MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[grumat]

Hi everybody. For those who are looking for alternatives, I've successfully installed two different SSDs on my MP Late 2013. Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 and Samsung PM991a.

Edit: (Detailed Information)

Samsung PM991a (Used the last month without issues, before upgrading to Kioxia for more space and random performance)

• Model number: SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HBLB-00BH1 1 TB
• Firmware Version: HPS1NFAV (the firmware is HP OEM)
• Link Width: x4 / 5.0 GT/s
• TRIM Support: Yes

Kioxia Exceria Plus G3

• Model Number: KIOXIA-EXCERIA PLUS G3 SSD 2 TB
• Firmware Version: ELFA01.2
• Link Width: x4 / 5.0 GT/s
• TRIM Support: Yes

MacPro Late 2013

• Model Identifier: MacPro6,1
• Processor Name: 12-Core Intel Xeon E5
• Processor Speed: 2,7 GHz
• Memory: 16 GB
• System Firmware Version: 481.0.0.0.0
• OS Loader Version: 540.120.3~37
• SMC Version (system): 2.20f18
• Panel Illumination Version: 1.4a6

 

[superlativo]

Please note that we only add/list blades as working that really, really work in the long run. For example, some blades work perfectly for weeks, but then fail midway when you have software updates (yes, this happens - XPG Spectrix S40G is one that doesn't work with software updates).

If you gonna test and add something to the first post, please test it over time and not just check if it can run macOS.

In case it is useful for you to add to the web. Since March 2022, I have been using the combination of the WD Black sn750 500GB NVMe SSD with the Sabrent PCIe card with dual boot and zero problems. Initially High Sierra/Monterey and currently Monterey/Ventura.

 

[tsialex]

In case it is useful for you to add to the web. Since March 2022, I have been using the combination of the WD Black sn750 500GB NVMe SSD with the Sabrent PCIe card with dual boot and zero problems. Initially High Sierra/Monterey and currently Monterey/Ventura.

Thx for the report, but since almost all WD NVMe drives are really problematic with Mac Pros, SN750 is one that works best, you need to provide some more info to be really useful, like:

• Blade model and firmware installed? (SystemInformation/NVMExpress/Drive/Revision shows it)
  

  WD_BLACK SN770 2TB:
  
    Capacity:    2 TB (2.000.398.934.016 bytes)
    TRIM Support:    Yes
    Model:    WD_BLACK SN770 2TB
    Revision:    731100WD
    Serial Number:    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Link Width:    x4
    Link Speed:    5.0 GT/s
    Detachable Drive:    No
    BSD Name:    disk1
    Partition Map Type:    GPT (GUID Partition Table)
    Removable Media:    No
    S.M.A.R.T. status:    Verified

• Which PCIe slot the blade is installed? (Some blades only work correctly with slots-1 and slot-2)

 

[superlativo]

I used a StarTech PEX8M2E2 in the mid-2010 Mac Pro 8-core that I just sold, and here are the speeds I saw with three different NVMe SSD drives:

View attachment 2003907

View attachment 2003908

View attachment 2003909

In all speed tests above, two NVMe blades were installed in the StarTech card. I never did tests with just one NVMe drive installed, so I am not sure how these speeds would change. I hope this helps!

Is there any other cheaper option? In my country that card costs 292 euros (taxes included). I currently use the Sabrent adapter, being limited to PCIe 4x.

Naive of me to see that slots 1 and 2 are 16x and I had the Sabrent in slot 4, I uploaded the RX560 card to PCIe slot 2 thinking that leaving slot 1 for the Sabrent would get the maximum speed. After seeing that I was getting exactly the same speed, I came here where I read from the tsialex teacher that this is impossible since the simple adapter is 4x.

When I bought it, reading that it was compatible with 16x, I thought that my wonderful WD Black sn750 would work like a shot, but it didn't.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tsialex]

Is there any other cheaper option? In my country that card costs 292 euros (taxes included). I currently use the Sabrent adapter, being limited to PCIe 4x.

eBay/AliExpress have the CEACENT ANM24PE16 that some people here are using, browse some pages back, you will find success reports.

PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

That's the Sunweit ST536, which I've likewise had great results with. I also got mine around the same time as you, before it even had a model number, just a generic description. Seems like they're putting more effort into marketing after getting some solid reviews in the last year. It's still...

forums.macrumors.com

Naive of me to see that slots 1 and 2 are 16x and I had the Sabrent in slot 4, I uploaded the RX560 card to PCIe slot 2 thinking that leaving slot 1 for the Sabrent would get the maximum speed. After seeing that I was getting exactly the same speed, I came here where I read from the tsialex teacher that this is impossible since the simple adapter is 4x.

When I bought it, reading that it was compatible with 16x, I thought that my wonderful WD Black sn750 would work like a shot, but it didn't.

Thanks in advance.

All modern PCIe M.2 blades are x4, but PCIe v3.0 or v4.0.

With a PCIe switched adapter you can convert the wide and slow PCIe v2.0 x8/x16 into narrow and fast PCIe v3.0 x4, when the performance more than double.

 

[superlativo]

Thx for the report, but since almost all WD NVMe drives are really problematic with Mac Pros, SN750 is one that works best, you need to provide some more info to be really useful, like:

• Blade model and firmware installed? (SystemInformation/NVMExpress/Drive/Revision shows it)
  

  WD_BLACK SN770 2TB:
  
    Capacity:    2 TB (2.000.398.934.016 bytes)
    TRIM Support:    Yes
    Model:    WD_BLACK SN770 2TB
    Revision:    731100WD
    Serial Number:    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Link Width:    x4
    Link Speed:    5.0 GT/s
    Detachable Drive:    No
    BSD Name:    disk1
    Partition Map Type:    GPT (GUID Partition Table)
    Removable Media:    No
    S.M.A.R.T. status:    Verified

• Which PCIe slot the blade is installed? (Some blades only work correctly with slots-1 and slot-2)

Generic SSD Controller:

WDS500G3X0C-00SJG0:

Capacity: 500,11 GB (500.107.862.016 bytes)
TRIM Support: Yes
Model: WDS500G3X0C-00SJG0
Revision: 111130WD
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Link Width: x4
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Removable Media: No
SMART status: Verified

Until today (as I mentioned in the previous message) it has been in slot 4 (at the top) and today I lowered it to slot 1 (at the bottom) to test if I could get more speed by using a 16x slot 😅 In both it works correctly.

 

[basslik]

I've always went OWC, the extra cost pays for itself when having paying clients when recording. OWC just fool proof.

 

[tsialex]

I've always went OWC, the extra cost pays for itself when having paying clients when recording. OWC just fool proof.

Glad that works for you.

I don't need to re-write my past nightmares with OWC products and the nonexistent post sale support for anyone outside the CON-US.

 

[basslik]

Hi Alex.

I guess I can't speak for customer service from OWC, since I never needed them for issues on their products. I'm sure it was a sad experience.

I've experienced bad customer service with 99.9% of a lot companies. The worst, is when they have you on hold for a long time, then hang up on you.

 

[Kai5]

Hi
Can anyone confirm the the WD SN850x ssd will work in the Mac pro 6,1

It is more readily available and as far as I can find cheaper than the older WD SN750 ssd which is marked as good for compatibility. They both use DRAM while many of the other WD SN ssd´s mark as not comparable use HMB

Of the WD SN750 and the SN850x are there are slow boot times for Monterey or if the spinning beach all is encountered during the operation of Monterey

Thanks

 

[grumat]

Hi
Can anyone confirm the the WD SN850x ssd will work in the Mac pro 6,1

It is more readily available and as far as I can find cheaper than the older WD SN750 ssd which is marked as good for compatibility. They both use DRAM while many of the other WD SN ssd´s mark as not comparable use HMB

Of the WD SN750 and the SN850x are there are slow boot times for Monterey or if the spinning beach all is encountered during the operation of Monterey

Thanks

According to this post: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/post-32891688 it works on a MBA 2013. So chances are good.
I was almost buying this model as it has a good random access but at the end I was so unsure and changed my mind to a blade with a Toshiba-based controller. They seem to be the safest option. I had previously tested with a shiny new SanDisk 1TB Ultra 3D, which did NOT work.
At the end WD and SanDisk are very similar. I ended up with a KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 2 TB, which has also a good random performance and it worked in both, 512e and 4K sector sizes. What is really important: Use a USB to NVMe and format it before mounting the blade, to avoid the spinning fan and boot problems.

