Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
Koka016

Koka016

macrumors regular
Aug 30, 2020
101
12
Serbia
I have only one PCIe slot free in Mac pro 5.1 and I dont want to spend more than 200 $ US for
card with switcher chip so I decided to try this card but no luck ok.
Yes I saw First post and as I found there must be card with PCIe switching Chip to work in old PCIe 2.0
Mac pro.
Please recommend , cheapest solution , with 2 or 4 M.2 blades that works good in Mac pro 5.1 ?
 
KeesMacPro

KeesMacPro

macrumors 65816
Nov 7, 2019
1,453
596
Koka016 said:
I have only one PCIe slot free in Mac pro 5.1 and I dont want to spend more than 200 $ US for
card with switcher chip so I decided to try this card but no luck ok.
Yes I saw First post and as I found there must be card with PCIe switching Chip to work in old PCIe 2.0
Mac pro.
Please recommend , cheapest solution , with 2 or 4 M.2 blades thae works good in Mac pro 5.1 ?
Click to expand...

Look, this is not a car showroom.
Post #1 names a couple of tested and working cards.
You could consider to investigate prices etc. yourself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trifero
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
Koka016 said:
I have only one PCIe slot free in Mac pro 5.1 and I dont want to spend more than 200 $ US for
card with switcher chip so I decided to try this card but no luck ok.
Yes I saw First post and as I found there must be card with PCIe switching Chip to work in old PCIe 2.0
Mac pro.
Please recommend , cheapest solution , with 2 or 4 M.2 blades that works good in Mac pro 5.1 ?
Click to expand...
Search for "ASM2824" on Amazon.
Found this one for $156: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PRN2QCV
 
PowerPaw

PowerPaw

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2009
95
0
Not necessarily... you can plug an NVME blade into your S-ATA 2 bay with something like this (they are significantly less money from popular retailers) but you'll also need one of these too, though I'd just go for a straight SSD.

You won't get blistering speed from your S-ATA, something in the order of say 250mb/s but it will be plenty fast enough coupled with a PCIe adapter with 2TB NVMe for your OS, Apps and Home delivering up to 1500mb/s performance.
 
PowerPaw

PowerPaw

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2009
95
0
...I was originally looking at one of these but haven't managed to crawl through the 2000 posts to see if anyone has had any success with it for booting.

The thing is it really wants to go into a x8 lane slot if you have one spare to be really effective and its also almost the same price as a 2TB NVMe blade... bearing in mind you are planning to put it into a 5.1 Mac.

I'm now considering a simple 4x PCIe card like this with a reasonable priced TLC based NVMe. Just trying to find out if anyone has had success with the Phision E12 and E16 based Sabrent NVMe blades before pulling the trigger.
 
Last edited:
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
PowerPaw said:
Not necessarily... you can plug an NVME blade into your S-ATA 2 bay with something like this (they are significantly less money from popular retailers) but you'll also need one of these too, though I'd just go for a straight SSD.

You won't get blistering speed from your S-ATA, something in the order of say 250mb/s but it will be plenty fast enough coupled with a PCIe adapter with 2TB NVMe for your OS, Apps and Home delivering up to 1500mb/s performance.
Click to expand...
You linked a U.2 / NVMe adapter and a SATA 3.5" to 2.5" adapter.

You cannot connect NVMe to SATA unless you have a SATA to NVMe converter. I know there exists USB to NVMe converters but I don't know if there are SATA to NVMe adapters.

There are M.2 SATA devices (socket 2 or Key B) (not NVMe or AHCI which are both PCIe socket 3 or Key M) but then you might as well get 2.5" SATA SSD drives like you said.
 
D

dougcjohn

macrumors newbie
Sep 11, 2020
9
0
MisterAndrew said:
This is a general info thread for blade SSDs that can be used in the Mac Pro. This is a WikiPost so anyone with the proper credentials may edit it.

NVMe SSDs can be used as a boot drive in the MP5,1 and MP6,1 with the latest firmware installed (beginning with version 140.0.0.0.0 for MP5,1 and MP61.0120.B00 for MP6,1). The new MP7,1 support booting from an NVMe SSD when external booting is enabled with Startup Security Utility.

Note that PCIe SSDs installed in a Mac Pro 5,1 (MP6,1 have exactly the same PCIe 2.0 limits too) are limited to ~1,500 MB/s unless installed on a PCIe switch card in slot 1 or 2 such as a HighPoint SSD7101A-1 or Amfeltec Squid that converts the Mac Pro PCIe 2.0 x16 to the PCIe 3.0 x4 needed for full throughput.

