MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[Ludor]

Read the first post first, all info is concentrated there.

I don't think that Amfeltec Squid cards are the best choice for a MP5,1, but there are several users here with one. The most used and usually the best quad M.2 choice for a MP5,1 is HighPoint SSD7101A-1 or the new fan-less version, SSD7104.

All right. Thank you for taking the time to teach me for a bit.

 

[dee23]

Does the 5,1 with 140.0.0.0.0 have problems with (dumb) PCIe 4.0 NVMe adapters in general? I got an Icy Box IB-PCI224M2 and this gives me with a Samsung 970 evo just below 400 MB/s. Sys Info tells me it's just connected by x1, so what is going on here..?

 

[tsialex]

Does the 5,1 with 140.0.0.0.0 have problems with (dumb) PCIe 4.0 NVMe adapters in general?

None, but you should upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0.

I got an Icy Box IB-PCI224M2 and this gives me with a Samsung 970 evo just below 400 MB/s. Sys Info tells me it's just connected by x1, so what is going on here..?

Btw, 970 EVO is PCIe v3.0 not v4.0. If it's identifying the PCIe connection as x1, your adapter or your blade are not installed correctly or even defective.

 

[macrumorsnumpty]

So. I apologize for the many facepalms I am going to cause....

... Even after reading the first page, and the numerous warnings, and issues other people have had, I still bought an I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 Dual M.2. for my Mac Pro 5,1 12 core, Sapphire 7950 Mac Edition running Mojave 10.14.6

Now is the time for a facepalm and Super Doh.

I placed the Adapter Card (in slot 2) and the Samsung Evo 970 Plus (with the latest firmware, in slot 1) of the adapter. After boot up, the NVME was recognized and then initialized into HFS+, and speed tested for a minute.
Black magic came back with some impressive scores.
My initial elation turned slightly sour when I could not format the NVME to APFS. 40 minutes later I booted up a USB stick with Catalina on it to format the NVME into APFS. Wow, that worked.
I booted back into Mojave and tried to Carbon Copy Clone the drive to the NVME.
As you might have guessed. Kernel Panic.

Then I copied a full brand new Mojave install to a spare HDD and tried to install this to the NVME.
As you might have guessed. Kernel Panic.

Apart from the pre-purchase warnings from this forum, these issues should have been an indicator of the 4 hour waste of time I was about to perform and the multiple options I tried.

One option that almost worked, was copying from a slow USB backup drive to the NVME. It copied for 42 minutes and then gave a kernel panic. By the time I got back from my dog walk the machine was sat there after a reboot. Grrrr.

So I decided to take a look at the card to make sure I seated everything correctly, the NVME was seated correctly in the slot on the I/O Crest Card, the I/O crest card was seated correctly in slot 2 and then moved to slot 3 then 4, then 1. Kernel panic when copying. I almost missed the fact there was no heat tape on the processor on the Adapter card.

Oh.

Now is the time for another facepalm and Super Doh.

At this point, I gave up and talked to Amazon, where I bought the Adapter from.

They suggested two options. replacement or refund. I chose a refund.
I now have a Highpoint Card on it's way and kick myself for not doing that first.

As per everyone's warnings, be careful when buying an I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 for your Mac Pro 5,1

 

[Ludor]

So. I apologize for the many facepalms I am going to cause....

Well, I certainly applaud you for boldly climbing higher on the icy, slippery mountain of MacPro5,1 upgrades than I dared to do.

 

[macrumorsnumpty]

Well, I certainly applaud you for boldly climbing higher on the icy, slippery mountain of MacPro5,1 upgrades than I dared to do.

Well. The way I see it, £400 is much cheaper than the 5k+ for a new machine.

 

[Ludor]

Well. The way I see it, £400 is much cheaper than the 5k+ for a new machine.

Very much so. Especially with all the, you know, processor change thing.

 

[ggyenyen]

I’m look to buy a sonnet 4x4 nvme pci card to reduce the pci cards i have in my cMP 5,1 running Mojave. First question is will this card work in my mac and second question is I already have 4x1tb nvme’s already in my mac. Can i install all blades onto the sonnet card and use all drives as separate drives or does it only work in raid?

