MP 7,1 Anyone with a 2019 Mac Pro using 'external' m.2 NVME as system/boot drive? Is it reliable?

[John_B Beta]

Hallo! I'm regretting only getting a 1TB internal SSD on my 2019 Mac Pro - and no way in hell am I paying £1k or more to upgrade it using the apple kits! Already have a PCI card with an NVME in for some of my sound library stuff so am fine with the physical side of installing things, and was wondering about whacking another one in with a really good say, 4TB samsung m.2, doing a clean install of MacOS on there and having it as my main boot drive.

Just wondering if any of you guys have done similar and have any words of wisdom, if it's reliable, or if there are any issues (like weird stuff waking from sleep or anything) - I need it to be rock solid & at least as fast as the stock SSD is!

Thanks!

 

[profdraper]

I have both an m.2 & an SSD pratition in a OWC Thunderbay 6 TB chassis. All works perfectly re. booting from system to system. Re. specifically booting from a PCIe /NMVE setup. I think you might find that is not possible & it would be best to check with the manufacturer or their website.

As per pro audio recommendations, sleep is to be disabled etc as per:

macOS 10.15 Catalina Optimization Guide for Recording - SweetCare

In this guide, we will show you how to optimize your Mac on macOS 10.15 Catalina for music production. Click here to learn more and get started!

www.sweetwater.com

Perhaps best to simply plug in a 4TB samsung m.2 in case with PSU, these work well & with boot support:

OWC Envoy Express

For the first time in the history of Thunderbolt, you can buy a bus-powered Thunderbolt certified enclosure and install your own drive in it.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[flowrider]

Yup, I have never used the Apple supple supplied SSD as my Start Up disk. I have two PCIE cards with a total of Five NVME SSDs and one AHCI SSD. Four of the NVME SSDs have OS's on them. Two are Sonoma, a boot and a backup and two are Ventura, again a boot and a backup. I can boot from all four without issue👍🏻 Reliability has never been an issue.

Lou

 

[PowerMike G5]

yes, I'm currently running Sonoma off a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVME and it feels snappier than the internal Apple supplied SSD. no issues from this as well.

 

[John_B Beta]

Yup, I have never used the Apple supple supplied SSD as my Start Up disk. I have two PCIE cards with a total of Five NVME SSDs and one AHCI SSD. Four of the NVME SSDs have OS's on them. Two are Sonoma, a boot and a backup and two are Ventura, again a boot and a backup. I can boot from all four without issue👍🏻 Reliability has never been an issue.

Lou

That's great to hear thanks! I love the idea of having system duplicates with backups right there too - presume you just use Carbon Copy Cloner for that?

May I ask what PCIE card you use/recommend - its been 4 years now since I last rabbit hole researched it when I did mine!

 

[John_B Beta]

yes, I'm currently running Sonoma off a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVME and it feels snappier than the internal Apple supplied SSD. no issues from this as well.

Great news thanks for the reply. May I ask what PCIE card you use & if you're still happy with it? (got mine 4 yrs ago so behind on best practice/research)

 

[John_B Beta]

Done a quick bit of research and unless any of you guys have had nightmares with it this looks fine for me - the OWC Accelsior 1M2:

OWC - Accelsior 1M2 - NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe 4.0 Adapter Card

If you’re looking to upgrade your desktop machine’s performance, build a custom system, or expand a server’s capabilities, the Accelsior 1M2 is the cost-effective solution. This x4 PCIe M.2 SSD adapter card lets you add your choice of M-Key M.2 PCIe SSD to increase the speed and storage/backup ca...

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[flowrider]

That's great to hear thanks! I love the idea of having system duplicates with backups right there too - presume you just use Carbon Copy Cloner for that?

May I ask what PCIE card you use/recommend - its been 4 years now since I last rabbit hole researched it when I did mine!