Also note that 3rd party SSDs have varying compatibility with the Mac Pro and not all listed below may be fully compatible.

macOS NVMe Support:​

  • Genuine Apple NVMe drives are supported beginning with macOS Yosemite 10.10.2 with the correct firmware installed. 3rd party NVMe drives with 4096 bytes/sector are supported beginning with macOS Sierra with expanded support beginning with macOS High Sierra.
  • macOS High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina supports both 4KiB and 512 bytes / sector NVMe drives.
  • macOS Sierra supports 4KiB / sector drives like Apple OEM and some uncommon Toshiba/OCZ/Intel/WD blades. This post on InsanelyMac lists the blades that work with Sierra and hackintoshes, please note that most of those blades don't work with a Mac Pro at all or work with 750MB/s throughput only. Don't use this list to buy blades for a Mac Pro, it's linked here for information purposes only.
  • For Sierra compatibility choose an NVMe blade that supports the 4Kn disk sector format. See 4Kn section below.
  • Apple supports the 1.3 NVMe standard. Any blade that need a special NVMe module/driver won't be supported; seems that's the case with Samsung 970 EVO Plus without the firmware 2B2QEXM7 and some of the Plextor blades.
  • To boot from a NVMe drive, for Mac Pro 5,1 you need to upgrade BootROM to at least 140.0.0.0.0, supplied with MAS Mojave full installers since 10.14.1. 10.14.4 has 141.0.0.0.0 and 10.14.5/10.14.6 have 144.0.0.0.0. For Mac Pro 6,1 you need to upgrade BootRom to at least MP61.0120.B00 included with macOS High Sierra 10.13.0.
  • High Sierra boots/works perfectly both 4KiB and 512 bytes drives if you have MP5,1 BootROM 140/141/144.0.0.0.0.
  • If you install MP5,1 BootROM 140/141/144.0.0.0.0, Sierra can boot from a 4KiB / sector NVMe M.2 blade.
  • You can read about it on the first posts of these two threads:
    1. MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave
    2. MP5,1: BootROM thread

NVMe boot support and Mac Pro year models:
​

Mac Pro year model:Model Identifier:NVMe boot support:
2006 Mac Pro / Original Mac ProMP1,1not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra. Native support for PCIe AHCI blades.
2007 Mac Pro / Mac Pro (8-Core)MP2,1not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra. Native support for PCIe AHCI blades.
Early 2008 Mac ProMP3,1possible but risky procedure, need to inject APFS/NVMe EFI modules inside the BootROM and run 10.12/10.13*. Native support for PCIe AHCI blades.
Early 2009 Mac ProMP4,1use MP5,1 firmware and update to at least 140.0.0.0.0 and 10.12/10.13*. Supports natively PCIe AHCI blades.
Mid 2010 Mac ProMP5,1upgrade to BootROM 140.0.0.0.0 or newer, current one is 144.0.0.0.0, and install 10.12/10.13* to have full native NVMe support.
Mid 2012 Mac ProMP5,1upgrade to BootROM 140.0.0.0.0 or newer, current one is 144.0.0.0.0, and install 10.12/10.13* to have full native NVMe support.
Late 2013 Mac ProMP6,1upgrade to BootROM MP61.0120.B00 or newer, current one is 136.0.0.0.0, and install 10.12/10.13* to have full native NVMe support. Needs a 12+16 adapter to use standard M.2 blades.
2019 Mac ProMP7,1native support, can boot from AHCI or NVMe blades/drives when external booting is enabled with Startup Security Utility.
* 10.12 only supports 4Kib / sector M.2 blades and U.2 drives while 10.13 and newer macOS releases supports both 4Kib /sector and 512 bytes / sector M.2 blades and U.2 drives.


What are internal storage for the Mac Pro firmware:
​

Mac Pro year model:Model Identifier:What Mac Pro firmware recognise as internal drives:
Mac Pro (2006)MP1,1SATA drives connected to the 6 southbridge SATA ports plus the two PATA drives connected to the PATA cable inside the ODD bay.
8-Core Mac Pro (2007)MP2,1SATA drives connected to the 6 southbridge SATA ports plus the two PATA drives connected to the PATA cable inside the ODD bay.
early-2008 Mac ProMP3,1SATA drives connected to the 6 southbridge SATA ports plus the two PATA drives connected to the PATA cable inside the ODD bay.
early-2009 Mac ProMP4,1SATA/SAS drives connected to the 4 southbridge SATA ports plus the two SATA drives connected to the SATA cable inside the ODD bay.
mid-2010 Mac ProMP5,1SATA/SAS drives connected to the 4 southbridge SATA ports plus the two SATA drives connected to the SATA cable inside the ODD bay.
mid-2012 Mac ProMP5,1SATA/SAS drives connected to the 4 southbridge SATA ports plus the two SATA drives connected to the SATA cable inside the ODD bay.
late-2013 Mac ProMP6,1Only the PCIe SSD is an internal drive.
2019 Mac ProMP7,1Only the T2 Storage is an internal drive for T2 Security.