 

[tsialex]

I’m look to buy a sonnet 4x4 nvme pci card to reduce the pci cards i have in my cMP 5,1 running Mojave. First question is will this card with with my mac and second question is I already have 4 1tb nvme’s already in my mac. Can i install all blades onto the sonnet and use all drives as separate drives or does it only work in raid?

Sonnet 4x4 is a bad fit with MP5,1, too big length wise, look at HighPoint cards.

Yes, you can use the blades with or without RAID or even 2 or 3 with RAID and 1 or 2 independently.

 

[ggyenyen]

Sonnet 4x4 is a bad fit with MP5,1, too big length wise, look at HighPoint cards.

Yes, you can use the blades with or without RAID or even 2 or 3 with RAID and 1 or 2 independently.

Thanks for the speedy reply. Which high point card would you recommend?

 

[tsialex]

Thanks for the speedy reply. Which high point card would you recommend?

HighPoint SSD7101A-1 or the fan-less version SSD7104.

 

[smallwonder]

HighPoint SSD7101A-1 or the fan-less version SSD7104.

with the 5,1 mac, if using the HighPoint fan-less card along with the Radeon Pulse RX580 gpu card, is it better to place the Highpoint card in the PCIe bottom slot, or is it fine to place directly above the gpu card?

Neither seems ideal... and would the Highpoint with the large heatsink even fit?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[tsialex]

with the 5,1 mac, if using the HighPoint fan-less card along with the Radeon Pulse RX580 gpu card, is it better to place the Highpoint card in the PCIe bottom slot, or is it fine to place directly above the gpu card?

Neither seems ideal... and would the Highpoint with the large heatsink even fit?

Thanks for any advice!

Sapphire RX580 Pulse is 2,2 slots wide, whatever you do, it's a problem if you have to use all four slots. If you can sacrifice one, Pulse on slot-2 and the High Point on slot-1 it's the first thing that I'd try.

A GPU with a blower fan like the reference VEGA 56 is a much better fit.

 

[Macschrauber]

I want to use 3 Crucial P1, two with 2Tb and one with 500GB, each on his own passive PCIe Adapter Card.

I know Slot 3/4 sharing bandwith.

Is it problematic in any way to have identical blades ?

 

[joevt]

Is it problematic in any way to have identical blades ?

No. In fact, identical blades is best for RAID. Either way, each blade has a unique location, and each disk/partition has a unique ID. There is no conflict with duplicate drives, no matter if they are SATA, USB, NVMe, FireWire, SCSI, or whatever. For software RAID, the location doesn't matter - the software will find the different parts of the RAID by unique ID.

 

[dee23]

None, but you should upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0.

Btw, 970 EVO is PCIe v3.0 not v4.0. If it's identifying the PCIe connection as x1, your adapter or your blade are not installed correctly or even defective.

The update to 144.0.0.0 made no difference, but switching the adapter to a dumb PCIe 3 version gives me now x4 and the expected speed.

 

[joevt]

The update to 144.0.0.0 made no difference, but switching the adapter to a dumb PCIe 3 version gives me now x4 and the expected speed.

So a defective/low quality Icy Box IB-PCI224M2 adapter probably, or the NVMe wasn't fully inserted (not likely).

 

[scottjua]

Wanted to add in: I received the new FANLESS version of the Sonnet M2 4x4 card today... added two Samsung 970 EVO plus NVMEs and it installed with ZERO issues, zero modding of anything in the 5,1 Mac Pro and I now have a bootable 500gb NVME.

Here's the black magic of the boot drive, taken while booted from this drive.

 

[OkiRun]

Wanted to add in: I received the new FANLESS version of the Sonnet M2 4x4 card today... added two Samsung 970 EVO plus NVMEs and it installed with ZERO issues, zero modding of anything in the 5,1 Mac Pro and I now have a bootable 500gb NVME.

Here's the black magic of the boot drive, taken while booted from this drive.

