MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[Rezblah]

And further to my crest card issue, the good people at syba are sending me a new one so hopefully all will be well in a few weeks once everything gets shipped around the world...

If not then hopefully that lycom DT 130 will be available...

I'm thinking reinstall mojave to try and sort the display issues...

 

[s.m.t.]

Here’s my solution to the noisy fan in the Syba / IO-Crest SI-PEX40129. It’s a 2-pin extension cable with an inline resistor to reduce the voltage going to the fan to make it run slower and quieter, supposedly by 30%. Only cost $5 for a set of two on ebay and arrived in ten days.

It works great, the fan noise is now effectively imperceptible over the case fans. So relieved. The thickness of the resistor and connector wouldn’t quite fit under the heatsink so I had to route the fan cable so the resistor was outside the heatsink, only minor quibble to an otherwise perfect solution.

Surely SSD temps will be a little higher than before, but I expect still better than most NVMe adapters with no fans at all! The case fan in front of the PCIe slots could be cranked up to compensate too.

View attachment 853918 View attachment 853919

after having the I/O crest for several days nows, I have started to hear the fan. It is louder than when I first got it and it doesn't sound like it is a quality fan. It has a irregular, rough sound to it. I wonder if it is even needed and if the card would run without the fan all together.

Should be able to make one of those extensions with a resistor inline.

 

[zedex]

Again - see the Lycom DT130. Same switch as I/O Crest but passive cooling in the form of that giant heatsink. Mac Pro PCIe fan can do the rest! I'm ordering one the minute they land - I'm happy to report back when I get mine

Personally - I never had any issues with the I/O Crest when I owned one but I have seen several reports from other users on this forum lamenting the fan noise issues. It's a shame the manufacture process has produced such uneven results :/

PS - I unplugged my fan for about a month and it worked fine BUT I didn't really understand the importance of cooling at that point in time - so.. while I know it worked fine.. I don't want to recommend it as a smart way to go.

 

[s.m.t.]

PS - I unplugged my fan for about a month and it worked fine BUT I didn't really understand the importance of cooling at that point in time - so.. while I know it worked fine.. I don't want to recommend it as a smart way to go.

Did you note your temps? Mine stays pretty cool as I keep the PCI fan running a little higher than the min. Thinking I can easily set a fan profile to ramp the PCI fan up on temp of the 970 EVO... I haven't seen it get above 40°C yet...

 

[zedex]

Yep. The reality is that the SSDs didn't cook when stressed (high load for 5-10 mins). The reason I changed my attitude to the fan (initially i thought it was pointless) was when another member pointed out that the fan was to cool the switch NOT the disks. There is no sensor (on iStat) to show the switch temps and if the switch cooks it's game over.

I'm expecting that the passive heat sink on the DT130 will be a more effective solution than the fan in the iocrest - but I don't know that for sure yet......

 

[s.m.t.]

Good point, there is a sizable thermal pad on that chipset...

 

[zedex]

Personally I am still on the fence about the IO Crest card... Mine should be here to day and I am planning on speed testing it. I am hoping to see a bump in random 4k reads/writes... If I don't, I will likely just return it. Seq. speeds are not too relevant to me...

would someone with an IO Crest mind posting a similar benchmark?

Hey SMT - more benchmarks for you my friend..

Same disk (sabrent 512) same settings (50MiB) tested in an SSD7101:

this one is done using a sabrent 1TB (note that this disk is 70% full):

 

[BelgianBoy]

I have a cMP 5.1 with HS with a 1TB 970 EVO in slot 3.
I also have RX580 installed in slot 1.
Can I install an IO Crest without it blocking slot 3? Or is it really that wide?

 

[tsialex]

I have a cMP 5.1 with HS with a 1TB 970 EVO in slot 3.
I also have RX580 installed in slot 1.
Can I install an IO Crest without it blocking slot 3? Or is it really that wide?

No, it's the RX 580 that will interfere with slot 2. All the PCIe switched cards from the first post are one slot wide.

