MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[bsbeamer]

FYI - this is identical to PX1, without the lights:

Wolftech pulsecard - PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter for PCIe M.2 SSDs - Same as Angelbird PX1 but without LEDs. Produced by Angelbird for Wolftech | Megamac

The Wolftech pulsecard is a PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter for PCIe M.2 SSDs which allows you to unleash the incredible speed of the latest AHCI & NVMe SSDs. The Wolftech pulsecard allows you to install any M.2 NGFF type 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110 SSD. It easily plugs into your your PCIe 3.0 (2.0 and...

www.megamac.com

 

[Raunien]

FYI - this is identical to PX1, without the lights:

Wolftech pulsecard - PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter for PCIe M.2 SSDs - Same as Angelbird PX1 but without LEDs. Produced by Angelbird for Wolftech | Megamac

The Wolftech pulsecard is a PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter for PCIe M.2 SSDs which allows you to unleash the incredible speed of the latest AHCI & NVMe SSDs. The Wolftech pulsecard allows you to install any M.2 NGFF type 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110 SSD. It easily plugs into your your PCIe 3.0 (2.0 and...

www.megamac.com

Can't purchase it as they don't ship the US

 

[Gr1f]

I'm using a Rocket 4 on this card and works fine

GLOTRENDS PA09-HS M.2 NVMe to PCIe 4.0 X4 Adapter with M.2 Heatsink for 2280/2260/2242/2230 M.2 NVMe SSD

GLOTRENDS PA09-HS M.2 NVMe to PCIe 4.0 X4 Adapter with M.2 Heatsink for 2280/2260/2242/2230 M.2 NVMe SSD

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Gr1f]

Does anyone know the difference between the Highpoint SSD7104 and the SSD7101A-1 ? Is the 7104 just a newer model? Only thing I can spot is the 104 has a fanless cooling system?

Gonna take the plunge on a card pretty soon so I have it for the MacPro's arrival.

 

[tsialex]

Does anyone know the difference between the Highpoint SSD7104 and the SSD7101A-1 ? Is the 7104 just a newer model? Only thing I can spot is the 104 has a fanless cooling system?

Gonna take the plunge on a card pretty soon so I have it for the MacPro's arrival.

SSD7104 is the fan less version of the current version of SSD7101A-1, same PCIe switch/components.

 

[Gr1f]

SSD7104 is the fan less version of the current version of SSD7101A-1, same PCIe switch/components.

Thanks @tsialex

 

[OkiRun]

You really should include your location with this ask. International exports from USA get tricky with tariffs right now.

Decided to actually add a written AMEN to this

 

[DigitaLife]

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

THIS IS A DESPERATE REQUEST FOR HELP
I have a 5.1 cMP, 2x3.46 Ghz 12-core, 128 GB RAM, AMD Radeon VII on PCIe slot #1.
Above the GPU card, in PCIe slot #2 I have a Syba I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 card with two NVMe 970 EVOPlus 1TB (latest firmware).
The card works without problems, I formatted the two NVMe 970 EVOPlus in APFS format without Kernel Panic and I also cloned Mojave and Catalina, from SATA SSDs, with CCC.
But unfortunately I can't get the two NVMe SSDs to run over 1430-1500 MB/s!
Can anyone help me overcome this limitation, as my Syba card works?
Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[trifero]

THIS IS A DESPERATE REQUEST FOR HELP
I have a 5.1 cMP, 2x3.46 Ghz 12-core, 128 GB RAM, AMD Radeon VII on PCIe slot #1.
Above the GPU card, in PCIe slot #2 I have a Syba I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 card with two NVMe 970 EVOPlus 1TB (latest firmware).
The card works without problems, I formatted the two NVMe 970 EVOPlus in APFS format without Kernel Panic and I also cloned Mojave and Catalina, from SATA SSDs, with CCC.
But unfortunately I can't get the two NVMe SSDs to run over 1430-1500 MB/s!
Can anyone help me overcome this limitation, as my Syba card works?
Thanks a lot in advance!

Put it in slot 1

 

[DigitaLife]

Put it in slot 1

I have already tried but the speed does not change!

 

[OkiRun]

I have already tried but the speed does not change!

Please take a look at poster Gr1f and please consider making a signature similar to that - ~ which would help deriving answers to your needs. Just a holiday suggestion.

 

[Sixtyhorses]

SSD7104 is the fan less version of the current version of SSD7101A-1, same PCIe switch/components.

Hi @tsialex, Noise is an important factor to me so I have been holding off from buying the HP SSD7101A-1 until I recently read about the SSD7104. But I have read and read and have not been able to confirm the SSD7104's backward compatibility with PCIe 2.0 on a MP 5,1.
Aside from the fanless feature, does the HP SSD7104 perform exactly at the HP SSD7101A-1? I would truly appreciate your opinion. If it works just like everything I have read about the SSD7101A-1, I plan on sending myself a fanless Xmas card. Thanks!