You should think about adding a signature that lists your entire system setup. It helps readers.

 

[eksu]

Wanted to add in: I received the new FANLESS version of the Sonnet M2 4x4 card today

This card looks really cool, it’s such a shame that it doesn’t support windows boot.

 

[scottjua]

You should think about adding a signature that lists your entire system setup. It helps readers.

I just added it. thanks!

 

[SteveZee]

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 Pro	MP1,1	not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra. Native support for PCIe AHCI blades.
2007 Mac Pro / Mac Pro (8-Core)	MP2,1	not possible, can't run Sierra/High Sierra. Native support for PCIe AHCI blades.
Early 2008 Mac Pro	MP3,1	possible 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 Pro	MP4,1	cross-flash to the 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 Pro	MP5,1	upgrade 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 Pro	MP5,1	upgrade 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 Pro	MP6,1	upgrade 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 Pro	MP7,1	native 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)	MP1,1	SATA 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)	MP2,1	SATA 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 Pro	MP3,1	SATA 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 Pro	MP4,1	SATA/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 Pro	MP5,1	SATA/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 Pro	MP5,1	SATA/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 Pro	MP6,1	Only the PCIe SSD is an internal drive.
2019 Mac Pro	MP7,1	Only 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.

• Angelbirds Wings PX1 (officially discontinued in February 2019, prices from 3rd party resellers are starting to soar).
• Aqua Computer kryoM.2 - original model, without the heatsink for the underside of the blade that EVO model has. This model supports both single and doubled sided blades.
• Aqua Computer kryoM.2 evo thread Aqua Computer kryoM.2 evo PCIe 3.0 x 4, adapter. This model supports only single sided blades. If you don't install the second heatsink, at the back of the PCB, you can use double sided blades.
• Wolftech pulsecard - made by Angelbird for Wolftech, it's exactly the same as Wings PX1, but without the LED illumination.

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. Warning: several recent posts ( #2,146 , #2,204 ) that recently I/O Crest cards are freezing with MP5,1. Seems newer cards are now incompatible.
• 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:

• 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) SKU-086-36 Supports six double side M.2 blades, up to 110mm, 32mm wide. Uses x16 PLX PEX87xx switch? Just a heatsink for the PCIe switch, two fans for the blades. Link for the manual: Squid PCIe Gen 3 Carrier BoardTM for six M.2 / NGSFF(NF1) SSD modules (SKU-086-36). Works with MP5,1 and MP7,1.
• HighPoint SSD7101A-1: Highpoint 7101A - PCIe 3.0 SSD performance for the cMP. Supports four double side M.2 blades, up to 110mm. Uses PLX PEX8747 switch. Heatsink with a fan over the blades and PCIe switch. This card can boot Windows when using NVMe blades and UEFI install.
• Sonnet M.2 4x4 PCIe Card FUS-SSD-4X4-E3: Supports four single sided 80mm M.2 blades. Uses x16 PLX PEX8747 switch. Heatsink with a fan over the blades and PCIe switch. Needs a GPU with pre-boot configuration support. Almost to big to fit MP5,1 length wise. Do not buy it if you need to boot Windows from the blades or will upgrade to a PC later; this card can't boot Windows. Sonnet has a support document about what major blades are single and double sided:
  https://sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/M2_compatibility.pdf

Product	Unique	PCIe	Lanes	Chipset	Boot	M.2 Sockets	Speed MB/s
Amfeltec Squid SKU-086-34	Has offset PCI Slot 2 cMP5,1	Gen 3 x4/x8 PCIe 2.1	32	PLX PEX8732	✅	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		unknown	unknown	6x 110mm NVME M2 1.1 2210 2280
HighPoint SSD7101A-1			48	PLX PEX8747	✅ W ✅	4x NVME M2
Sonnet FUS-SSD-4X4-E3	Long			PLX PEX8747	✅ W ⛔

Untested in the thread yet, but should work:

