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MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI
- Thread starter MisterAndrew
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hello there, Lou
maybe I posted in the wrong threat
I will check my content to see if this was the correct threat
but anyway even if is not the same threat where I posted my comments before
or the one I was following
I think my post still valid and is not off topic because is about M.2 drives and pci-e cards
anyway
regards
[doublepost=1553718403][/doublepost]
yes it was here, page 15 message 359
thanks, Lou
Just wanted to post a thank you to @MisterAndrew and everyone posting the super helpful info in this thread. Upgraded one of the 5,1’s I’m running in my recording studios boot drive to a SSUBX (need to be running Sierra for the time being) and this thread was so helpful! Going to upgrade the rest of them soon now since this went so smoothly.
I tried two different MVMe blades, first an Adata SX8200 Pro 1TB and then a Samsung 970 Pro 1TB in the SYBA I/O Crest SI-PEX4012 controller. Both showed up and were bootable in a cMP 5,1 10.14.3. However, shortly after I would do a read or write to the I/O Crest my computer freezes and then reboots. This happened with BMD Speedtest and when copying or writing to/from the I/O Crest from other drives.
I first tried the Adata, which is the newest version with the updated Silicon Motion controller. It is very fast and runs cooler than the earlier version. I rechecked again by removing the other cards in the PCIe slots leaving the new two bios Pulse 580 in slot 1 and the controller in slot 2. I did the SMC reset and pram zap and the new TTPro shows everything is O.K. for what thats worth.
I thought it might be compatibility with the Adata and tried the Samsung 970 Pro, but the same thing
happens with it. I then cloned a High Sierra partition from my work machine for that A/B and the same thing still happened. It runs fine from an OWC Excelsior PCIe SSD adapter. I was looping a large Pro Tools session for extended times today and it runs great.
I’m wondering of anyone else is running the I/O Crest SI-PEX4012 with the 2 bios Pulse 580. I’m trying to figure it out and thats one more variable. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
I first tried the Adata, which is the newest version with the updated Silicon Motion controller. It is very fast and runs cooler than the earlier version. I rechecked again by removing the other cards in the PCIe slots leaving the new two bios Pulse 580 in slot 1 and the controller in slot 2. I did the SMC reset and pram zap and the new TTPro shows everything is O.K. for what thats worth.
I thought it might be compatibility with the Adata and tried the Samsung 970 Pro, but the same thing
happens with it. I then cloned a High Sierra partition from my work machine for that A/B and the same thing still happened. It runs fine from an OWC Excelsior PCIe SSD adapter. I was looping a large Pro Tools session for extended times today and it runs great.
I’m wondering of anyone else is running the I/O Crest SI-PEX4012 with the 2 bios Pulse 580. I’m trying to figure it out and thats one more variable. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
My Mac Pro 4,1@5,1 runs an Adwits PCIe 16x Card with WD Black 500gb. Performance is as expected w 1450/r 1490.
Note, the 16x PCIe relates not in terms of speed. Its just to get more stability without using screws to fix the adapter. Only the 4x pcie lanes are soldered.
It has a very bright blue LED. Doesnt matter as long the heatsink is mounted.
But I dont use the heatsink as the wd black seems to stay relatively cool.
Note, the 16x PCIe relates not in terms of speed. Its just to get more stability without using screws to fix the adapter. Only the 4x pcie lanes are soldered.
It has a very bright blue LED. Doesnt matter as long the heatsink is mounted.
But I dont use the heatsink as the wd black seems to stay relatively cool.
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I successfully installed four NVMe blades on Amfeltec Gen 3 a few weeks ago in my cMP5,1 and thank you guys for guiding me through with valuable information. I have a question though. I always wondered about this for sometime but was afraid to ask.
Those SSD blades come with stickers on them and I know they have the purpose of identifying the products and, in fact, Samsung’s stickers are good looking but when you mount the blades on a carrier card, do you peal them off or leave them on?
I want to attach heatsinks to the blades and I figured the vinyl sheet would act to reduce heat conductivity and that got me thinking that, even without the heatsinks, maybe I should take the labels off and expose the chips for cooling.
What do you people do with them? What would be the standard procedure here?