While the two SATA ports of the logic board are internal for macOS, T2 Security definitions override macOS and you can only boot from SATA native ports with relaxed T2 Security, with external boot enabled with Startup Security Utility.

Any PCIe connected storage are external for the firmware and T2 Security.


NVMe and AHCI Blades:
​
Apple SSDs: Proprietary Apple 12+16 pin to PCIe adapter needed for Mac Pro 5,1 & older and also 7,1. No adapter needed for Mac Pro 6,1.

SSUAX & SRIUP: Based on Samsung XP941 with UAX controller (S4LN053X01) and Toshiba with Marvell 88SS9183 controller: AHCI
2D MLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 2.0 x2 (128GB, 256GB, 512GB) & PCIe 2.0 x4 (1TB)
Speeds: ~1,000 MB/s read, ~800 MB/s write
Sector size: 4 KBytes per sector
Compatibility status: Good

SSUBX: Based on Samsung SM951 with UBX controller (S4LN058A01): AHCI
2D MLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~1,500 MB/s read, ~1,425 MB/s write
Sector size: 4 KBytes per sector
Compatibility status: Good

SSPOLARIS: Based on Samsung SM961 or PM961 with Polaris controller (S4LP077X01): NVMe
2D & 3D MLC or TLC
Available in 24GB, 32GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~2,700 MB/s read, ~2,350 MB/s write
Sector size: 4 KBytes per sector
Compatibility status: Good

SSPHOTON: Based on Samsung PM971 with Photon controller: NVMe
48-layer MLC
Available in 32GB and ? (LPDDR4 DRAM)
PCIe 3.0 x2 ?
Speeds: 1,500 MB/s read, 900 MB/s write ?
Sector size: 4 KBytes per sector
Compatibility status:Good


Good article on Apple blade SSDs: The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs

Samsung SSDs: M.2 PCIe adapter needed for Mac Pro 5,1 & 7,1. M.2 to proprietary Apple adapter needed for Mac Pro 6,1 or external Thunderbolt adapter.

XP941: UAX controller (S4LN053X01): AHCI
2D MLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB
PCIe 2.0 x2 (128GB, 256GB, 512GB) & PCIe 2.0 x4 (1TB)
Speeds: ~1,000 MB/s read, ~800 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

SM951: UBX controller (S4LN058A01): Both AHCI and NVMe versions
2D MLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~2,150 MB/s read, ~1,500 MB/s write (512 GB model)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet (AHCI), Datasheet (NVMe)
Compatibility status (AHCI): Good
Compatibility status: (NVMe): Good
4Kn support: Unknown

950 PRO: UBX controller (S4LN058A01): NVMe
3D MLC
Available in 256GB and 512GB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~2,500 MB/s read, ~1,500 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: (NVMe): Issues/not compatible
4Kn support: Unknown

PM961: Polaris controller (S4LP077X01): NVMe
3D TLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~3,000 MB/s read, ~1,500 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

SM961: Polaris controller (S4LP077X01): NVMe
2D & 3D MLC
Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~3,200 MB/s read, ~1,800 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

960 EVO: Polaris controller (S4LP077X01): NVMe
3D TLC
Available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,200 MB/s read, up to 1,900 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

960 PRO: Polaris controller (S4LP077X01): NVMe
2D & 3D MLC
Available in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~3,500 MB/s read, ~2,100 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

PM981: Phoenix controller (S4LR020): NVMe
3D TLC (64-layer)
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~3,500 MB/s read, up to 2,400 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Issues/not compatible
4Kn support: Unknown

PM981a: Phoenix controller (S4LR020): NVMe
3D TLC (64-layer)
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: ~3,500 MB/s read, up to 2,400 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Issues/not compatible
4Kn support: Unknown

970 EVO: Phoenix controller (S4LR020): NVMe
3D TLC (96-layer)
Available in 500GB and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,500 MB/s read, up to 2,500 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

970 EVO Plus: Phoenix controller (S4LR020): NVMe
3D TLC (96-layer)
Available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,500 MB/s read, up to 3,300 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Requires at least firmware 2B2QEXM7 to work with macOS
4Kn support: Unknown

970 PRO: Phoenix controller (S4LR020): NVMe
3D MLC (64-layer)
Available in 512GB and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,500 MB/s read, up to ~3,000 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

