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

SATA Express meets the '09 Mac Pro - Bootable NGFF PCIE SSD

SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Same Intel Tylersburg chipset features. The only difference is a revision to Apple's System Management Controller.
Click to expand...

Yeah, not to beat you over the head, IowaLynn, but I brought out my block diagrams to compare and confirm as well. The 3rd and 4th slots ARE a bit different in that they share a PCIe switch back to the North Bridge controller, whereas Slots 1 & 2 each have their own dedicated links. But that's true for all 2009-2012 systems (and I believe 2008s as well, but I can't find a block diagram to verify that).

-Fred
 
wiski15b said:
These are garbage correct? Are they even actually m.2? https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDPHSETR480/#owctabs
Click to expand...
Not sure that they're garbage necessarily, but they are in a different class than the PCIe-based SSD blades being discussed here. These are modules to upgrade the OWC Accelsior, and you get a pair of SATA-III blades with this kit. The Accelsior is a PCIe card, but these blades on it are SATA. Performance tops out around x2 PCIe or around 700-800MB/s for the pair. Compare that to about 1500MB/s for a single SSUBX/SM951 PCIe x4 blade...
 
fhturner said:
Not sure that they're garbage necessarily, but they are in a different class than the PCIe-based SSD blades being discussed here. These are modules to upgrade the OWC Accelsior, and you get a pair of SATA-III blades with this kit. The Accelsior is a PCIe card, but these blades on it are SATA. Performance tops out around x2 PCIe or around 700-800MB/s for the pair. Compare that to about 1500MB/s for a single SSUBX/SM951 PCIe x4 blade...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification. So these are basically SSD's in m.2 form? Meaning not the same technology as xp941's, SM951's ect...
 
666sheep said:
Angelbird seems to learn from the best in selling overpriced stuff (OWC).:rolleyes:
Any heatsink which you can attach to the SSD will do, there is no "proper one".
Rest is a matter of look.
Click to expand...

A small update for folks concerned with temps and who don't like to buy overpriced stuff.
Cheap adapter from Ali + DYI heatsink scavenged from FB DIMM module.
5 mins of dremel and paint job. Costs next to nothing, works well, looks good.

DIY_heatsink.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Fooze, AlexMaximus, handheldgames and 2 others
For those of you with a PCIe SSD on a mac pro, can you take picture of the finder sidebar? Does it have an eject button next to it and is it registered as a external drive?
 
The PCIe SSD (SSUBX) that is used to boot OS X does not have an eject button appear, the other PCIe SSD's in the system do have the eject button appear in the sidebar.

Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 11.16.10 PM.png
 
handheldgames said:
$600 - Dual Lycom DT-120 M.2 Adapters with Samsung 256GB XP941s. (2300MB/s/s)
Click to expand...

The first post in this thread shows that you can install dual XP941s to get increased throughput. I tried doing the same with dual SM951s on Lycom DT-120 boards in RAID0. I didn't see any increase in throughput over a single SM951. I tried in PCIe slot 3&4, 2&4, and 2&3 and benchmarked around 1400MB/s in any configuration. I double checked to make sure they weren't in RAID1.

I'll only have this extra SM951 for another day or so. Is there anyway I can increase the throughput for both of these cards over what you would expect from a single card?
 
Fooze said:
The first post in this thread shows that you can install dual XP941s to get increased throughput. I tried doing the same with dual SM951s on Lycom DT-120 boards in RAID0. I didn't see any increase in throughput over a single SM951. I tried in PCIe slot 3&4, 2&4, and 2&3 and benchmarked around 1400MB/s in any configuration. I double checked to make sure they weren't in RAID1.