 

[zedex]

I have a cMP 5.1 with HS with a 1TB 970 EVO in slot 3.
I also have RX580 installed in slot 1.
Can I install an IO Crest without it blocking slot 3? Or is it really that wide?

I would sincerely encourage you to examine this solution ( https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ll-never-again-interfere-with-slot-2.2197527/ )

The recent benchmarks posted by @Lenny_ show that very little is lost by installing over-width cards in SLOT 4 rather than SLOT 1.

 

[s.m.t.]

I have a cMP 5.1 with HS with a 1TB 970 EVO in slot 3.
I also have RX580 installed in slot 1.
Can I install an IO Crest without it blocking slot 3? Or is it really that wide?

Your issue will likely be the I/O can't go in slot 2 because of the 580 in slot 1. I put my 580 in slot 2 and the I/O in slot 1. I loose slot 3 due to the 580 blocking it. I also have a USB3 card in slot 4...
[automerge]1568982154[/automerge]

Hey SMT - more benchmarks for you my friend..

Same disk (sabrent 512) same settings (50MiB) tested in an SSD7101:

View attachment 860449

this one is done using a sabrent 1TB (note that this disk is 70% full):
View attachment 860450

Pretty close to what I am seeing too. Thanks... Still somewhat surprised on the drop of 4K writes... But I can't complain, at least I can have two blades now. And copies between them are very fast!

I am still searching for fan solutions. It sounds like a low quality ball bearing fan from the 90s...

 

[atonaldenim]

I have a cMP 5.1 with HS with a 1TB 970 EVO in slot 3.
I also have RX580 installed in slot 1.
Can I install an IO Crest without it blocking slot 3? Or is it really that wide?

I have a Sapphire Pulse RX580 in slot 1 and a Syba / IO Crest SI-PEX40129 in slot 2. The RX580 does threaten to bump up against the IO Crest, but if I keep them spread apart while tightening down the mounting thumbscrew it’s ok. I’ve used a random plastic HDMI port cover as a spacer to keep them apart for some airflow in between.

I don’t currently have anything in slot 3 but it doesn’t look like the IO Crest would interfere with it.

 

[bsbeamer]

You can try the stacking thermal pads fix if you're looking for something a bit more customizable than just an HDMI cover as a wedge.

 

[s.m.t.]

I have a Sapphire Pulse RX580 in slot 1 and a Syba / IO Crest SI-PEX40129 in slot 2. The RX580 does threaten to bump up against the IO Crest, but if I keep them spread apart while tightening down the mounting thumbscrew it’s ok. I’ve used a random plastic HDMI port cover as a spacer to keep them apart for some airflow in between.

I don’t currently have anything in slot 3 but it doesn’t look like the IO Crest would interfere with it.

what are your temps in that configuration? Looks like it would restrict a lot of air flow to the GPU...

 

[JeDiGM]

I ended up ordering this. Saved a few bucks. Speeds on 970 EVO 2TB W/R 2400-1500/2500. Not sure the best way to link to an eBay product but the description is:

M.2 SSD Carrier For 4 M.2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB/S

M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S | eBay

Find best value and selection for your M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S search on eBay. World's leading marketplace.

www.ebay.ca

 

[bsbeamer]

I ended up ordering this. Saved a few bucks. Speeds on 970 EVO 2TB W/R 2400-1500/2500. Not sure the best way to link to an eBay product but the description is:

M.2 SSD Carrier For 4 M.2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB/S

M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S | eBay

Find best value and selection for your M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S search on eBay. World's leading marketplace.

www.ebay.ca

Believe this uses an ASM2824 switch, but if you have more specs it may be helpful to others to post them.

 

[JeDiGM]

Believe this uses an ASM2824 switch, but if you have more specs it may be helpful to others to post them.

If this helps.

 

[Pressure]

Yeah, it uses the asmedia ASM2824 chip. It's the non-branded version of the JEYI X4X4PRO. It can be had for ~$160 directly from taobao.