Intel SSDs:

Optane 900p: NVMe
3D XPoint
Available in 280GB and 480GB
PCIe 3.0 x4 Half Height Half Length (HHHL) Add-in-Card.
Speeds: up to 1,500 MB/s (due to PCIe 2.0 bus limitation)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

HP SSDs:

EX920: SM2262 controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
3D TLC
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,200 MB/s read, up to 1,800 MB/s write (1TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

EX950: NVMe, M.2 blade
3D TLC
Available in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,500 MB/s read, up to 2,900 MB/s write
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Unknown (may have issues: see post #1,733)
4Kn support: Unknown

Toshiba/KIOXIA SSDs:

XG5: TC58NCP090GSD controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Toshiba 64 layer BiCS3 3D TLC
Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,000 MB/s read, up to 2,100 MB/s write (1TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Yes

XG5-P: TC58NCP090GSD controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Toshiba 64 layer BiCS3 3D TLC
Available in 1TB and 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,000 MB/s read, up to 2,200 MB/s write (2TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Yes

XG6: TC58NCP090GSD controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Toshiba 96 layer BiCS4 3D TLC
Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,180 MB/s read, up to 2,960 MB/s write (1TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good (@zhpenn is using one with a MP7,1)
4Kn support: Yes

XG6-P: TC58NCP090GSD controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Toshiba 96 layer BiCS4 3D TLC
Available in 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,180 MB/s read, up to 2,920 MB/s write
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Unknown (most likely good)
4Kn support: Yes

Western Digital SSDs:

WD Black: Western Digital in-house: NVMe, M.2 blade
3D TLC
Available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to ~ MB/s read, up to ~ MB/s write (1TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Unknown
4Kn support: Unknown

WD Blue SN550: Western Digital in-house: NVMe, M.2 blade
Sandisk 96 layer 3D TLC / Controller DRAM less
Available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 2400 MB/s read, up to 1950 MB/s write (1TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Issues/not compatible (don't work from cold boot/sleep issues)
4Kn support: Unknown

WD Black SN750: Western Digital in-house: NVMe, M.2 blade
Sandisk 64-layer 3D TLC
Available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3400 MB/s read, up to 2900 MB/s write (2TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown

Sabrent SSDs:

Rocket: Phison E12 or E16 controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Toshiba 3D TLC
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,450 MB/s read, up to 3,000 MB/s write (4TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Yes

Rocket Q: Phison E12S controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
Micron 96L 3D QLC
Available in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 3,400 MB/s read, up to 3,000 MB/s write (4TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Yes

SK hynix SSDs:

PC401: NVMe, M.2 blade
Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1 TB
Speeds: up to 2,700 MB/s read, up to 1,450 MB/s write (1TB)
Sector size: 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical
Compatibility status: Unknown
4Kn support: Yes

PC601: NVMe, M.2 blade
Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1 TB
Speeds: up to 3,400 MB/s read, up to 2,500 MB/s write (1TB)
Sector size: Unknown (most likely 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical)
Compatibility status: Unknown
4Kn support: Unknown (most likely yes)

Gold P31: SK hynix controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
128 layer 4D NAND
Available in 500GB and 1 TB
Speeds: up to 3,200 MB/s read, up to 3,200 MB/s write
Sector size: Unknown (most likely 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical)
Compatibility status: Unknown
4Kn support: Unknown (most likely yes)

Platinum P31: SK hynix controller: NVMe, M.2 blade
128 layer 4D NAND
Available in 2 TB
Speeds: up to 3,200 MB/s read, up to 3,200 MB/s write
Sector size: Unknown (most likely 512 bytes per sector (emulated), 4 KBytes physical)
Compatibility status: Unknown
4Kn support: Unknown (most likely yes)

ADATA SSDs:

XPG SX8200 Pro: NVMe, M.2 blade
Available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB
Speeds: up to 3,500 MB/s read, up to 3,000 MB/s write (2TB)
Sector size: 4 KBytes
Compatibility status: Good
4Kn support: Unknown
Datasheet



Recommended PCIe adaptors for Mac Pro 5,1 & 7,1:

Standard PCIe x4 cards (tops at 1500 MB/s with MP5,1, double with MP7,1)(no switch):​

Low cost:

No heatsinks. Be warned, don't use AHCI and NVMe blades without having a heatsink installed, you will have thermal throttling frequently and may cook your blade. (Note: Not as important for Apple proprietary blades which have better thermal management under macOS, but still recommended.)

  • Lycom DT-120
  • For proprietary Apple SSD: generic adapter from eBay (e.g. "2013-2014 Macbook Air SSD PCIe adapter 4X") (no brand)

Medium cost:

All adapters have heatsinks.


