MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[porican]

my MacPro5,1 SSD upgrade conundrum

I'm looking for some advice on SSD upgrade for MacPro4,1->5,1 w/ 2 x 3.46 GHz 6-Core Xeon x5690, 32GB memory, SAPPHIRE Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB graphics card, Sonnet Tempo SSD PCIe w/ 1TB Samsung 860 EVO, macOS 12.6 boot and scratch, macOS 10.13.6 on 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, and 6 disk Raid1+0 User Volume, plus two external enclosures for TimeMachine, CCC, and RAID5 working storage one eSata and one USB3. I have one empty PCIe slot, I could use slot 2 or 3.

This is being driven by some feeling of sluggishness and having to deal with HDD replacement. My 1TB boot SSD is not large enough for my User directory tree (photos and music exceed 1TB). I am thinking a 4TB SSD would allow me to abandon my somewhat troublesome internal/external User Raid1+0 volume freeing up SATA bays for 14+TB drives for TimeMachine and CCC and relegating external storage for secondary backups and non active storage.

For SATA SSD's thinking of either 4TB Samsung 870 QVO (don't like warranty) or 4tb Samsung 870 EVO. My primary reservation is that I expect I will upgrade to Apple Silicon MacPro during the next couple of years at which point current SATA SSDs would presumably feel way too slow. In looking at Post #1's NVME drives its only the Sabrent Rocket which seems to offer an affordable 4TB solution.

If I was to leave my current boot volume and just focus on a faster User volume would other lower cost 4TB NVME drives such as Crucial P3, WD, Seagate, Kingston be useable, or do they have issues beyond being used a boot volumes?

Should I just go with SATA and stop thinking that current NVME might be better suited to future hardware?

If it's feeling sluggish, you might want to put your two installs (12.6 + 10.13.6) on NVMe drives on an x8 or x16 card with a PCIe switch in slot 2. then you can put your user volume on 2.5" SSDs on the sonnet tempo card. It would be the fastest setup, but involves spending more money.

That said, could you not move the 6 SATA drives from your RAID 1+0 array to the 6 internal SATA slots in the cMP (4 trays + 2 in optical bay)? That configuration would give u room for 6x SATA II HDD, 2x SATA III SSD, and 2x/4x NVMe SSD (depending on which PCIe switch card u get).

You could even downsize to a 4 drive RAID 1+0 array in the trays and use the two optical bay SATA slots for Time Machine and CCC backups. But even if you opt out of NVMe, moving the array of SATA HDDs to be completely internal seems like it would clean things up a bit. USB 3 can be a bit of a bottleneck, even with the ideal card. Even with eSATA, i imagine the internal backplane would be more efficient than a PCIe card that has to share the PCIe bus with everything else you have plugged in.

 

[splifingate]

its only the Sabrent Rocket which seems to offer an affordable 4TB solution

My local Micro Center currently has two 4TB TLC Inland Premiums for sale @USD350 . . . I believe the warrior sells Inland, also.

The Inland Premiums are basically the same as the Sabrents (I use both types).

 

[daveedjackson]

looking for advice on options for SSD/ expansion for my 7,1 Mac Pro. I have a 1tb drive which was the configured drive, but I'm finding myself coming close to it's limit. (I archive work when completed on another external raid. but want to put something internally so I have more space to work. Wonder what the best option is?

 

[AlexMaximus]

looking for advice on options for SSD/ expansion for my 7,1 Mac Pro. I have a 1tb drive which was the configured drive, but I'm finding myself coming close to it's limit. (I archive work when completed on another external raid. but want to put something internally so I have more space to work. Wonder what the best option is?

Over the last decade or so, I always got very happy with Sonnet solutions. The initially had a great 4x PCIe adapter card with a fan. Sometime ago they brought out a silent version without fan, targeted especially for the 2019 Mac Pro crowd. According to your signature you are using original MPX GPU module(s) which means the factor low noise might be important to you. So this silent sonnet card would fit the bill.