Yes I use CCC👍🏻

I have an IOCREST Model IO-PCF2824-TM2 and a High Point SSD7103

Note - My cards are quite old - I used 'em in my cMP 5,1 and and transferred them to my NcMP 7,1 four years ago. They are still working just fine‼️

All my drives are Samsung.

Lou

 

[John_B Beta]

Yes I use CCC👍🏻

I have an IOCREST Model IO-PCF2824-TM2 and a High Point SSD7103

Note - My cards are quite old - I used 'em in my cMP 5,1 and and transferred them to my NcMP 7,1 four years ago. They are still working just fine‼️

All my drives are Samsung.

Lou

Great stuff thanks for the info. I've just ordered a Samsung (990 4TB) and the OWC card in my post above so will have a bash with it next week. Not sure I can face reinstalling all my audio plug ins and everything right now though oof! Will let you know how I get on!

 

[PowerMike G5]

Great news thanks for the reply. May I ask what PCIE card you use & if you're still happy with it? (got mine 4 yrs ago so behind on best practice/research)

I'm using it in a Highpoint RAID Controller card with a PCIE switch, way overkill for what you are looking to do. It looks like what you bought above will work perfectly!

 

[H2SO4]

yes, I'm currently running Sonoma off a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVME and it feels snappier than the internal Apple supplied SSD. no issues from this as well.

That's interesting as apparently they may cause issues; #1

 

[PowerMike G5]

That's interesting as apparently they may cause issues; #1

I've had zero issues. I believe I purchased mine after they released a firmware that fixed all the issues mentioned with the initial release of this SSD.

 

[H2SO4]

I've had zero issues. I believe I purchased mine after they released a firmware that fixed all the issues mentioned with the initial release of this SSD.

Ok cool. That’s fab.
I’m going to buy and upgrade to Sonoma this weekend then.

 

[H2SO4]

Ok cool. That’s fab.
I’m going to buy and upgrade to Sonoma this weekend then.

Or maybe I'm not. Can't seem to get one for love nor money. A Sabrent Rocket is available though so I'll try that.
It's this one;

Rocket 4 Plus SSD

PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, NVMe 1.3 compliant. APST/ASPM/L1.2 support. Supports SMART and TRIM functions. Works in an enclosure. Wide flash compatibility. Uses TLC with DRAM. Advanced endurance features for a long drive lifespan. Upgradeable firmware and software support. 4.0-capable motherboard and...

sabrent.com

 

[H2SO4]

Or maybe I'm not. Can't seem to get one for love nor money. A Sabrent Rocket is available though so I'll try that.
It's this one;

Rocket 4 Plus SSD

PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, NVMe 1.3 compliant. APST/ASPM/L1.2 support. Supports SMART and TRIM functions. Works in an enclosure. Wide flash compatibility. Uses TLC with DRAM. Advanced endurance features for a long drive lifespan. Upgradeable firmware and software support. 4.0-capable motherboard and...

sabrent.com

The Mac doesn't seem to like this latest Sabrent.

I'm going to clone the Windows drive to the Sabrent and then install OSX to the Samsung.
Anybody have any recommendations for a Carbon Copy CLoner quality app on the Windows side?

 

[H2SO4]

The Mac doesn't seem to like this latest Sabrent.

I'm going to clone the Windows drive to the Sabrent and then install OSX to the Samsung.
Anybody have any recommendations for a Carbon Copy CLoner quality app on the Windows side?

I'll provide a little update for anybody wonderibng about Cloning. I tried two, can't actually remember the first as it was rubbish, didn't remain in the Apps folder for long.
Macrium Reflect was great. It comes as a package with lots of stuff you don't need but provided a perfectly functioning Windows clone nice and easily.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Yea, I've been using a HighPoint 1580 PCIe 4 card to run my Micron 9300 Pro 15TB NVMe U.2 drive with no issues. I was using the HighPoint 7120 PCIe 3 card up until this year with the same drive since 2019. No issues (touch wood).