PCIe x8 & x16 switch cards (up to ~6200MB/s with MP5,1, double with MP7,1):​

Better performance / higher cost (up to 3,000 MB/s with MP5,1, double with MP7,1), tested in the thread:

  • IO Crest IO-PCE2824-TM2 (aka Syba SI-PEX40129): Supports 2 blade SSDs. Uses ASMedia x8 ASM2824 switch. Heatsink with a fan over the blades and PCIe switch. Up to 2900MB/s with MP5,1 and a little less than 6000MB/s total throughput with MP7,1.
  • OWC ACCELSIOR 4M2 Supports four (seems to require single side M.2 blades, to be confirmed) 80mm M.2 blades. Uses x8 ASMedia ASM2824 switch. Heatsink over the blades and PCIe switch. It's a PCIe 3.0 x8 card, ~2900MB/s with MP5,1 PCIe 2.0 slot1 and slot2 and double that with MP7,1 PCIe 3.0 slots. Several reports that the original version have problems with 2019 Mac Pro and only the revised version works with MP7,1.

Top performance / high cost [tops at 3200 MB/s with one blade, 6200 MB/s (10000~120000 MB/s for MP7,1) with two to four], all tested in the thread:

ProductUniquePCIeLanesChipsetBootM.2 SocketsSpeed MB/s
Amfeltec Squid
SKU-086-34		Has offset PCI
Slot 2 cMP5,1		Gen 3 x4/x8
PCIe 2.1		32PLX PEX8732:apple: ✅4x NVME
M2 1.0
2210
2280
2260
2242
2230		5900+
Amfeltec Squid
SKU-086-36		Has offset PCI
Slot 2 cMP5,1
aux Power		Gen 3 x16 x4/x8Optional Gen 3 x8
PCIe 2.1		unknownunknown6x 110mm NVME M2 1.1
2210
2280
HighPoint SSD7101A-148PLX PEX8747:apple: ✅
W ✅		4x NVME
M2
Sonnet
FUS-SSD-4X4-E3		LongPLX PEX8747:apple: ✅
W ⛔

Untested in the thread yet, but should work:


Recommended M.2 to Apple 12+16 pin adaptors for Mac Pro 6,1:
​
  • Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C: Supports one M.2 blade​
  • Amfeltec AngelShark Carrier Board™ for M.2 SSD modules: Supports two M.2 blades plus one Apple 12+16 pin blade, or three M.2 blades using a single 12+16 pin adapter on the board. Note: All SSDs installed on the carrier board are seen as external by the Mac Pro, even the original Apple SSD. It must be removed to update the system firmware (boot ROM). ​
Don't buy PCIe adaptors list:​


Any multiple M.2 blades card from ASRock/Asus/Gigabyte/MSI that don't have a PCIe 3.0 switch and requires a motherboard with PCI Express Lane Partitioning support, also known as bifurcation support, like the cards listed on the table below.

It's already confirmed that MP7,1 PCIe slots, the two MPX ones are connected to the CPU, are behind a 96-lane PEX8796 PCIe switch, so no PCI Express Lane Partitioning support for 2019 Mac Pro, and the same requirements for PCIe M.2/U.2 adapters as MP5,1 are valid, the only difference is that 2019 Mac Pro slots are PCIe 3.0.

Being crystal clear, 2019 Mac Pro doesn't support the cheap multiple M.2 adapters that require motherboard bifurcation support and only the first blade of the four is recognized.


Adapter:Impediment for not working:Prequisite missing in cMP
ADWITS Quad M.2bad design, requires MOLEX or SATA power even with 1 blade. @combatphotog bought one and tested, card keeps shutting down his MP5,1.Power via Molex
Aplicata Quad M.2 NVMe SSD PCIe x16 Adapterrequires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
ASRock Ultra Quadrequires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
Asus Hyper M.2 x16
Asus Hyper M.2 x16 v2		requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation). Confirmed working for one blade, not working for more than one.PCIe Bifurcation
ASUS Support Note
Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Quad NVMe M.2 PCIe x16 Cardrequires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
GIGABYTE Aorus PCIe x16 M.2requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
GIGABYTE CMT2014, CMT4032 and CMT4034requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Prorequires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
MSI Xpander-Aerorequires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
Squid PCIe Gen 3 Carrier Board for 4 M.2 SSD modules (M-key ) (full or half-height bracket) SKU-086-B4requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)PCIe Bifurcation
SuperMicro AOC-SLG3-8E2Pfried @handheldgames Mac Pro⛔
Synology M2D18it's a ~$200 PCIe 2.0 switch card with SATA + M2 that tops at 1500MB/s
Click to expand...
HI All... new to the forum.
Great information, I'm late to the thread but all still very useful, and new to the excitement of building up Mac Pro 5,1 systems. I should have read this first, I recently purchased a Sonnet M.2 4x4 PCIe based on some impressive reviews and the Sonnet brand confidence. But I wasn't aware it wouldn't Boot Windows til this useful Thread.