• Amfeltec Squid PCI Express Gen 3 Carrier Board for 2 M.2 or NGFSS (NF1) SKU-086-32: Supports two double side M.2 blades, up to 110mm, 32mm wide. Uses a x8 PLX PEX87xx switch? Just a heatsink for the PCIe switch, one fan for the blades. Very cost effective. Link for the manual Squid PCI Express Gen3 Carrier BoardTM for 2 M.2 SSD modules. Untested in the Mac Pro.
• HighPoint SSD7140: Supports eight PCIe Gen 3 M.2 blades.
• HighPoint SSD7180: Supports eight PCIe Gen 3 U.2 devices.
• HighPoint SSD7184: Supports eight PCIe Gen 3 x4 devices (four U.2 and four external PCIe).
• HighPoint SSD7505: Supports four PCIe Gen 4 M.2 blades.
• HighPoint SSD7540: Supports eight PCIe Gen 4 M.2 blades.
• HighPoint SSD7580: Supports eight PCIe Gen 4 U.2 devices.
• Liqid Element LQD4500: Supports eight PCIe Gen 4 M.2 blades. Requires 6-pin PCIe power. Although Macs don't have PCIe Gen 4 yet, the card has a PCIe Gen 4 switch that should allow max performance from two or three Gen 4 NVMe devices. I don't think you can get a LQD4500 without M.2 devices already installed?

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 confirmed that off MP7,1 PCIe slots, just the two MPX ones are connected to the CPU and the rest 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. While MP7,1 has a chipset compatible with lane bifurcation, no Mac has the firmware or the configuration options necessary for it to work.

No blade works when the cards that require PCI Express Lane Partitioning support of the table below are installed on a MP5,1, the chipset is too old and don't support it at all.

Adapter:	Impediment for not working:	Prequisite missing in cMP
ADWITS Quad M.2	bad 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 Adapter	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
ASRock Ultra Quad	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Asus Hyper M.2 x16 v2 Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4	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 Card	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
GIGABYTE AORUS PCIE x16 M.2 GIGABYTE AORUS Gen4 AIC Adaptor GC-4XM2G4	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
GIGABYTE CMT2014, CMT4032 and CMT4034	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
MSI Xpander-Aero	requires 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-B4	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
Supermicro AOC-SLG3-2M2	requires motherboard PCI Express Lane Partitioning support (aka bifurcation)	PCIe Bifurcation
Supermicro AOC-SLG3-8E2P	fried @handheldgames Mac Pro	⛔
Synology M2D18	it's a ~$200 PCIe 2.0 switch card with SATA + M2 that tops at 1500MB/s

after working over these lists, I settled on Samsung SSD 970 EVO plus 500GB fw2B2QEXM7
and Samsung SSD 970 EVO plus 1TB fw2B2QEXM7 blades into
Aquacomputer KryoM.2 PCIe 3.0x4 adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe ssd, M key with PASSIVE HEAT SINK:

M.2 SSD

M.2 SSD

shop.aquacomputer.de

My big fear was HEAT, and now look from Drive DX. These things were all new in June. 2019 MacPro
Thank you anyone who might offer some advice please.

 

[bsbeamer]

Under the HEALTH INDICATORS tab, all temperatures are "reported" as status percentage, but those have NOTHING TO DO WITH TRUE PERCENTAGES. Attached is MBP16,1 with built in Apple issued SSD.

Go to the MAIN DRIVE in the left column.
Look under problems summary, important health indicators, and temperature information.

 

[SteveZee]

Does this make us happy?
Tell me more please.

 

[OkiRun]

after working over these lists, I settled on Samsung SSD 970 EVO plus 500GB fw2B2QEXM7
and Samsung SSD 970 EVO plus 1TB fw2B2QEXM7 blades into
Aquacomputer KryoM.2 PCIe 3.0x4 adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe ssd, M key with PASSIVE HEAT SINK:

M.2 SSD

M.2 SSD

shop.aquacomputer.de

My big fear was HEAT, and now look from Drive DX. These things were all new in June. 2019 MacPro
Thank you anyone who might offer some advice please.

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View attachment 1594632

It is really helpful to have signature of poster with listing of computer and equipment being used. Is a consideration, kindly.