 

[tsialex]

I ended up ordering this. Saved a few bucks. Speeds on 970 EVO 2TB W/R 2400-1500/2500. Not sure the best way to link to an eBay product but the description is:

M.2 SSD Carrier For 4 M.2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB/S

M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S | eBay

Find best value and selection for your M 2 SSD Carrier For 4 M 2 NVME PCIe GEN3 x16 80Gpbs With Cooler UP TO 7000 MB S search on eBay. World's leading marketplace.

www.ebay.ca

Weird that this card has a SATA power feed connector for just two blades…
Edit: it's a 4 blade card, but uses the ASM2824 and it's 8x only.

 

[JeDiGM]

Weird that this card has a SATA power feed connector for just two blades…

It's 4 i believe. 2 on top and 2 on bottom.

 

[MacManSuite]

Looking for some clarity regarding this adaptor:

SKU-086-32-HS-4

Squid PCIe x8 Carrier Board for two x M.2 SSD Module, HS (Gen 3)

Squid PCIe x8 Carrier Board for two x M.2 SSD Module, HS (Gen 3)

www.amazon.co.uk

Amfeltec Corp Squid PCIe x4 Carrier Board for two x M.2 SSD Module, HS (Gen 3)

Will be partnered up with a Sabrent 1TB NVMe Drive.

Any thoughts & feedback appreciated, cannot find any posts regarding this specific adaptor

TIA

 

[tsialex]

Any thoughts & feedback appreciated, cannot find any posts regarding this specific adaptor

TIA

First post have the link for the Squid thread…

 

[MacManSuite]

First post have the link for the Squid thread…

I did see these:

• Amfeltec Squid: Amfeltec x16 PCIe with 4 SSDs: 5900+ MB/s. Supports four double side M.2 blades, up to 110mm. The PCI Express Gen 3 version uses PLX PEX8732 switch. Just a heatsink and fan for the PCIe switch, no heatsink for the blades. The Gen 2 version doesn't have a fan and doesn't allow full speed from individual Gen 3 SSDs.

&

• Amfeltec Squid PCI Express Gen 3 Carrier Board for 6 M.2 or NGFSS (NF1) Supports six double side M.2 blades, up to 110mm, 32mm wide. Uses PLX PEX87xx switch? Just a heatsink for the PCIe switch, two fans for the blades. Untested in the Mac Pro.
  

I also followed through some links, to said thread, but from looking I couldn't find an immediate answer, and I'm sure being a regular poster to this thread, who appears to have strong product knowledge in this area from your posts - It's likely you might have had a yes or a no.

I'm going to assume, as it's basically the quad version, minus two, it should work...?

 

[atonaldenim]

what are your temps in that configuration? Looks like it would restrict a lot of air flow to the GPU...

This is after about 8 minutes of transcoding DNxHR to H.264 in Adobe Media Encoder including scaling the frame size and a timecode burn-in which should stress the GPU a bit. It's reading and writing to the SSD in the IO Crest. I have dual X5680 CPUs with 130w TDP and I usually use Macs Fan Control to keep temps lower both idle and under load, but I left the fans on auto system default settings for this test, so it's kind of a worst case scenario for a typical strenuous workload in my world.

If anyone finds any of these temps to be particularly concerning I'd be glad to know! I'd usually set the fans to keep the CPU and Northbridge temps more in the 60ºC range, as well as keeping the PCIe fan spinning a bit faster as well. BTW, the ambient temp in my office is probably about 22ºC today.

 

[s.m.t.]

I simply removed the fan completely and have been running 2 x Samsung 970 EVO for more than 8 months now. So far I didn't experience any performance throttle. I think the very massive and thick heatsink is more than enough to cool down the switch as well as the blades.



Maybe the overall noise coming from your machine is already high and therefore the fan is just another layer. All of my fans are running at idle RPM except for the CPU.

Did you unplug it or remove it completely...