 

[joevt]

THIS IS A DESPERATE REQUEST FOR HELP
I have a 5.1 cMP, 2x3.46 Ghz 12-core, 128 GB RAM, AMD Radeon VII on PCIe slot #1.
Above the GPU card, in PCIe slot #2 I have a Syba I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 card with two NVMe 970 EVOPlus 1TB (latest firmware).
The card works without problems, I formatted the two NVMe 970 EVOPlus in APFS format without Kernel Panic and I also cloned Mojave and Catalina, from SATA SSDs, with CCC.
But unfortunately I can't get the two NVMe SSDs to run over 1430-1500 MB/s!
Can anyone help me overcome this limitation, as my Syba card works?
Thanks a lot in advance!

Is the card connected as PCIe 2.0 x8 or not? macOS doesn't tell you the PCIe link rate and link speed upstream of the PCIe devices so you can't tell where the bottleneck is (this info is also missing for DisplayPort, but they do have the info for USB and Thunderbolt).

Try the instructions at https://gist.github.com/joevt/e3cd4ff08aae06279134969c98ca3ab7 to find out the PCIe link rate and link speed upstream of the NVMe devices.

 

[DigitaLife]

Is the card connected as PCIe 2.0 x8 or not? macOS doesn't tell you the PCIe link rate and link speed upstream of the PCIe devices so you can't tell where the bottleneck is (this info is also missing for DisplayPort, but they do have the info for USB and Thunderbolt).

Try the instructions at https://gist.github.com/joevt/e3cd4ff08aae06279134969c98ca3ab7 to find out the PCIe link rate and link speed upstream of the NVMe devices.

Joevt, very kind but I didn't understand anything!
I tried to read the instructions of the link but for me it is all so difficult and complicated to understand.
It seems a mystery to me that this card cannot run at the correct speed that others get immediately.
I think I waste € 250 in the trash!

 

[DigitaLife]

Please take a look at poster Gr1f and please consider making a signature similar to that - ~ which would help deriving answers to your needs. Just a holiday suggestion.

Sorry could you write the link of this poster Gr1f?
Thanks

 

[OkiRun]

Sorry could you write the link of this poster Gr1f?
Thanks

His is earlier in the thread; just up a few posts. Or, you can just like at mine and maybe copy it?
It really helps readers to know if they should respond to your particular computer setup. But of course, it isn't necessary.

 

[DigitaLife]

Sabrent Rocket NVMe M.2 2280 arrived and works with Glotrends m.2 PCIe NVMe card thankfully.

Now the next hurdle... how do I install Mojave on it...
I have a Radeon RX580 card, the only card I have as someone walked off with the original.
I launched the Mojave installer then hit restart when prompted....
got to Blank screen...
I'm assuming its due to vid card not allowing me to see boot screens?
Stuck in this now as a hard reboot just brings me back to black screen, reset PRAM no joy either so had to pull the PCI NVMe card and a drive or two and it booted, probably after pulling the HD that the installer on it...

Any ideas? Thanks all.

Hi Gr1f,
OkiRun suggested me to contact you for your expertise and this is my desperate request for help!
I have a 5.1 cMP, 2x3.46 Ghz 12-core, 128 GB RAM, AMD Radeon VII on PCIe slot #1.
Above the GPU card, in PCIe slot #2 I have a Syba I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 card with two NVMe 970 EVOPlus 1TB (latest firmware).
The card works without problems, I formatted the two NVMe 970 EVOPlus in APFS format without Kernel Panic and I also cloned Mojave and Catalina, from SATA SSDs, with CCC.
But unfortunately I can't get the two NVMe SSDs to run over 1430-1500 MB/s!
Can you provide me a simple instructions to help me overcome this limitation, as my Syba card?
Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[tsialex]

Hi Gr1f,
OkiRun suggested me to contact you for your expertise and this is my desperate request for help!
I have a 5.1 cMP, 2x3.46 Ghz 12-core, 128 GB RAM, AMD Radeon VII on PCIe slot #1.
Above the GPU card, in PCIe slot #2 I have a Syba I/O CREST SI-PEX40129 card with two NVMe 970 EVOPlus 1TB (latest firmware).
The card works without problems, I formatted the two NVMe 970 EVOPlus in APFS format without Kernel Panic and I also cloned Mojave and Catalina, from SATA SSDs, with CCC.
But unfortunately I can't get the two NVMe SSDs to run over 1430-1500 MB/s!
Can you provide me a simple instructions to help me overcome this limitation, as my Syba card?
Thanks a lot in advance!

Look, SI-PEX40129 cards don't have any configuration/settings whatsoever - it's a dumb/without management card.