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

Four M.2 NVMe SSD slots on a PCIe 3.0 x16 card. Silent operation. Add your own ultra-fast SSDs for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

www.sonnettech.com

 

[Miscellaneous]

Hello.

Will one of these drives work in a 6,1?

Inland QN322 1TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0x4 M.2 2280 3D NAND QLC Internal Solid State Drive - Micro Center

Get it now! Get SSD speeds and inject new life into your laptop or desktop PC with a solid state drive from Inland QN322. With a fast, reliable, Inland QN322 SSD, you will experience quicker bootup and shutdown as well as quicker application response and data transfer speeds than with a typical...

www.microcenter.com

Inland QN322 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 M.2 2280 3D NAND QLC Internal Solid State Drive - Micro Center

Get it now! Get SSD speeds and inject new life into your laptop or desktop PC with a solid state drive from Inland QN322. With a fast, reliable, Inland QN322 SSD, you will experience quicker bootup and shutdown as well as quicker application response and data transfer speeds than with a typical...

www.microcenter.com

Also, what adapter do I need?

Thank you

Hi @adam9c1

If you're still looking for an adaptor for your Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013) I have a couple of spare Sintech adaptors that I am trying to donate!

Drop me a message if you are interested!

Cheers!

 

[_LiveSorcerer_]

I bought OWC Accelsior 1M2 NVMe M.2 SSD and I'm using a WD SN850 1TB NVMe SSD on it, but on MacPro 5.1 2012 with Monterrey, it's not recognizing it as an internal SSD but as an external one.
How to solve it? I'm using OpenCore OCLP latest version.
It's connected to PCIe X16, second from bottom to top.

 

[Dolphins1972]

I bought OWC Accelsior 1M2 NVMe M.2 SSD and I'm using a WD SN850 1TB NVMe SSD on it, but on MacPro 5.1 2012 with Monterrey, it's not recognizing it as an internal SSD but as an external one.
How to solve it? I'm using OpenCore OCLP latest version.
It's connected to PCIe X16, second from bottom to top.

If you don't want the disk icon on your desktop just hide it: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/hide-external-drives-mac-desktop/

I don't mind that it shows as external in Finder but if it bothers you, you can use Innie kext: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/innie-a-fix-for-pci-drives-seen-as-external.2136229/

 

[NC12]

Is the Kingston NV2 compatible with a 5,1 Mac Pro?

 

[MacNB2]

I bought OWC Accelsior 1M2 NVMe M.2 SSD and I'm using a WD SN850 1TB NVMe SSD on it, but on MacPro 5.1 2012 with Monterrey, it's not recognizing it as an internal SSD but as an external one.
How to solve it? I'm using OpenCore OCLP latest version.
It's connected to PCIe X16, second from bottom to top.

See the 1st post here:

OpenCore on the Mac Pro

This guide explains how to use the excellent OpenCore boot loader to install, run, and update the latest version of macOS on the MacPro5,1, resulting in a clean, unaltered operating system just like on a supported Mac.

forums.macrumors.com

and scroll down to the Section titled "Make PCIe drives internal" that shows you how to make your NVMe controllers as Built-in instead of external.

Essentially, you have to edit your OpenCore config.plist file.

 

[tsialex]

Is the Kingston NV2 compatible with a 5,1 Mac Pro?

Depends on what is your exact definition of compatible.

Kingston NV2 is a blade made for notebooks and SFF PCS and when installed on a MacPro5,1 works after a reboot, do not have a problem with cold power on and etc, but it's the cheapest blade by Kingston, with the worst ever controller/cheapest NAND combo and without any endurance required for a main disk.

So, if you gonna use as an archival type of storage, no problem, but forget it if you gonna use as your main disk or a scratch disk, already had to do the RMA for one after less than 3 months of usage.

Always use the right tool for the job, Kingston NV2 is not the blade to be used with a Mac Pro.

 

[modiug]

Maybe a dumb question, I need to clone my OCLP Monterey cMP 4.1/5.1 nvme blade to a bigger size nvme; the CCC legacy clone is it the best solution? The target nvme can be on a usb enclosure? Thank you.

