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MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
******* said:
Novody knows nothing about the new Mac Pro...
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I would expect at least 2 Apple PCIe 3.0 SSD ports in the 7,1 Mac Pro, leveraging their x4 proprietary connector. The use of interface adapters from Sintech.cn may be an option to adapt 3rd party m.2 ssds, like the samsung 970 pro, on the platform, if it's allowed by the T3 and space is available.



pic of dual/raid 0 apple ssds shipped with the imac pro
imac-pro-ssd-raid1.jpg
 
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handheldgames said:
I would expect at least 2 Apple PCIe 3.0 SSD ports in the 7,1 Mac Pro, leveraging their x4 proprietary connector. The use of interface adapters from Sintech.cn may be an option to adapt 3rd party m.2 ssds, like the samsung 970 pro, on the platform, if it's allowed by the T3 and space is available.



pic of dual/raid 0 apple ssds shipped with the imac pro
imac-pro-ssd-raid1.jpg
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly T2/T3 connected SSD are not PCIe compatible, the SSD controllers are internal of the T2/T3 and not on the blades. iMac Pro SSDs are more similar to a DIMM, just a NAND bank on a blade, than a 970PRO.
 
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I am thinking of upgrading my cMP 5,1 with at least one blade PCIe SSD, but, before doing so, given the relatively large investment involved (Highpoint PCI card, et cetera), I'd like to know, if possible at all:
  1. What is the realistic prospect that macOS 10.15 will run on my machine? It is currently running Majave without issues.
  2. Considering one of my internal SATA HDDs can now boot Windows 10, will I be able to boot macOS from the blade SSD without issues, or would I need to get rid of the Windows HDD?
 
PeterHolbrook said:
I am thinking of upgrading my cMP 5,1 with at least one blade PCIe SSD, but, before doing so, given the relatively large investment involved (Highpoint PCI card, et cetera), I'd like to know, if possible at all:
  1. What is the realistic prospect that macOS 10.15 will run on my machine? It is currently running Majave without issues.
  2. Considering one of my internal SATA HDDs can now boot Windows 10, will I be able to boot macOS from the blade SSD without issues, or would I need to get rid of the Windows HDD?
Click to expand...

1) No one nows this outside of Apple. One thing, Apple usually keep the supported list for two years in a row - so it's possible.
2) With Windows 10 installed with CSM/BIOS/BootCamp mode, not UEFI, you use StartUp disk from macOS to go to Windows and BootCamp utility from Windows to go back to macOS. Works nicely with SSD7101A with macOS on NVMe and Windows into SATA.
 
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I haven´t been able to boot/install Windows since the firmware update, tried a zillion times.
 
tsialex said:
With Windows 10 installed with CSM/BIOS/BootCamp mode, not UEFI, you use StartUp disk from macOS to go to Windows and BootCamp utility from Windows to go back to macOS. Works nicely with SSD7101A with macOS on NVMe and Windows into SATA.
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Should I interpret your words in the sense that I'll be able to select the boot drive (either the SSD blade with macOS on it or the internal SATA HDD with Windows on it) by pressing Option when the chime is heard at boot time?
 
PeterHolbrook said:
Should I interpret your words in the sense that I'll be able to select the boot drive (either the SSD blade with macOS on it or the internal SATA HDD with Windows on it) by pressing Option when the chime is heard at boot time?
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Yes, but only if you have a Mac EFI GPU.

Even without a Mac EFI GPU you can boot one and go to other using StartUpDisk/BootCamp utility/helper - if you correctly install Windows into CSM/BIOS/BootCamp mode.
 
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At last could install Windows 7 in my Mac Pro 5.1

Anyone can tell me which are the latest bootcamp drivers I can install?

Thanks
 
******* said:
At last could install Windows 7 in my Mac Pro 5.1

Anyone can tell me which are the latest bootcamp drivers I can install?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Please don't hijack threads, go to the BootCamp thread. This is off topic.
 
Would a 1TB Crucial MX500 CT1000MX500SSD4 work as a macOS boot device on a HighPoint 7101A on a Mac Pro 5,1 with the latest firmware running Mojave (and an EFI Metal GPU, of course)?

EDIT: From what I've just read, it appears this SSD is really slow. Any advice as to an improved model with a competitive price?
 
After upgrading to 140.0.0.0.0 firmware I installed the IO Crest IO-PCE2824-TM2 PCIe M.2 Adapter Card (aka Syba SI-PEX40129) in PCIe slot 2 of a 5,1. The card carries

Samsung 256GB 970 Evo NVMe — boot
Samsung 1TB 970 Evo NVMe — users

The 256GB drive achieves 1500/2800 MB/sec W/R and the 1TB drive gets 2500/2800.

I’m using Innie so the drives appear internal.

Both drives are running at ~ 35°C while ambient is 21°C. That’s lower than I expected considering all of the reports of overly hot NVMe drives. The IOCrest aluminum chassis and fan must be doing their job — and I don’t hear the fan. Also, the device is slim enough that it allows sufficient air to flow through the 2-fan cooler of my 2-wide GPU in slot 1. At first I was concerned it would starve the GPU but so far no problem.

Thank you MisterAndrew, tsialex, and everyone who has contributed!
 
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handheldgames said:
Nope, the crucial is a M.2 SATA ssd. The Highpoint uses M.2 NVMe ssd.
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Not quite sure that's the correct answer. I know it's advertised as an NVMe solution, but I've seen at least one person running an AHCI M.2 SSD and I see no reason that an SATA M.2 SSD would not work electrically. But, why would you want to do it, because of the speed hit it would take due to the SATA design

The Crucial MX500 M.2 2280 should fit, but, as you said it's an SATA drive, so performance would take a big hit.

