MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[Pentaxer]

It doesn't work at all? Or doesn't support boot?

 

[tsialex]

It doesn't work at all? Or doesn't support boot?

Bifurcation needs a PCIe switch into the chipset to convert one PCIe 3.0 16x slot into four 3.0 4x virtual slots. This card needs that the chipset or the motherboard is wired for bifurcation.

No Mac Pro, even MP6,0, have bifurcation.

 

[DarkRaverNL]

Bought this cheap 4$ PCIE 3 NGFF NVME x4 module, put a 970 EVO with ICYBOX heatsink on it and nada 1660/1558 MB/s r/w speeds from it

 

[msh]

Add another adapter that works to your list.

This $20 cheapy from my local Fry's boots Mohave from a Samsung 970Evo. Comes with silicone pads and a substantial heatsink.

https://www.frys.com/product/9514982?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


PS: This card looks like a clone of the Angelbird PX1 for a lot less money. Looks like you are paying $40 extra for those led lights!

 

[JeDiGM]

Any of these adapters will work. Simple passthrough adapters will all work. 4x -> 4x. It's the ones with switches that convert 4x PCIe 3.0 lanes to 8x+ PCIe 2.0 lanes that are the focus here. Those cost more and they allow speeds greater than 1500MB/s.

 

[msh]

Any of these adapters will work. Simple passthrough adapters will all work. 4x -> 4x. It's the ones with switches that convert 4x PCIe 3.0 lanes to 8x+ PCIe 2.0 lanes that are the focus here. Those cost more and they allow speeds greater than 1500MB/s.

Yeah, I had thought that might be the case but wasn't sure since I only saw the Lycom listed under the budget category. I understood about the limitations of the x4 to x4 and the need for the switched ones in the 16 lane slot for higher throughput. I'll consider those when the need arises. Nonetheless, it is quite nice and surprising to be able to boot from an NVMe in Appleworld especially from a generic adapter.

 

[AliGT83]

Does 960 Evo work? No status in first post.

 

[bsbeamer]

Does 960 Evo work? No status in first post.

EVO 970 works with PX1, can 100% confirm that. Read several conflicting reports on EVO 960 during research.

FWIW, the 960 is no longer being sold as new from direct resellers (only 3rd party), so buyer beware. I'm sure some still have stock they are clearing out. The 970 is on sale on Amazon right now, about 20% lower than last week.

 

[tsialex]

960 EVO is basically the consumer version of PM961. I tested two PM961 models, 128 and 512GB from HP/Lenovo notebooks. The 128 did not work until the firmware was updated, had an early firmware version, but the 512GB one worked first time.

I don't know about the 256GB and 1TB versions, but should work too.

 

[AliGT83]

EVO 970 works with PX1, can 100% confirm that. Read several conflicting reports on EVO 960 during research.

FWIW, the 960 is no longer being sold as new from direct resellers (only 3rd party), so buyer beware. I'm sure some still have stock they are clearing out. The 970 is on sale on Amazon right now, about 20% lower than last week.

960 EVO is basically the consumer version of PM961. I tested two PM961 models, 128 and 512GB from HP/Lenovo notebooks. The 128 did not work until the firmware was updated, had an early firmware version, but the 512GB one worked first time.

I don't know about the 256GB and 1TB versions, but should work too.

Thanks for the input. I will go ahead and purchase a 960 evo 1TB. I have on my cart on ebay.

 

[Fish1313]

Amazon.co.uk had a seller from France selling it. Purchased last week, haven’t seen it anywhere else in the EU.

Due to nice circumstances i got 2 of these nice cards.
If someone want one of these, i was charged 220€ each...

 

[uimike]

I have similar problems with my SM951-AHCI, sometimes I have to force TRIM even with it enabled by trimforce command.

I usually boot single mode and run e2fsck to force it. Other thing, check with Samsung Magician if you have the most recent firmware.

Both failing, try upgrading to 140.0.0.0.0.

+1! Data Point: SM951-AHCI on Angelbird Wings XP1, cMP 2009 4,1 > 5,1 Xeon 3.2GHz 6-c0re - on DiskMark speeds pretty much doubled to Read 1266 MB/s, Write 1076 MB/s - this on High Sierra after I upgraded to 140.0.0.0.0.
It is accidental, in the sense that upgrading was for Mojave, which I now downgraded (GeForce awaiting Nvidia drivers). But one side effect was speeding the SSD blade,

 

[Chrisf1977]

Due to nice circumstances i got 2 of these nice cards.
If someone want one of these, i was charged 220€ each...

I have found it on amazon.co.uk for 199gbp + 7,90gpb delivery = 238Euro, seller is Adapter World and the adapter is named "IO-PCE2824-TM2 PCIe 3.0 x 16 to 2 x M.2 Adapther Card"

 

[MisterAndrew]

How’s the compatibility with the HP EX920? It’s slightly cheaper than the 970 EVO. Both are close to $200 now in 1TB capacity. Curious if the 970 will go under $200 soon. It’s at $227.99 right now after a continuous price decline.