 

[OldMacPro2]

Update:

The solution to my issue described below was to download the latest firmware for my SK Hynix P31 Gold SSD and flash it (using their Windows-based utility). To make it easy on myself, I put the Riitop adapter in a Windows system that I had nearby. Was routine to download and run the flash program.

In retrospect, I should have read post #1 in this thread a little closer.

The table there does identify that the SK Hynix P31 Gold requires the latest firmware to be MacOS compatible.

---------------

My original post:

I have bought the cheaper single blade Riitop NVME to PCIe adapter (listed on page 1 of this thread) and installed a SK Hynix P31 Gold 500GB SSD on it.

I've installed into slot #2 in this 2009 (flashed to 2010) cMP.

Tried to see if I could even see the NVMe drive and format it in MacOS.

Booting Big Sure off my regular SATA SSD, it's not showing up in Drive Utility.

I can see the card listed in my System Information window, under the PCI tab.

It says:

pci1c5c, 174a

Type: NVM Express Controller
Driver Installed: No
MSI: No

etc.

(note - flashing to the latest SK Hynix firmware fixed this problem. The System Information -> PCI tab says driver installed = Yes. So if you have the same issue, flash the drives firmware and try again.)

 

[SuperDuc]

Hello everyone

I am new to the forum.
I am waiting to receive my Highpoint 7101A card and I would like to know which nvme blade to put, my choice is Samsung 980pro or crucial P5plus 1TB blade, is this wise, or do you recommend the 970 EVOplus crucial P3plus, all these blades are under 100€.
On the 7101A card 1 blade will be used for Monterey openCore in boot, and 3 blades in raid.
What would be the wisest purchase?
Thanks in advance.

 

[tsialex]

Hello everyone

I am new to the forum.
I am waiting to receive my Highpoint 7101A card and I would like to know which nvme blade to put, my choice is Samsung 980pro or crucial P5plus 1TB blade, is this wise, or do you recommend the 970 EVOplus crucial P3plus, all these blades are under 100€.
On the 7101A card 1 blade will be used for Monterey openCore in boot, and 3 blades in raid.
What would be the wisest purchase?
Thanks in advance.

Samsung is having issues with some 980/990 series failing, seems a firmware related issue, there are loads of reports of people with SMART failures.

Samsung Issues Fix for Dying 980 Pro SSDs

Download the firmware fix ASAP if your 980 Pro is affected

www.tomshardware.com

Right now I'd go with a 970 EVO Plus, 980 PRO won't be faster (when installed in a MacPro5,1 anyway) or have more endurance.

 

[MacNB2]

Just bought a Lycom DT-130 dual NVMe switch board and a Samsung 980Pro 2TB (it was cheaper than 970 EVO plus after Samsung Cashback offer).
My 980Pro was made in China during Dec 2022 and already has the latest 5B2QGXA7 firmware.

I tested 980Pro on a simple NVMe PCIe adapter in slot 4 and got the expected ~1480 MB/s throughput R/W.
Then installed it on the DT-130 and now get around 2700 MB/s R/W as expected for this type of PCIe Switchcard.
Installed Monterey 12.6.3 and boots off 980Pro fine.
Yes it is "wasted" as a Gen 4 drive in the cMP but for the time being it will serve its purpose.
Touch wood, so far so good....time will tell





UPDATE: the Lycom DT-130 board has two LED headers for attaching HDD LED cable. Something Mac's have always lacked. I added one that I had lying around from an old PC:

 

[OldMacPro2]

Just reporting back, the SK Hynix P31 is working great with the single PCIe adapter.

Blackmagic speed test is showing 1400+Mbs read/write.

Temps are nice and cool too.

 

[joevt]

Yes it is "wasted" as a Gen 4 drive in the cMP but for the time being it will serve its purpose.