I'll only have this extra SM951 for another day or so. Is there anyway I can increase the throughput for both of these cards over what you would expect from a single card?
Click to expand...
Sm951 only runs at half speed in slot 2 for some reason. 1400 to 1500 is max for slots 3 and 4 no matter if you raid them or not. The xp941 can run at full speed in slot 2, so if you want greater throughput you would need an xp941 in slots 2 and 3 set up in raid 0.
 
wiski15b said:
Sm951 only runs at half speed in slot 2 for some reason. 1400 to 1500 is max for slots 3 and 4 no matter if you raid them or not. The xp941 can run at full speed in slot 2, so if you want greater throughput you would need an xp941 in slots 2 and 3 set up in raid 0.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the very informative reply.

I've been very happy with my single SM951 in slot 3. Since it was a rare occasion and had my hands on 2 sm951s, I figured I'd give it a shot to see how much faster they would be in a RAID. I'm Kinda glad it doesn't work so I'm not tempted to put another $300 into a 5 year old computer and tie up another slot. Now, what's it going to take for me to stop lusting over that 4 blade Amfeltec setup?
 
Last edited:
Fooze said:
Now, what's it going to take for me to stop lusting over that 4 blade Amfeltec setup?
Click to expand...

Ahhh ... buying one like I just did might help ... :p Already chomping at the bit waiting for it to arrive! The 4x 512GB Sm951's I just ordered too will be here before it. Gah!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fooze
I was hoping to report success today with my install of an SM951 512gb SSD, but it was not to be.

I got my Lycom DT-120 card and installed the SM951, got everything into my Mac Pro, and nothing happened. The SSD wasn't recognized in either Windows or OSX. Finally in Windows, I pulled the Vendor ID off the card, and ran a search on it. The search revealed I had the NVMe version of the SSD, not the AHCI version. I pulled the card and checked the part number on the SSD, and sure enough, the vendor had sent me the wrong card. At least I will be able to return it for a full refund, and a new ACHI card is on it's way.
 
C. Alan said:
I was hoping to report success today with my install of an SM951 512gb SSD, but it was not to be.

I got my Lycom DT-120 card and installed the SM951, got everything into my Mac Pro, and nothing happened. The SSD wasn't recognized in either Windows or OSX. Finally in Windows, I pulled the Vendor ID off the card, and ran a search on it. The search revealed I had the NVMe version of the SSD, not the AHCI version. I pulled the card and checked the part number on the SSD, and sure enough, the vendor had sent me the wrong card. At least I will be able to return it for a full refund, and a new ACHI card is on it's way.
Click to expand...

May be you can try the NVMe driver before you return the SSD.
 
I can vouch for the AHCI SM 951 and Lycom I installed a clean new OSX 10..10.5 on it for my Mid 2010 Mac Pro. Once installed it show up on the desk top automatically as a (yellow HD drive icon) with the name I gave it
 
Well I got my SM951 installed today. It gave me a bit of a scare because after I installed it, my computer wouldn't boot. I suspect the first time I tried to reset the SMC it didn't take. It started to boot again after being unplugged for 5 minutes. Now I just have to figure out how to fix my mail...
 
I recently purchased a Mac Pro 2010 6 core 3.33ghz and it comes with the standard 1TB HDD, I would like to add a 256 PCIe SSD card but I am a noob tech, I see that there are all kinds of factors to consider when buying these cards, can you guys please help me with links to an adapter+ a blade that are best for my Mac ? I would like to use the SSD for the OS and those 1500ish mb/s speeds are just crazy :) I will use the machine for audio edtiting (Logic Pro X)
 
Two options for 1500 MB/s

- Sintech adapter with grey market Apple PCI-E SSD from eBay (look for SSUBX)
- Lycom DT-120 PCIe adapter with SM951

Avoid NVME drives, prefer AHCI drives.
 
Thanks for the quick reply , I found this two options : http://www.ebay.com/itm/162075177129?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
and this : http://www.ebay.com/itm/221591738684?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
+ this :http://www.ebay.com/itm/33186884642...1a172790217&bu=44247720149&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu

the first option with the sm951 is cheaper, are there differences on speed? the seller of the sm951 states that it reaches up to 1500mb/s speeds on slot 3/4....
 
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
Back