 

[alphaod]

I cloned my MacPro6,1 boot drive to the 970 EVO I got with Carbon Copy Cloner. I got an adapter and heatsink from Amazon, both installed just fine. The computer boots up, TRIM is enabled.

However I have found my read write is in the 1400MB/s range instead of the 2500-3500 MB/s range in the OP, am I doing something wrong or is this a limitation of the trashcan?

 

[bsbeamer]

I have found my read write is in the 1400MB/s range instead of the 2500-3500 MB/s range

Unsure about the 6,1 but that is about right for the MP5,1 depending on your adapter:

Note that blade SSDs installed in a Mac Pro 5,1 are limited to ~1,500 MB/s unless installed on a PCIe switch card in slot 1 or 2 such as a HighPoint 7101 or Amfeltec Squid that converts the Mac Pro PCIe 2.0 x16 to the PCIe 3.0 x4 needed for full throughput.

EVO 970 1TB (MZ-V7E1T0BW) claims the 2500-3500 MB/s range you are quoting, but I get (as expected) "only" in the 1400-1500 MB/s range with PX1 PCIe adapter.

 

[handheldgames]

I cloned my MacPro6,1 boot drive to the 970 EVO I got with Carbon Copy Cloner. I got an adapter and heatsink from Amazon, both installed just fine. The computer boots up, TRIM is enabled.

However I have found my read write is in the 1400MB/s range instead of the 2500-3500 MB/s range in the OP, am I doing something wrong or is this a limitation of the trashcan?

The Unfortunately, the trashcan 6,1 has an internal PCIe SSD interface that's x4 PCIe 2.0. (see image below) Considering that Thunderbolt 2 can scale to ~2500 MB/s , one could use an x8 adapter($200ish) in an Akitio Thunder 2 PCIe Box(under $200) to achieve an extra 1000 MB/Sec performance on large file copies.

 

[alphaod]

As long as it's the limitation of my computer, I am fine with it. Honestly, it's getting hard and harder to justify putting more money into this computer.

You guys might think I'm crazy, but I'm okay with using an SSD mounted directly into the sled of my cheesegrater Mac Pro oppose to a custom PCIe adapter, though now I'm seeing about reusing my trashcan SSD in the older computer.

 

[vasuvasu]

How’s the compatibility with the HP EX920? It’s slightly cheaper than the 970 EVO. Both are close to $200 now in 1TB capacity. Curious if the 970 will go under $200 soon. It’s at $227.99 right now after a continuous price decline.

I saw a 1TB HP EX920 on eBay for $179.99 and couldn't pass it up for that price, so I can let you know on Monday when it arrives.

 

[bsbeamer]

For anyone price shopping: under $120 for EVO 970 500gb at Newegg. I’m sure others will match soon.

Update: B&H has dropped prices for the same 500gbb. Their 1tb also dropped to match Amazon’s earlier $230 sale price.

 

[ascendantP]

Just signed up. I want to give a big thanks to tsialex for his contribution and insight in helping dozens of members, if not, hundreds of members and lurkers here, myself included, with getting the discussion going for NVME bootable drives. I just bought my 2009 mac pro and set everything up yesterday to be running High Sierra on my flashed gtx 680 4GB card on the 140 Bootrom firmware and it has been working flawlessly.

The best thing I can do is to contribute my results. I've been using a Crucial P1 500GB NVME blade paired with the Lycom DT-120. Cheapest and most budget one I can find, $90 on sale for the Crucial P1 drive and ~$20 for the PCIe card. My results are attached below. Not the fastest write speeds, but as long as I'm getting to close to max reads speeds on a non-Raid x4 pcie card set up, I'm perfectly satisfied.









One question I have is, has anyone been able to set up Bootcamp with a bootable M.2 NVMe drive? Since the Mac Pro recognizes my startup drive as an external drive, it won't allow me to proceed with the installation. I would love to dual boot with Windows 10 but I might just be satisfied with VMware setup.

 

[th0masp]

I cloned my MacPro6,1 boot drive to the 970 EVO I got with Carbon Copy Cloner. I got an adapter and heatsink from Amazon, both installed just fine. The computer boots up, TRIM is enabled.

Since I'm about to install an SSD in mine too (just waiting on a heatsink for it now): is that really all you had to do to make it work? I was under the impression you had to start a fresh install on the NVMe blade?
Would cloning the factory High Sierra install be sufficient?

 

[RegalTrini]

anybody heard of this card or had any experience with it:
https://edt.com/product/mako/

Also, on the high point website there is now a 7102. How would ha compare to the 7101A?

Has the intel 600 series blades been tested?

 

[tsialex]

anybody heard of this card or had any experience with it:
https://edt.com/product/mako/

First time. It's a 8x card, so it's not the best fit for a M5,1 with 4 blades. (around 3000Mbps divided by 4 blades)

Also high point website there is now a 7102. How would ha compare to the 7101A.

Same hardware different firmware to provide RAID booting for PCs/Linux, useless with a Mac.

 

[MIKX]

anybody heard of this card or had any experience with it:
https://edt.com/product/mako/

Also high point website there is now a 7102. How would ha compare to the 7101A.

Looks like it has a switch so it could be OK they want a lot of personal information to get a quote. . maybe expensive.