You are being limited by the PCIe x8 Lycom card, not the cMP. You need a PCIe gen 4 x16 card like the HighPoint SSD7505 to take full advantage of a gen 4 NVMe in a gen 2 x16 slot.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pcie-ssds-nvme-ahci.2146725/post-29483973

 

[MacNB2]

You are being limited by the PCIe x8 Lycom card, not the cMP. You need a PCIe gen 4 x16 card like the HighPoint SSD7505 to take full advantage of a gen 4 NVMe in a gen 2 x16 slot.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pcie-ssds-nvme-ahci.2146725/post-29483973

Yes I knew that before I bought the Lycom.
It was all I could afford as the HighPoint SSD7505 is eight times the price of Lycom 😮
I thought I save the money towards the next Studio

 

[SuperDuc]

Samsung is having issues with some 980/990 series failing, seems a firmware related issue, there are loads of reports of people with SMART failures.

Samsung Issues Fix for Dying 980 Pro SSDs

Download the firmware fix ASAP if your 980 Pro is affected

www.tomshardware.com

Right now I'd go with a 970 EVO Plus, 980 PRO won't be faster (when installed in a MacPro5,1 anyway) or have more endurance.

Thank you for your answer, I bought samsung 970 evo plus.
On the other hand and just for opinions I never find anything on the crucial P3, plus or P5plus, are there any problems with these blades, and is there a huge difference with samsung (speed, reliability, etc. ).

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for your answer, I bought samsung 970 evo plus.
On the other hand and just for opinions I never find anything on the crucial P3, plus or P5plus, are there any problems with these blades, and is there a huge difference with samsung (speed, reliability, etc. ).

Crucial blades have documented problems with other Macs, see the 2013-2015 MBP blade upgrade thread for more info, people do not even waste time with Crucial blades on Mac Pros.

 

[dickiedunn]

If you use the search, you'll see lot's and lot's of people having issues with Samsung 870 Series in general, from KPs to not working after a reboot. With QVO series - not just 870 series but previous series also - no model is Mac Pro compatible (unless you connect via USB), since it's a Samsung model designed specifically for archival purposes that shouldn't be used as a main or even a data drive.

I'm in the same boat, looking for a 4TB SSD (for data drive only). I already have a 2 TB NVME 970 Evo Plus, but need more storage. Can you recommend a drive given the 870 ones are problematic? I'd like to also be able to migrate it to a new Mac Mini in the near future as well. Thanks!

 

[VaZ]

Has anybody tried to RAID0 a pair of blades on the Lycom DT-130 to achieve top speeds? Is it osx or win bootable that way? Either native or OC?
Or how about 4 blades on 2 cards and RAID0 all 4 drives!? Wonder what the top speeds that can achieve.

 

[joevt]

Has anybody tried to RAID0 a pair of blades on the Lycom DT-130 to achieve top speeds?

The Lycom DT-130 is PCIe 3.0 x8. In a PCI 2.0 slot it would run as PCIe 2.0 x8 which is basically the same as PCIe 3.0 x4. You might get a small boost in speed if the NVMe's are not getting full PCIe 3.0 x4 speed individually.

Is it osx or win bootable that way? Either native or OC?

It would be a software RAID. Software RAID is usually not bootable.

Or how about 4 blades on 2 cards and RAID0 all 4 drives!? Wonder what the top speeds that can achieve.

You would have to put the GPU in an x4 slot.
Here's 4 blades in a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot of a MacPro3,1:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/amfeltec-x16-pcie-with-4-ssds-5900-mb-s.1936311/post-25247002
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/amfeltec-x16-pcie-with-4-ssds-5900-mb-s.1936311/post-25252615
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pcie-ssds-nvme-ahci.2146725/post-29483973

 

[RoboScrap]

Hi guys,

I am wondering if this https://gembird.com/item.aspx?id=9953 can work with MP5.1 ( I know that specs state Win10 only ) but it's basically rewiring. So if I use PCIe NVMe drive (no AHCI or SATA) - like Western Digital 512GB NVMe m.2 SSD SN720 it should work ?

Thank you for any ideas/advice

 

[Ronlap]

FYI, direct from Crucial's upgrade pages:
Apple RAM & SSD Upgrades
We have compatible memory upgrades for your system
Crucial currently does not have any compatible storage upgrades for your particular system