I'm looking at the suggested HighPoint SSD7101A-1, still readily available. I also notice they introduced the HighPoint SSD7103 unit. They spec very similar, the 7103 is spec'ed as RAID Bootable, which I'm not sure is beneficial to me and I thought the Mac Pro 5,1 would not Boot RAID. It looks that both are Mac & Win10 bootable.

Is there a preference between the 2 cards: 7101A and the 7103 ?

NVMe RAID For Mac

NVMe RAID Controllers, Includes Bootable NVMe RAID Controller, Supports M.2 and U.2 NVMe SSD
highpoint-tech.com

For reference: I'm building 2 Mac Pro 5,1 (actually 2009 FW upgrd to 5,1)
Both setup with dual CPU, 3.46 x5690, 128GB, BT 4.2 / AC WiFi upgrade and the PixLas Power Supply mod for GPU.
One is Catalina (patched) with Vega64 GPU and the 2nd HS with Bootrom 144.0.0.0 and Nvidia 1080TI GPU with a spare RX580 initially used during buildup. For additional editable & streamable storage, adding 10GBe to both Mac Pros and Synology DS1618+ NAS & 10GBe.

My intentions are aerial 2D Ortho Mapping, 3D Modeling, Video editing. The 1080TI with Win10 is a great modeling combination. The Vega64 is a step up from the RX580 for Mac side work (photo & video) and all flashed with Mac FW Boot.

The Sonnet 4x4 in Catalina system is impressive, 1 NVMe 1TB Boot, 3 x NVMe 1TB RAID (Samsung 970 EVO Plus).
I was planning a 2nd Sonnet for the HS / Win10 system when the Windows Boot issue was noticed.

My end goal is to boot Mac OS and Win10 OS on both systems.
Taking a functional BootCamp Win10 OS, Build 2004 from one of my 2013 27 iMac (Nvidia GPU) with WinClone to a Sata SSD... I easily obtained a fully functional, all devices operational Win10, 2004 on the Mac Pro 5,1 that boots nicely from Boot Rom, able to update Windows cleanly, and no device driver failures. Actually that was easier than expected reading the various discussion of Mac Pro 5,1 and scratch build Win10.

Long winded... sorry... just scoping intended usage and receptive to ideas as I build them up.
 
G

Grumply

macrumors 6502
Feb 24, 2017
285
194
Melbourne, Australia
I currently have the Highpoint 7101a with two 2TB NVME drives in it, and I want to add two additional 4TB drives to it (for a total of 12TB).

Is it possible to use JBOD to turn the two 2TB NVMEs into a single 4TB drive, and then combine that with the two (natively) 4TB NVMEs into a 12TB RAID0 configuration?

Or is RAID0 simply going to turn the 4TB drives into 2TB ones (essentially creating an 8TB RAID out of the 12TB of actual storage)?
 
trifero

trifero

macrumors 68030
May 21, 2009
2,958
2,800
Koka016 said:
Thank you for response I have
New candidate on ebay

NVMe SSD Adapter Card, PCIe x16, (4) M.2 NVMe connectors, NV95NF
What do you think about this one?
www.ebay.com

PCI-E to M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD Adapter PCIe 3.0 to M.2 M key 4x M.2 PCIe X16 NV95NF 76783016996 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PCI-E to M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD Adapter PCIe 3.0 to M.2 M key 4x M.2 PCIe X16 NV95NF at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
forums.macrumors.com

PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

The advice is to read and understand post 1 of this thread...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
dougcjohn said:
HI All... new to the forum.
Great information, I'm late to the thread but all still very useful, and new to the excitement of building up Mac Pro 5,1 systems. I should have read this first, I recently purchased a Sonnet M.2 4x4 PCIe based on some impressive reviews and the Sonnet brand confidence. But I wasn't aware it wouldn't Boot Windows til this useful Thread.

I'm looking at the suggested HighPoint SSD7101A-1, still readily available. I also notice they introduced the HighPoint SSD7103 unit. They spec very similar, the 7103 is spec'ed as RAID Bootable, which I'm not sure is beneficial to me and I thought the Mac Pro 5,1 would not Boot RAID. It looks that both are Mac & Win10 bootable.

