
2. Sonnet Alegro USB 3.0 PCIe Card
3. Empty Slot (NVMe?)
4. nVidia GTX 660 (now going for a RX580 Pulse)

I think there is enough room to fit a NVMe PCIe Card adapter in Slot 3 but I am concerned with the thermals of the Mac Pro. Since I have also installed 6x 2TB HDDs on the HDD slots & disk drive slots.

I have also heard that the RX580 doesn't have really good thermals and adding a card above the GPU will limit the ventilation of the fans of the GPU, right?

My questions are :

- Do you guys think that I should add the NVMe above the GPU in this really tight space?

- Is there an option to replace or add another fan to add extra ventilation inside the case?
All these HDDs & the GPU I have must produce a lot of heat under stress.
(I would prefer to leave the OEM fans inside where they are and add an extra one or two)

- What NVMe card & SSD would you suggest for Mac Pro? I am looking for 512GB

My goal is to add this extra NVMe drive for a Scratch disk for my Pro apps (lightroom,final cut, davinci, photoshop), and run OSX with the Samsung SSD I already have

Thank you for your time,
Loukianos

 

[fatespawn]

With all that drive capacity, I'd sell your SSD and Sonnet card and take the cash and use it towards this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HYZY7P...olid=3U0ZFKJ9IYANJ&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Put your RX580 in Slot 2 (second from the bottom) You'll lose slot 3. Put the NVME card in Slot 1 if you're concerned about heat. The NVME card has a fan to further address your concerns about cooling. You'll have 2 NVME slots to make up for the loss of your Sonnet Tempo card too.

If you're still concerned, get a fan control app to change your cooling on your own. Just my 2¢

Edited to correct slot labeling.

 

[h9826790]

Hello everyone,

Now that I have migrated successfully to 10.14.1 on my Mac Pro 4,1 (Early 2009)
I have a few questions about adding NVMe in slot 3.

I already have 1,2 & 4 of PCIe slots occupied :
1. Sonnet Tempo SSD Adapter Card (w/ Samsung 850 Pro 265gb)
2. Sonnet Alegro USB 3.0 PCIe Card
3. Empty Slot (NVMe?)
4. nVidia GTX 660 (now going for a RX580 Pulse)

I think there is enough room to fit a NVMe PCIe Card adapter in Slot 3 but I am concerned with the thermals of the Mac Pro. Since I have also installed 6x 2TB HDDs on the HDD slots & disk drive slots.

I have also heard that the RX580 doesn't have really good thermals and adding a card above the GPU will limit the ventilation of the fans of the GPU, right?

My questions are :

- Do you guys think that I should add the NVMe above the GPU in this really tight space?

- Is there an option to replace or add another fan to add extra ventilation inside the case?
All these HDDs & the GPU I have must produce a lot of heat under stress.
(I would prefer to leave the OEM fans inside where they are and add an extra one or two)

- What NVMe card & SSD would you suggest for Mac Pro? I am looking for 512GB

My goal is to add this extra NVMe drive for a Scratch disk for my Pro apps (lightroom,final cut, davinci, photoshop), and run OSX with the Samsung SSD I already have

Thank you for your time,
Loukianos

1) You named the slots in the reverse order. The bottom slot is slot 1. That may confused some other members.

2) You didn't mention which PCIe adaptor you are going to use. So, hard to say if has enough clearance to the PULSE RX580.

3) Purely for clearance concern. In worst case, you can always move the USB 3.0 or Tempo SSD card to slot 2 (I mean the real slot 2, NOT your slot 2 in the reversed order). I've tested with my own PULSE RX580, both KT-4004 and TempoSSD can be installed in slot 2 without issue.

If you want to lower the RX580's thermal stress. I created a post about how to make it draw 33% less power but still roughly deliver the same compute performance.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/sapphire-pulse-rx580-8gb-vbios-study.2133607/

 

[izapp]

With all that drive capacity, I'd sell your SSD and Sonnet card and take the cash and use it towards this

I like your suggestion but isn't there another cheaper solution for a dual M.2 slot pci card?
200$ for card + 200$ for 2x NVMe is a total of 400$.

I am not sure if this is the best value for me. Even if I sell the Sonnet & SSD, on best case scenario I will get approx. 100-150$. This means that I have to invest in another 250$ for your solution.
150$ I what I would have to pay for 1x NVMe card & drive

Another solution for me is that the Sonnet card has another slot for sata with an expansion plate.
I have lost the plate and I have to also find a solution to power the sata and mount it somewhere inside.

1) You named the slots in the reverse order. The bottom slot is slot 1. That may confused some other members.

Yes, sorry about that. Now I realise the order.

2) You didn't mention which PCIe adaptor you are going to use. So, hard to say if has enough clearance to the PULSE RX580.

I am probably going to use Lycom DT, but might consider one with dual slots of NVMe

3) Purely for clearance concern. In worst case, you can always move the USB 3.0 or Tempo SSD card to slot 2 (I mean the real slot 2, NOT your slot 2 in the reversed order). I've tested with my own PULSE RX580, both KT-4004 and TempoSSD can be installed in slot 2 without issue.

I might just try that, and also change the vbios of the RX580. Thank you for your message and thread about the RX580.

 

[bookemdano]

With all that drive capacity, I'd sell your SSD and Sonnet card and take the cash and use it towards this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HYZY7P...olid=3U0ZFKJ9IYANJ&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Put your RX580 in Slot 2 (second from the bottom) You'll lose slot 3. Put the NVME card in Slot 1 if you're concerned about heat. The NVME card has a fan to further address your concerns about cooling. You'll have 2 NVME slots to make up for the loss of your Sonnet Tempo card too.

If you're still concerned, get a fan control app to change your cooling on your own. Just my 2¢

Edited to correct slot labeling.

That card you linked will not work in the cMP. It requires PCIe bifurcation which the cMP is not capable of. Need another cup of coffee this morning. Nevermind me!

 

[h9826790]

I am probably going to use Lycom DT, but might consider one with dual slots of NVMe

Dual slot cards are 10x more expensive than the DT-120. Are you sure you really want that?

IMO, if you already spend 10x the money, why not pay a bit more (relatively) to buy a four slots card?

But for four slots card. There will little to no clearance between the NVMe adaptor and PULSE RX580. You may need to apply this kind of mod to avoid fan interference from the 4x NVMe card.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-for-pcie-slot-2.2134562/page-2#post-26413743