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Grumply

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 24, 2017
285
194
Melbourne, Australia
Hi guys,

I'm looking for options for internal SSD storage for the 7,1. And particular like the idea of a quad-2.5" SATA SSD card. I found this one:


It doesn't list Mac compatibility, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if it will work with the 7,1? (or knows of an equivalent alternative?)

It would be great to be able to put four of my existing 2.5" SATA SSDs into the machine in a RAID 0 for additional fast storage.

Cheers
[automerge]1577853332[/automerge]
Actually, this version DOES list Mac OS compatibility:

 
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Actually, this version DOES list Mac OS compatibility:

While it'll almost certainly work, the second one you listed is a x1 card, meaning it's hard limited to 8Gbps or so. SATA 3's maximum speed is 6Gbits/sec, so if you get two really chatty SSDs on it, you'll easily overrun it.

The first card would be a much better buy from a performance perspective. Since it's a x4 card, it'll have a max of 32Gbits/sec throughput. Four SATA 3 drives on it will max out at 24Gbits/sec leaving you plenty of headroom.
 
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Hi guys,

I'm looking for options for internal SSD storage for the 7,1. And particular like the idea of a quad-2.5" SATA SSD card. I found this one:


It doesn't list Mac compatibility, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if it will work with the 7,1? (or knows of an equivalent alternative?)

It would be great to be able to put four of my existing 2.5" SATA SSDs into the machine in a RAID 0 for additional fast storage.

Cheers
[automerge]1577853332[/automerge]
Actually, this version DOES list Mac OS compatibility:



Macrumors injecting affiliate links in there is a bit slim shady.

PCI-e x1 and x4 what is a significant question. v2 x1 is pretty tame for SSDs ( four 2.5" HDDs not so much. ). That is about 5Gb/s. ( the affordable raid controller on the x4 is probably short of 20Gb/s also.)

The other issue is the 22mm ( 0.87" ) when have several single width slots placed together. ( if there is a "fat" neighbor on either side there could be clearance problems. Or heat bleed problems. ) The smaller the gap the less air will go thru the gap. The mass of air moved per minute is the significant cooling factor. At least one of these should work but it needs space to work.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
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Macrumors injecting affiliate links in there is a bit slim shady.

PCI-e x1 and x4 what is a significant question. v2 x1 is pretty tame for SSDs ( four 2.5" HDDs not so much. ). That is about 5Gb/s. ( the affordable raid controller on the x4 is probably short of 20Gb/s also.)

The other issue is the 22mm ( 0.87" ) when have several single width slots placed together. ( if there is a "fat" neighbor on either side there could be clearance problems. Or heat bleed problems. ) The smaller the gap the less air will go thru the gap. The mass of air moved per minute is the significant cooling factor. At least one of these should work but it needs space to work.
Using 7mm think 2.5" SSDs might work to provide sufficient gap for cooling. 2x7mm + thickness of card would be around 15-16mm.

I like the OP's first selection, from a performance aspect.

I have 8x 5TB 15mm Seagate BarraCuda SATA III 2.5" HDDs sitting idle at this time (that's 40 TB of storage space). I'm not that interested in max speed, rather have the bulk storage feature this 'first' card offers. The only problem is they are 15mm thick, so would need to select a slot with nothing else alongside it. The $134 price tag is excellent, and not to much of a loss if it did not work out.
 
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You might want to look at USB-C 10Gbps drive arrays like the Mobius Pro 5C 5-Bay. Gets around theoretical maximum speeds with SATA SSDs in all testing so far. Have not found an equivalent PCIe card that can do the same. Two threads about this to look at:


 
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