Again, there is no configuration needed when using this card with a MP5,1 that have a post 138.0.0.0.0 BootROM, only for a MP3,1. If your PCIe slots 1 and 2 are working correctly, you can see the link width of your GPU connection with SystemReport, your card should have the expected throughput of ~2950MB/s without you needing to do anything.

If your card is limited to a x4 connection when installed on slot 1 or 2, it's a defective card. Just replace it, ask the seller for a RMA.

 

[trifero]

I have already tried but the speed does not change!

Odd. My Mac Pro exactly as yours. In slot 2, similar speeds as yours. In slot one about 2.500

Look, SI-PEX40129 cards don't have any configuration/settings whatsoever - it's a dumb/without management card.

Again, there is no configuration needed when using this card with a MP5,1 that have a post 138.0.0.0.0 BootROM, only for a MP3,1. If your PCIe slots 1 and 2 are working correctly, you can see the link width of your GPU connection with SystemReport, your card should have the expected throughput of ~2950MB/s without you needing to do anything.

If your card is limited to a x4 connection when installed on slot 1 or 2, it's a defective card. Just replace it, ask the seller for a RMA.

So, why do you think the differences in my Mac pro 5,1? Half the speed form slot 2 to 1. Maybe a defective slot?

 

[tsialex]

So, why do you think the differences in my Mac pro 5,1? Half the speed form slot 2 to 1. Maybe a defective slot?

You can always check the link width and connection details, use @joevt instructions.

Several Mac Pros had damaged PCIe slots with the reference model RX 480, I've wrote about it before.

 

[DigitaLife]

Look, SI-PEX40129 cards don't have any configuration/settings whatsoever - it's a dumb/without management card.

Again, there is no configuration needed when using this card with a MP5,1 that have a post 138.0.0.0.0 BootROM, only for a MP3,1. If your PCIe slots 1 and 2 are working correctly, you can see the link width of your GPU connection with SystemReport, your card should have the expected throughput of ~2950MB/s without you needing to do anything.

If your card is limited to a x4 connection when installed on slot 1 or 2, it's a defective card. Just replace it, ask the seller for a RMA.

Hi Tsialex, this is my situation (see the SystemReport attached).

 

[tsialex]

Hi Tsialex, this is my situation (see the SystemReport attached).

This shows absolutely nothing besides that the VII slot is working correctly. M.2 devices are always x4 or less.

Look, if you installed your SI-PEX40129 on the slot that the VII is installed now and had the same problem, it's your SI-PEX40129 that is defective.

 

[trifero]

You can always check the link width and connection details, use @joevt instructions.

Several Mac Pros had damaged PCIe slots with the reference model RX 480, I've wrote about it before.

Thank you.

 

[Gr1f]

As I needed a quick fix to get a couple of Sabrent NVMe's into the new Mac Pro before I order the 4x card I ordered a couple of the cheap Sabrent Adapters w/heatsink so I can get some stuff on to it.

Sabrent NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe X16/X8/X4 Card with aluminum heat sink (EC-PCIE) UK Amazon link
@pento mentioned there here:

Best 4TB SSD + PCI Adapter Combo

Whelp, finally, done! I installed two Samsung EVO Plus NVMe SSD’s on the Sabrent PCI adapters I mentioned earlier. Working great, and so fast! Thanks to everyone for all of the great info you provided.

forums.macrumors.com

(I'm still absolutely amazed and disgusted that Apple ship these with a stingy 256GB - unreal. /rant)

Shoved a Sabrent Rocket Q formatted to AFPS and all seems fine.

Just throwing up the speed test incase anyone finds it handy.

Edit:
One Q, how do I get a temperature reading from the NVMe's? Tried iStat etc.... is the PCI temp a gauge?

 

[trifero]

As I needed a quick fix to get a couple of Sabrent NVMe's into the new Mac Pro before I order the 4x card I ordered a couple of the cheap Sabrent Adapters w/heatsink so I can get some stuff on to it.

Sabrent NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe X16/X8/X4 Card with aluminum heat sink (EC-PCIE) UK Amazon link
@pento mentioned there here:

Best 4TB SSD + PCI Adapter Combo

Whelp, finally, done! I installed two Samsung EVO Plus NVMe SSD’s on the Sabrent PCI adapters I mentioned earlier. Working great, and so fast! Thanks to everyone for all of the great info you provided.

forums.macrumors.com

(I'm still absolutely amazed and disgusted that Apple ship these with a stingy 256GB - unreal. /rant)

Shoved a Sabrent Rocket Q formatted to AFPS and all seems fine.

Just throwing up the speed test incase anyone finds it handy.

Edit:
One Q, how do I get a temperature reading from the NVMe's? Tried iStat etc.... is the PCI temp a gauge?

No thermal sensors for PCI´s in Mac Pro 5,1