Lou
 
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sailmac said:
Both drives are running at ~ 35°C while ambient is 21°C. That’s lower than I expected considering all of the reports of overly hot NVMe drives. The IOCrest aluminum chassis and fan must be doing their job — and I don’t hear the fan. Also, the device is slim enough that it allows sufficient air to flow through the 2-fan cooler of my 2-wide GPU in slot 1. At first I was concerned it would starve the GPU but so far no problem.
Click to expand...

What tool are you using to measure the temps of the NVME drives? They don't show up within the usual fan / temp apps. It's also very interesting that some people don't hear the fan. The Crest fan is noisier than all the other system fans combined (with their idle speeds). But maybe as an audio engineer I'm more sensitive to such a matter.
 
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flowrider said:
Not quite sure that's the correct answer. I know it's advertised as an NVMe solution, but I've seen at least one person running an AHCI M.2 SSD and I see no reason that an SATA M.2 SSD would not work electrically. But, why would you want to do it, because of the speed hit it would take due to the SATA design

The Crucial MX500 M.2 2280 should fit, but, as you said it's an SATA drive, so performance would take a big hit.

Lou
Click to expand...

Not really, a SATA based M2 blade will not work with a Highpoint card. See tsialex's post on this here.

They are in fact very different, the SATA based M.2 SSDs use a B&M edge key and require the board they are loaded onto to have a SATA controller.

AHCI and NVMe blades use the M edge key and connect directly the PCIe bus without the need for a SATA controller. The difference between AHCI and NVMe in this case boils down to the specification that they are using to interface on the PCIe bus.
 
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Eneco said:
What tool are you using to measure the temps of the NVME drives? They don't show up within the usual fan / temp apps.
Click to expand...

DriveDx has a Temperature Information section based on S.M.A.R.T. data.

DriveDx NVMe Temps.png

Eneco said:
It's also very interesting that some people don't hear the fan. The Crest fan is noisier than all the other system fans combined (with their idle speeds). But maybe as an audio engineer I'm more sensitive to such a matter.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering about that, too. Possibly some fans are better balanced than others? I don't think the fans are particularly high-end components so noise variance doesn't seem out of the question.

I have trained ears (recording, editing, mixing, musician) and (I hope) I tend to notice and discriminate sounds more consciously than the average listener. My current environment does involve fans from four other sources, though, so I'll admit if the IOCrest is making any noise then it's soft enough to be masked. I'm not recording in this particular space, if I was I'm sure everything would drive me nuts! :confused::)
 
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Hi. I intend to install a samsung evo 970 in my MP 4,1->5,1 using one of the adapters indicated in the first page. My budget only allows me to buy the cheapest ones. So I assume that I will only get a 1,500 transfer rate.

I have been reading this post, and after that I still have some doubts about booting and the fact that the macpro treats this memorys as external.

Since the mojave firmware update was released, I can now use the nvme ssd to install the system there and boot from it natively. So, the modification of the rom is no longer neccessary. The only problem is that after that, the unit is seen as external by the system, and the only way to see as internal is Innie. Is that right?. But all this, is just a matter of cosmetics, isn´t it?.
 
pojavi said:
Hi. I intend to install a samsung evo 970 in my MP 4,1->5,1 using one of the adapters indicated in the first page. My budget only allows me to buy the cheapest ones. So I assume that I will only get a 1,500 transfer rate.
Click to expand...

Correct.

pojavi said:
Since the mojave firmware update was released, I can now use the nvme ssd to install the system there and boot from it natively. So, the modification of the rom is no longer neccessary.
Click to expand...

Correct, follow tsialex's instructions here to make sure you are running firmware 140.0.0.0.0. That is the first one with native NVMe support.

pojavi said:
The only problem is that after that, the unit is seen as external by the system, and the only way to see as internal is Innie. Is that right?. But all this, is just a matter of cosmetics, isn´t it?.
Click to expand...

PCIe bus based drives are all seen as external, it makes no difference for day to day use.
 
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pojavi said:
Hi. I intend to install a samsung evo 970 in my MP 4,1->5,1 using one of the adapters indicated in the first page. My budget only allows me to buy the cheapest ones. So I assume that I will only get a 1,500 transfer rate.

I have been reading this post, and after that I still have some doubts about booting and the fact that the macpro treats this memorys as external.

Since the mojave firmware update was released, I can now use the nvme ssd to install the system there and boot from it natively. So, the modification of the rom is no longer neccessary. The only problem is that after that, the unit is seen as external by the system, and the only way to see as internal is Innie. Is that right?. But all this, is just a matter of cosmetics, isn´t it?.
Click to expand...

The answer to all your questions is yes. I have 2 970 Pros and an SM951 AHCI mounted in PCIe slots, all 3 show as external. No issues, except for a longer boot time, and the NVMe drives take longer to boot than the AHCI.

Also, it is my recommendation that your PCIe adapter contain a heatsink. The NVMe drives run hotter than the AHCI. Right now my AHCI drive is running @ 98.5° F and the NVME @ 111.2° F. All have added cooling.

Lou
 
Thank you all for the confirmations. I have just ordered the adapter wings PX1, plus a 970 evo 250 gb to install a clean mojave. Let´s see how it works.

As far as the external issue is concerned, I still don´t know what´s the point of installing Innie.
 
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