 

[mattspace]

So looking back at the table in the first post - the only drives that seem well recommended for 7,1 and onwards, the KIOXIA workstation models (XG6), aren't available retail (and are now replaced by the XG8).

So what's the best option for 2 & 4TB (including bootable)? The 990 Evos seem... problematic(?), and we can't live for ever scavenging discontinued drives.

 

[grumat]

So looking back at the table in the first post - the only drives that seem well recommended for 7,1 and onwards, the KIOXIA workstation models (XG6), aren't available retail (and are now replaced by the XG8).

So what's the best option for 2 & 4TB (including bootable)? The 990 Evos seem... problematic(?), and we can't live for ever scavenging discontinued drives.

One of these table shows controller. I would stick into that information, assuming that newer generations tends to be backwards compatible...

 

[mattspace]

One of these table shows controller. I would stick into that information, assuming that newer generations tends to be backwards compatible...

OK, so I hadn't considered the Sabrent one cause ive always been Samsung for SATA SSDs, and the 4TB PCI3 versions look like theyre pretty well supported according to the table, AND they're still available.

Any good reason I shouldn't buy them, cause I can really pull the trigger on it...

 

[H2SO4]

OK, so I hadn't considered the Sabrent one cause ive always been Samsung for SATA SSDs, and the 4TB PCI3 versions look like theyre pretty well supported according to the table, AND they're still available.

Any good reason I shouldn't buy them, cause I can really pull the trigger on it...

Hi, I can't remember what your config is but I have the following;
2TB Corsair MP600 PRO NH, (currently running Sonoma 14.2.1).
2TB Samsung SSD 980 PRO.
2TB Sabrent SB-RKT4P, (Windows10 is here).
Without a switched PCIe card, OSX would not install properly on any of them.
Even with it, I seem to have something that has never occurred before on any drive/OS. (I'll update with deets later tonight).
Whether it's linked to the disappearing drive thing that seem to be afflicting some others I have no idea.

 

[mattspace]

Hi, I can't remember what your config is but I have the following;
2TB Corsair MP600 PRO NH, (currently running Sonoma 14.2.1).
2TB Samsung SSD 980 PRO.
2TB Sabrent SB-RKT4P, (Windows10 is here).
Without a switched PCIe card, OSX would not install properly on any of them.
Even with it, I seem to have something that has never occurred before on any drive/OS. (I'll update with deets later tonight).
Whether it's linked to the disappearing drive thing that seem to be afflicting some others I have no idea.

Thanks - I have two of the Sabrents in my cart on Amazon... but then I came across this post in the thread, and *eugh* maybe not, then.

I haven't bought the PCI adapter yet, but I'm looking at the highpoint Rocker 1104F, or 1104.

I wonder if the Wiki (which presents them in happy green text) should be updated to show this.

 

[H2SO4]

Thanks - I have two of the Sabrents in my cart on Amazon... but then I came across this post in the thread, and *eugh* maybe not, then.

I haven't bought the PCI adapter yet, but I'm looking at the highpoint Rocker 1104F, or 1104.

I wonder if the Wiki (which presents them in happy green text) should be updated to show this.

Hi again. Right. Just got round to doing a disk first aid on my boot drive, (all of the steps from physical disk down to ****-Data), and strangely enough got no errors this time around;

Running First Aid on “Macintosh HD - Data” (disk5s1)
Verifying the startup volume will cause this computer to stop responding.
Verifying file system.
Volume could not be unmounted.
Using live mode.
Performing fsck_apfs -n -l -x /dev/rdisk5s1
Checking the container superblock.
Checking the checkpoint with transaction ID 6772571.
Checking the EFI jumpstart record.
Checking the space manager.
Checking the space manager free queue trees.
Checking the object map.
Checking the encryption key structures.
Checking volume /dev/rdisk5s1.
Checking the APFS volume superblock.
The volume K7GF HD - Data was formatted by diskmanageme (2142.140.9.701.2) and last modified by apfs_kext (2235.60.6).
Checking the object map.
Checking the snapshot metadata tree.
Checking the snapshot metadata.
Checking the document ID tree.
Checking the fsroot tree.
Checking the extent ref tree.
Verifying volume object map space.
Verifying allocated space.
The volume /dev/rdisk5s1 with UUID 11B3A3FD-4DB0-4774-930E-7C9A4EE29E17 appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Operation successful.

No errors whatsoever. I'm not sure why I have none now but had them before. They were previously told me that the drive 'appears to be corrupt'.
Well I guess that's good. The only thing that is different from before since the reinstall is booting to Windows. I've only done that once so far but used to regularly. I reinstalled probably two weeks ago.
Some additional info. The MacOS Boot drive and the 980Pro are installed to a Sonnet Silent M2. 4x4 and the Sabrent is on a Startech Dual.

 

[mattspace]

Hi again. Right. Just got round to doing a disk first aid on my boot drive, (all of the steps from physical disk down to ****-Data), and strangely enough got no errors this time around;

Running First Aid on “Macintosh HD - Data” (disk5s1)
Verifying the startup volume will cause this computer to stop responding.
Verifying file system.
Volume could not be unmounted.
Using live mode.
Performing fsck_apfs -n -l -x /dev/rdisk5s1
Checking the container superblock.
Checking the checkpoint with transaction ID 6772571.
Checking the EFI jumpstart record.
Checking the space manager.
Checking the space manager free queue trees.
Checking the object map.
Checking the encryption key structures.
Checking volume /dev/rdisk5s1.
Checking the APFS volume superblock.
The volume K7GF HD - Data was formatted by diskmanageme (2142.140.9.701.2) and last modified by apfs_kext (2235.60.6).
Checking the object map.
Checking the snapshot metadata tree.
Checking the snapshot metadata.
Checking the document ID tree.
Checking the fsroot tree.
Checking the extent ref tree.
Verifying volume object map space.
Verifying allocated space.
The volume /dev/rdisk5s1 with UUID 11B3A3FD-4DB0-4774-930E-7C9A4EE29E17 appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Operation successful.

No errors whatsoever. I'm not sure why I have none now but had them before. They were previously told me that the drive 'appears to be corrupt'.
Well I guess that's good. The only thing that is different from before since the reinstall is booting to Windows. I've only done that once so far but used to regularly. I reinstalled probably two weeks ago.
Some additional info. The MacOS Boot drive and the 980Pro are installed to a Sonnet Silent M2. 4x4 and the Sabrent is on a Startech Dual.

What was the symptom you were getting while the machine was running (macOS)?

I'm honestly just thinking I'll eat the cost, and buy a pair of 990 pros. Samsung seem to have put out a bunch of firmware updates since the problems which caused Puget o bail on them (and they went to Sabrent - who seem to have a worse reputation).

There's really no practical options given the post 1 list is mostly drives that have sold out of channel by now. It's all very annoying.

 

[H2SO4]

What was the symptom you were getting while the machine was running (macOS)?

I'm honestly just thinking I'll eat the cost, and buy a pair of 990 pros. Samsung seem to have put out a bunch of firmware updates since the problems which caused Puget o bail on them (and they went to Sabrent - who seem to have a worse reputation).

There's really no practical options given the post 1 list is mostly drives that have sold out of channel by now. It's all very annoying.

It was running more slowly than usual, (especially noticeable in app start up times), also the boot time got longer and longer until suddenly it wouldn't boot, (thank you Carbon Copy Cloner for the lifeline).
One other thing I remember happening is how when you boot and get the apple logo, there was no progress bar.
You were straight to the login screen.
I 'll keep an eye on the 990, myself. Once I get the 3080 I'm looking for I'll be booting to Windows much more often so I'll be looking for corruption after that. Mind you if it's actually the Windows install that is somehow corrupting my boot disc I'm not sure how moving to a different drive will help me.

I might do a revive on my firmware to see if that changes anything.

 

[mattspace]

It was running more slowly than usual, (especially noticeable in app start up times), also the boot time got longer and longer until suddenly it wouldn't boot, (thank you Carbon Copy Cloner for the lifeline).