Those SSD blades come with stickers on them and I know they have the purpose of identifying the products and, in fact, Samsung’s stickers are good looking but when you mount the blades on a carrier card, do you peal them off or leave them on?
I want to attach heatsinks to the blades and I figured the vinyl sheet would act to reduce heat conductivity and that got me thinking that, even without the heatsinks, maybe I should take the labels off and expose the chips for cooling.
What do you people do with them? What would be the standard procedure here?
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Those stickers are thermally conductive and should not be removed. If you remove, you lose the warranty.
I thought the warranty issue would come in play and I was guessing that's why nobody even talked about pealing off the labels. As long as they are thermally conductive, I will put the heatsinks over the labels using the best double-faced adhesives I can find. I hear 3M 5580H-10 is good for this. Thank you both for your quick help.
Hey, this is Brennan from over at mac pro upgrade group, the xinte lm313 should be added onto the bifurcation controller list in the sticky. I tested it out a few months ago, and it is the cheapest option for running 4 nvme drives. It's 8x, and requires a sata power connection, but all in all its a great card for the money.
https://m.xt-xinte.com/h-product-detail.html?goods_id=563664
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I just installed the Samsung 970 Pro in the Aqua kyro M2 I got yesterday. The rig runs great for an hour of
BM Disk Speed Test. The I/O Crest was the culprit and I'm a little nervous about trying another for running sessions. There was plenty of clearance with the Aqua card, the I/O Crest card, and the 580 pulse, especially for my purposes.
If the card needs bifurcation, it won’t work with Mac Pro…
Bifurcation list is a do not buy list.
I had 2 of those amfeltec carrier card gen 3 and I return them both, anyway if they are still using those horrible gray looking things, that look like a big square and a little square on the top, you don't have to use those if you don't want to, I understand your question because I had those carrier cards and the instruction are not clear, anyway even if you don't peal off the samsung sticker, when you remove the tape from the thermal pads that come with the card and when you put the pads on top of the drive, then after some use, probably just a few days later, they will glue hard together and if you ever try to remove them they they might take the whole sticker together with the thermal pad, my honest recommendation is to not use those and buy something like silver stone SST-TP01-M2
I really hate those things because I only use them for a day or two and they almost ruin my Samsung pro drives
after I find out about that I never use them again, not only can they leave you without warranty but they can also brake your drive if you are not extra careful
me personally I will not use them at at all, just pretend they don't exist
buy some real thermal pads like the silver stone and the drives will have better temps
I use a gen 2 Squid with 4 SM951 blades. Just mount the square heat spreaders on top of the controller portion of the SSD blades and don't remove the Samsung sticker. The Amfletec spreaders are working just fine for me with no thermal throttling but there are other options available too.
Is that gen 3 Squid finally negotiating the correct link in a cMP 2.0 slot after taking the Boot ROM updates or is it still capped at 3,000MB?
Has anyone tried the Silicon Power A80 nvme blades in a Mac Pro? Amazon Australia have some great deals on them at the moment and I’m sorely tempted.
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=Silic...+R/W+up+to+3,200/3,000MB/s+SSD&ref=nb_sb_noss
I have a PC running a 970 Evo so I was thinking I could always swap them over if it failed to work...but I’d prefer not to.
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=Silic...+R/W+up+to+3,200/3,000MB/s+SSD&ref=nb_sb_noss
I have a PC running a 970 Evo so I was thinking I could always swap them over if it failed to work...but I’d prefer not to.
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Same here. I did go for the Crest card to replace an older Anglebird PX1 and the HyperXPredator PCIe card to gain a full slot for a USB-C card to connect to the Lacie 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3 Media disk. (It has a USB-C 10GB port)
What I do not understand, - both SSD's are old AHCI blades and should not run faster in the crest in Slot 3 compared to the single PCIe adapter cards. However, they do somehow feel faster. Maybe because the big heatsink works and prevents throttling because it has a small fan and two stages. I am super happy with this setup now. The Crest card performs admirably.
SM951-AHCI is a PCIe 3.0 X4 device, with around 2150MB/s read speed, check Anandtech review.
Kingston Predator is a PCIe 2.0 x4 drive and don't have better throughput with a PCIe 3.0 switch.