Is there a preference between the 2 cards: 7101A and the 7103 ?

NVMe RAID For Mac

NVMe RAID Controllers, Includes Bootable NVMe RAID Controller, Supports M.2 and U.2 NVMe SSD
highpoint-tech.com

For reference: I'm building 2 Mac Pro 5,1 (actually 2009 FW upgrd to 5,1)
Both setup with dual CPU, 3.46 x5690, 128GB, BT 4.2 / AC WiFi upgrade and the PixLas Power Supply mod for GPU.
One is Catalina (patched) with Vega64 GPU and the 2nd HS with Bootrom 144.0.0.0 and Nvidia 1080TI GPU with a spare RX580 initially used during buildup. For additional editable & streamable storage, adding 10GBe to both Mac Pros and Synology DS1618+ NAS & 10GBe.

My intentions are aerial 2D Ortho Mapping, 3D Modeling, Video editing. The 1080TI with Win10 is a great modeling combination. The Vega64 is a step up from the RX580 for Mac side work (photo & video) and all flashed with Mac FW Boot.

The Sonnet 4x4 in Catalina system is impressive, 1 NVMe 1TB Boot, 3 x NVMe 1TB RAID (Samsung 970 EVO Plus).
I was planning a 2nd Sonnet for the HS / Win10 system when the Windows Boot issue was noticed.

My end goal is to boot Mac OS and Win10 OS on both systems.
Taking a functional BootCamp Win10 OS, Build 2004 from one of my 2013 27 iMac (Nvidia GPU) with WinClone to a Sata SSD... I easily obtained a fully functional, all devices operational Win10, 2004 on the Mac Pro 5,1 that boots nicely from Boot Rom, able to update Windows cleanly, and no device driver failures. Actually that was easier than expected reading the various discussion of Mac Pro 5,1 and scratch build Win10.

Long winded... sorry... just scoping intended usage and receptive to ideas as I build them up.
Click to expand...
Highpoint made SSD7103 for PCs, installed in a Mac Pro will work exactly like SSD7101A-1. SSD7101A-1 is bootable with a Mac Pro. It's the Mac Pro BootROM that makes it bootable, since 140.0.0.0.0, not the card firmware/kext/etc.

Last macOS release that can boot officially from an array is High Sierra. Apple still do not support bootable arrays with Big Sur.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dougcjohn and trifero
D

dougcjohn

macrumors newbie
Sep 11, 2020
9
0
tsialex said:
Highpoint made SSD7103 for PCs, installed in a Mac Pro will work exactly like SSD7101A-1. SSD7101A-1 is bootable with a Mac Pro. It's the Mac Pro BootROM that makes it bootable, since 140.0.0.0.0, not the card firmware/kext/etc.

Last macOS release that can boot officially from an array is High Sierra. Apple still do not support bootable arrays with Big Sur.
Click to expand...
Great to hear, I was assuming the 2 cards were practically identical, although wasn’t certain if I was missing a new version hardware that tipped the edge toward the 7103. I’m assuming the 7101A is being phased out and the 7103 is replacement? Would that indicate FW might be updated longer out with 7103?

I didn’t know HS could boot from array. That known, the 7103 could provide benefit offering array boot for both Mac OS and WinOS if that setup was configured, since it offers 2 arrays of 2 NVMe each.
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
dougcjohn said:
Great to hear, I was assuming the 2 cards were practically identical, although wasn’t certain if I was missing a new version hardware that tipped the edge toward the 7103. I’m assuming the 7101A is being phased out and the 7103 is replacement? Would that indicate FW might be updated longer out with 7103?

I didn’t know HS could boot from array. That known, the 7103 could provide benefit offering array boot for both Mac OS and WinOS if that setup was configured, since it offers 2 arrays of 2 NVMe each.
Click to expand...
SSD7103 wasn't updated like SSD7101A-1 PCB v2.0. It's not a replacement, SSD7103 it's older than the current revision of SSD7101A-1.

It's a different product for a different market. It's a card for PCs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dougcjohn
D

dougcjohn

macrumors newbie
Sep 11, 2020
9
0
tsialex said:
SSD7103 wasn't updated like SSD7101A-1 PCB v2.0. It's not a replacement, SSD7103 it's older than the current revision of SSD7101A-1.

It's a different product for a different market. It's a card for PCs.
Click to expand...
Great to know, where do you get all this vital info? I didn't see on Highpoint site.
Looks like the 7101A tis the card!
 