You’re confident in CCC’s ability to move a running system to a different drive?

One other thing I remember happening is how when you boot and get the apple logo, there was no progress bar.
You were straight to the login screen.

hmm, I always boot in verbose mode. I wonder if that would show you where it was stalling…

I 'll keep an eye on the 990, myself. Once I get the 3080 I'm looking for I'll be booting to Windows much more often so I'll be looking for corruption after that. Mind you if it's actually the Windows install that is somehow corrupting my boot disc I'm not sure how moving to a different drive will help me.

yeah, if Windows is not dealing with the weird packaging of the boot disk in apfs, I could imagine it doing something. Apfs is a bit like the ghost of SCSI at the best of times.

I might do a revive on my firmware to see if that changes anything.

ahh, is this problem with one of your 5,1s? Some reason I’d thought you’d picked up a 7,1…

 

[grumat]

In my case I have a MP6,1 and both of you other models. In my case the drive could not be detected when cold booting. My fan started to run in full speed and machine would not show any image. Then I formatted the new unit, that obviously came without any formatting, and things became normal. USB drive with Monterrey Installer to Boot, then Disk Utility, then restore old drive to new one. And that was enough. It was also really fast. I had to use an USB-to-NVMe enclosure, since MP6,1 does not have another option.
For the MP6,1 NVMe+Adapter are slightly larger than original drive. This was bending slightly the NVMe blade. I replaced original screw by a M2.5 nylon screw, used a dremmel to grind/mill the screw thread near the head and now I have no more strain on my setup. I have some pictures if someone wants more details on this.

 

[H2SO4]

You’re confident in CCC’s ability to move a running system to a different drive?



hmm, I always boot in verbose mode. I wonder if that would show you where it was stalling…



yeah, if Windows is not dealing with the weird packaging of the boot disk in apfs, I could imagine it doing something. Apfs is a bit like the ghost of SCSI at the best of times.



ahh, is this problem with one of your 5,1s? Some reason I’d thought you’d picked up a 7,1…

1. Yup, done the CCC thing a number of times. Back in the day before Apple made things difficult, I'd clone the entire drive. Now I do a clone that only copies the user portion and use Migration Assistant to import that into a fresh install.
2. Verbose mode is a great idea actually. I'll try it if i ever start seeing those signs again.
3. I don't particularly like APFS, maybe because I understood HFS+ better, why can't they just leave things alone.
4. You are correct, it's the 7,1 - my 5,1 is currently on eBay getting lots of views and watchers but no bids.

 

[mattspace]

1. Yup, done the CCC thing a number of times. Back in the day before Apple made things difficult, I'd clone the entire drive. Now I do a clone that only copies the user portion and use Migration Assistant to import that into a fresh install.

Looks like Bombich has checked out of the bootable clone option - though Superduper! still lists it as viable.

2. Verbose mode is a great idea actually. I'll try it if i ever start seeing those signs again.

Only problem is you can't control which screen it goes to, and it shows up sideways on one of my portrait displays 😅.

3. I don't particularly like APFS, maybe because I understood HFS+ better, why can't they just leave things alone.

Or go to something that's more standard and a little less black-box. APFS seems to bring a lot of the complications of modern filesystems, without some of the best features (eg bitrot protection, last i checked).

 

[flaubert]

Looks like Bombich has checked out of the bootable clone option - though Superduper! still lists it as viable.

Actually, it’s still there in CCC 6, it’s just not a very visible option. Right click on the destination drive and the content menu will show the option to copy using something called Legacy Bootable Copy Assistant. It has some limitations, but it works well in my experience.

https://support.bombich.com/hc/en-us/articles/20686422131479-Creating-legacy-bootable-copies-of-macOS

 

[mattspace]

Actually, it’s still there in CCC 6, it’s just not a very visible option. Right click on the destination drive and the content menu will show the option to copy using something called Legacy Bootable Copy Assistant. It has some limitations, but it works well in my experience.

https://support.bombich.com/hc/en-us/articles/20686422131479-Creating-legacy-bootable-copies-of-macOS

Yeah I’d not counted that as proper support, because there’s so much “this may not work reliably” warning language in the faq about it.