This year I'll be buying an IOcrest but for the time being I'm using this "Owltech " M type M.2 adapter I bought here in Japan for about ¥2,000. well thought out design but having access to CNC machines here is a boon ! I replaced the Aluminium heatsink with a larger copper one. Temps in early Spring here are 37 ~ 38°C.
Hi, I've been reading through this thread and I have a few questions. I have a Gen 2 Squid x16 with (4) SM951 (AHCI) in slot 2 of a cMP 5,1. Only one is a boot drive and the other three RAID 0 data drive array. I would like to upgrade the array b/c they aren't large enough capacity.
1a. What is my best NVMe option for data drive with 4 KB sector if I'm duel booting Sierra/High Sierra.
1b. Should I just get a few 970 EVO for data array and use 3rd party NVMe kext when booted in Sierra?
2. If I were to use a NVMe as a boot drive would there even be a noticable performance difference over AHCI?
I'm content with the 951 as boot and mainly concerned with getting a larger capacity data array into the Squid. Performance is not the issue in this case but I'll take it.
1a. What is my best NVMe option for data drive with 4 KB sector if I'm duel booting Sierra/High Sierra.
1b. Should I just get a few 970 EVO for data array and use 3rd party NVMe kext when booted in Sierra?
2. If I were to use a NVMe as a boot drive would there even be a noticable performance difference over AHCI?
I'm content with the 951 as boot and mainly concerned with getting a larger capacity data array into the Squid. Performance is not the issue in this case but I'll take it.
Better ask this question here. One thing to think, Sierra will get the last security update around July/August timeframe, unless you have a very good reason to keep using it after that, don't bet on a dying horse.
If you are looking for trouble…
Not much with your PCIe 2.0 Squid.
4K sectors limits you very much, you probably only will get more space and not more speed.
For what it's worth I bought a 4Kn NVMe SSD with the intention of reformatting it so I can boot into both HIGH Sierra and Sierra.
There is quite a process to it (changing format from 4K to 512b sectors) which I am studying up on at the moment. I'll make a couple of observations at the outset – I have already installed High Sierra on to the Toshiba XG5 nvme ssd but the main problem you will face initially is that you will not be able to restart from the system preferences console into High Sierra because the new disk is not visible from Sierra.
I can get around this because I have a clean installation of high Sierra on a WD BLK 500GB HDD connected to an internal SATA II port. I boot into this first at which point the nvme ssd becomes visible and I can reboot to nvme High Sierra using system preferences.
I'm about to try the conversion now.. If successful I expect to be able to see the nvme ssd when I'm working in Sierra - i'll report back shortly
There is quite a process to it (changing format from 4K to 512b sectors) which I am studying up on at the moment. I'll make a couple of observations at the outset – I have already installed High Sierra on to the Toshiba XG5 nvme ssd but the main problem you will face initially is that you will not be able to restart from the system preferences console into High Sierra because the new disk is not visible from Sierra.
I can get around this because I have a clean installation of high Sierra on a WD BLK 500GB HDD connected to an internal SATA II port. I boot into this first at which point the nvme ssd becomes visible and I can reboot to nvme High Sierra using system preferences.
I'm about to try the conversion now.. If successful I expect to be able to see the nvme ssd when I'm working in Sierra - i'll report back shortly
I would be interested to hear if you can get that working. For now it sounds like quite the workaround. I'd also like to know what the performance difference is when the NVMe is formatted at 512 bytes as opposed to 4KB. Perhaps with a simple speed test.
Edit: Also, make sure that both versions of Mac OS are using the same file system. If Sierra is HFS+ but High Sierra is APFS, you won't be able to see High Sierra from Sierra either.
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Sierra only can use 4KB sector drives, so it's the contrary.
The card says it uses the asmedia2824 chipset.
Based on what I read this means that the chip does the bifurcation and therefore the card works in motherboards that don’t support bifurcation.
I checked the page linked and I don't remember showing ASM2824 when I checked, thx for noticing it.
Anyway, cards that have PCIe switches don't do bifurcation, PCIe switches share the lanes. Bifurcation is a Z299 and newer chipsets feature and work splitting the lanes.