D

Daw guy

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
4
0
tsialex said:
We track this here, users post each model new revision. See previous posts and the SSD7101A-1 thread.
Click to expand...
Hey mate, can you help me out? I have seen you alot in forums I read. I wanto just use a standard ssd via sata as my OSX and run something with the highest speeds via pcie m.2, I have a Mac pro 2010 5,1 which is pcie 2.0 I have a free x16 and 2 x4 slots as I only have a graphics in the bottom X 16. can I run something like the gigabyte aorus 4.0 gen 4 and add more storage as needed.i currently run 3 7200 HDD to seperate OSX and programs, a project drive for my logic audio projects and a 3rd for all my virtual instrument libraries. What is the best way Todo this? Should I run 1 SSD via sata for OSX, 1 SSD via sata for projects and add the pcie m.2 for virtual? Or should I use the pcie as both projects and virtual and just boot from the OSX on the SSD via sata? Thanks in advance
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
Daw guy said:
Hey mate, can you help me out? I have seen you alot in forums I read. I wanto just use a standard ssd via sata as my OSX and run something with the highest speeds via pcie m.2, I have a Mac pro 2010 5,1 which is pcie 2.0 I have a free x16 and 2 x4 slots as I only have a graphics in the bottom X 16. can I run something like the gigabyte aorus 4.0 gen 4 and add more storage as needed.i currently run 3 7200 HDD to seperate OSX and programs, a project drive for my logic audio projects and a 3rd for all my virtual instrument libraries. What is the best way Todo this? Should I run 1 SSD via sata for OSX, 1 SSD via sata for projects and add the pcie m.2 for virtual? Or should I use the pcie as both projects and virtual and just boot from the OSX on the SSD via sata? Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Please go back to the first post, seems you missed that the Gigabyte Aorus is not supported, not even by 2019 Mac Pro.
 
D

Daw guy

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
4
0
tsialex said:
Please go back to the first post, seems you missed that the Gigabyte Aorus is not supported, not even by 2019 Mac Pro.
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying mate, I read that but I thought that is only for using as a boot drive and not storage? I spent hours yesterday getting my brother to explain this stuff. Does it not even work as high speed storage?
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
Daw guy said:
Thanks for replying mate, I read that but I thought that is only for using as a boot drive and not storage? I spent hours yesterday getting my brother to explain this stuff. Does it not even work as high speed storage?
Click to expand...
No, nothing works. I explained on the first post why it don't work, no need to write again here.
 
D

Daw guy

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
4
0
tsialex said:
No, nothing works. I explained on the first post why it don't work, no need to write again here.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, I think wrapped my head around it. I like diving into this stuff sometimes, but this stuff really messed with my mind, great list really helpful.
 
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
To be clear, the Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 AIC Adaptor doesn't work because it requires bifurcation (except maybe one of the M.2 slots might work but only at PCIe 2.0 speed).

On the other hand, the Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 SSD (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) and AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) might work. To get 4GB/s from a Gen4 NVMe, you'll need a PCIe card that has a Gen4 PCIe switch such as one of the Highpoint cards. No one here has tried a gen4 PCIe card yet in a Mac Pro.
 
D

Daw guy

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2020
4
0
joevt said:
To be clear, the Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 AIC Adaptor doesn't work because it requires bifurcation (except maybe one of the M.2 slots might work but only at PCIe 2.0 speed).

On the other hand, the Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 SSD (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) and AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) might work. To get 4GB/s from a Gen4 NVMe, you'll need a PCIe card that has a Gen4 PCIe switch such as one of the Highpoint cards. No one here has tried a gen4 PCIe card yet in a Mac Pro.
Click to expand...
I was just looking for expandable storage so even if at a speed 1500, I could just add more in but I ended up buying a wolftec pulsecar and a 960 pro Togo in it
 
N

Nauzikaa

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2020
9
0
Anyone got new WD Blue SN550 (with SanDisk 20-82-01008 controller)? Four PCIe 3.0 line, more stable sustained speed and nice test result on windows. Maybe it will work on cMP, too.
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Jun 13, 2016
13,455
13,601
Nauzikaa said:
Anyone got new WD Blue SN550 (with SanDisk 20-82-01008 controller)? Four PCIe 3.0 line, more stable sustained speed and nice test result on windows. Maybe it will work on cMP, too.
Click to expand...
Not compatible, look at the first post entry:

WD Blue SN550: Western Digital in-house: NVMe, M.2 blade
Sandisk 96 layer 3D TLC / Controller DRAM less
Available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB
PCIe 3.0 x4
Speeds: up to 2400 MB/s read, up to 1950 MB/s write (1TB)
Datasheet
Compatibility status: Issues/not compatible (don't work from cold boot/sleep issues)
4Kn support: Unknown
Click to expand...

Please always look at the first post first.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trifero
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom