MP All Models PCIe SSDs - NVMe & AHCI

[trifero]

It has to be in PCIe slot ##2 in the 5,1 to get those speeds right? My RX700XT eats into slot two so I can't use it. Only slot 3 is available and its a 4X slot. I have a Titan Ridge in Slot 4.

Really I don´t know. Let me check it…

 

[trifero]

Slot 2. Titan in slot 4.

 

[smallwonder]

anyone using the Sonnet M.2 4x4 (fanless version) with an RX580 gpu? (on a 5,1)
If the full-length Sonnet is placed in slot 2, are there heat concerns in terms of blocking the fans on the RX580? can anyone share a pic of this arrangement?

 

[Matty_TypeR]

Put GFX card in slot 2 and sonnet slot 1 it can't block fans then.

 

[smallwonder]

View attachment 1968967 Put GFX card in slot 2 and sonnet slot 1 it can't block fans then.

if you need all 4 slots, wouldn't the gpu in slot 2 block the usage of slot 3?

 

[Matty_TypeR]

It would depend on what GPU you put in slot 2, if a RX580 or something like that then yes it would block slot 3, but to get the best speed out of your M2 sonnet it would need to go in slot 1 or you will block the fans on the RX-580 and will cause it to over heat. if you need all 4 slots then your going to have to change your gfx card to something slimmer with rear blower fan design.

 

[GlynH]

Well the StarTech PEX8M2E2 with two Samsung 970 blades is up & running.



Fits well in Slot 2 with the Quadro K5000 staying in Slot 1 and as I thought due to the StarTech being a short card it does not impact the single fan on the K5000 in any way and keeps things nice & tidy with Slots 3 & 4 free for future use.



Temperatures have risen @10c compared to the Sabrents and I have ordered a couple of Gelid SubZero heatsinks from Amazon which should be here on Thursday so I'll be keeping my eye on it until then. It normally runs 24/7 but I might even shut it down overnight just to be on the safe side!



Not the fastest kid on the block but disk speed has just about doubled over the same blades in the Sabrents @1400MB/s which were themselves around 5 times faster than both the Samsung SSD and Seagate HDD @ 250MB/s in the drive bays so a good result with minimum outlay as far as I am concerned.



Early days yet so will have to see how reliability goes but if I even have one crash that will be one more than I have had since I got 'Big Mac' up & running in December!

-=Glyn=-

 

[Matty_TypeR]

Looking very good glyn, and for the speed increase and cost I think they are great value for the money the startech boards. I updated the firmware on my blade, it did make a small difference in speed but not much. but was a recommended update for the 980pro before Mac use.

And this board suits your GFX card and layout perfectly in slot 2.

 

[inkinx]

It has to be in PCIe slot ##2 in the 5,1 to get those speeds right? My RX700XT eats into slot two so I can't use it. Only slot 3 is available and its a 4X slot. I have a Titan Ridge in Slot 4.

I had the same issue with 2+ slot HD 7970 - wondering if a short L shaped PCIe extension cable can fit there

 

[inkinx]

Well the StarTech PEX8M2E2 with two Samsung 970 blades is up & running.

View attachment 1969674

Fits well in Slot 2 with the Quadro K5000 staying in Slot 1 and as I thought due to the StarTech being a short card it does not impact the single fan on the K5000 in any way and keeps things nice & tidy with Slots 3 & 4 free for future use.

View attachment 1969664

Temperatures have risen @10c compared to the Sabrents and I have ordered a couple of Gelid SubZero heatsinks from Amazon which should be here on Thursday so I'll be keeping my eye on it until then. It normally runs 24/7 but I might even shut it down overnight just to be on the safe side!

View attachment 1969667

Not the fastest kid on the block but disk speed has just about doubled over the same blades in the Sabrents @1400MB/s which were themselves around 5 times faster than both the Samsung SSD and Seagate HDD @ 250MB/s in the drive bays so a good result with minimum outlay as far as I am concerned.

View attachment 1969668

Early days yet so will have to see how reliability goes but if I even have one crash that will be one more than I have had since I got 'Big Mac' up & running in December!

-=Glyn=-

I've got a very similar Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual for about 120$ on amazon (it's 150 now); same speeds little above 3000 in slot 2 and single 1T 970 Evo plus and no issues till now.

 

[trifero]

I've got a very similar Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual for about 120$ on amazon (it's 150 now); same speeds little above 3000 in slot 2 and single 1T 970 Evo plus and no issues till now.

It´s the same card, in fact.

 

[GlynH]

It´s the same card, in fact.

As is the Lycom DT-130 it would appear?

-=Glyn=-

 

[zzzippp]

As is the Lycom DT-130 it would appear?

-=Glyn=-

Yes it is!

For me personally any of the PLX chipset cards are prohibitively expensive, so (thanks to Amazon's return policy), I took a low-risk gamble on the Startech PEX8M2E2 which has turned out to be a fantastic investment at $135. I think your exactly right when you say that some ASMedia ASM2824 switch chipset-based cards & NVMe blade combinations are reliable. Reading through this thread and elsewhere, the group of three nearly visually identical cards that mine is a member of - the Startech PEX8M2E2, Ableconn PEXM2-130, and Lycom DT-130 - have been both reported to work really well and on the other hand, cause crashes / kernel panics or work at much slower speeds than expected. In a few outlying cases, users exchanged their card for a new one that worked, but otherwise whether the cards worked or not seems directly related to which blade(s) are installed. I think it may be helpful to aggregate all of the reports into a list showing which blade(s) worked and which didn't.

I have just swapped out my 1TB ADATA SX8200 for an 240GB OWC Aura P12 installed next to a 256GB Sabrent Rocket in my Startech PEX8M2E2 in preparation to sell my second MacPro 5,1 and everything is still working great with a fresh install of EUFI Windows on the Sabrent and macOS BigSur on the OWC Aura.

As a side note, I've got the Startech card in slot 2 above an EVGA NVIDIA GTX 760 (with dual fans) and have not had any heat issues with any of the NVMe drives, though they have 3rd party heatsinks on them.

I still consider the Startech PEX8M2E2 to be a very good deal at its current $160 price on Amazon.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

Well the StarTech PEX8M2E2 with two Samsung 970 blades is up & running.

View attachment 1969674

Fits well in Slot 2 with the Quadro K5000 staying in Slot 1 and as I thought due to the StarTech being a short card it does not impact the single fan on the K5000 in any way and keeps things nice & tidy with Slots 3 & 4 free for future use.

View attachment 1969664

Temperatures have risen @10c compared to the Sabrents and I have ordered a couple of Gelid SubZero heatsinks from Amazon which should be here on Thursday so I'll be keeping my eye on it until then. It normally runs 24/7 but I might even shut it down overnight just to be on the safe side!

View attachment 1969667

Not the fastest kid on the block but disk speed has just about doubled over the same blades in the Sabrents @1400MB/s which were themselves around 5 times faster than both the Samsung SSD and Seagate HDD @ 250MB/s in the drive bays so a good result with minimum outlay as far as I am concerned.

View attachment 1969668

Early days yet so will have to see how reliability goes but if I even have one crash that will be one more than I have had since I got 'Big Mac' up & running in December!

-=Glyn=-

Can anyone with this Lycom DT-130 type of card take a look to the side? Is there a pad or paste between the ASmedia and the heatsink?

 

[Matty_TypeR]

Can anyone with this Lycom DT-130 type of card take a look to the side? Is there a pad or paste between the ASmedia and the heatsink?

It looks like a thermal pad to me from the side view.

 

[porican]

Yeah i just installed the ableconn pexm2-130 and it has a thermal pad on the pcie switch. it's not perfectly aligned, sadly. may have to disassemble & realign

EDIT: single 1tb samsung 980 pro (with built-in heatsink) formatted fine in both mac and windows but would crash when stress tested. added a second drive (1tb sm961) and now both of them handle the stress tests fine. one of sensors on the sm961 runs a lil hot tho (between 60-70º C). getting about 2900/1900MB/s read/write on the sm961 boot drive. the 980 pro fully saturates the pcie 3.0 bus at 3200/3200MB/s. The switch seems fine so not gonna realign the thermal pad. Both SSDs have passive coolers; the (massive) sabrent rocket is on the sm961. This is in Slot 2 (x16) on a 5,1.

 

[inkinx]

Some question about Samsung nmve MZVLB256HBHQ opal SSd - I have issues during formatting both in Mojave and Big Sur (computer freeze, big sur install does not complete) - anybody knows if it is compactible or not?
Seems the disk completely disappears during volume creation from disk list; sometimes even the keyboard/mouse doesn't react anymore..
However at times I'm able to format it, but it hang again during the install

 

[porican]

Some question about Samsung nmve MZVLB256HBHQ opal SSd - I have issues during formatting both in Mojave and Big Sur (computer freeze, big sur install does not complete) - anybody knows if it is compactible or not?
Seems the disk completely disappears during volume creation from disk list; sometimes even the keyboard/mouse doesn't react anymore..
However at times I'm able to format it, but it hang again during the install

isn't that a pm981? those are listed as non-compatible in the first post

MZVLB256HBHQ-00$00/07(256GB) | SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global

PM981a MZVLB256HBHQ-00$00/07(256GB). Find technical product specifications, features and more at Samsung Semiconductor.

semiconductor.samsung.com

 

[juju01]

I have a MacPro3,1. Planning to wipe mac os and install proxmox. Here is my plan:

1. Install proxmox os on PCIe card in one of the x4 slots. Since this is just for boot/os, I don't really care about speed. However, I am looking for recommendations for card with 2 slots so I can install proxmox with raid 1. PCIe card should be solid but not expensive.
2. Install a PCIe card in x16 slot for VMs and such
3. Use all 4 SATA bays as storage for a TrueNas VM.

I am not sure

1. Which PCIe card / storage drives to get for the x4 slot
2. Or , rather, if it makes sense to get one PCIe x16 card with 4 slots ( like the Highpoint 7101A) and use slot 1 & 2 for the Proxmox os and Slot 3 &4 for the virtual machines?
3. Also, is possible to put the cards in slot 1 &2 of the Highpoint in raid 1?

Also I assume since I am moving away from mac os completely, I shouldn't worry about drivers and such?

 

[inkinx]

isn't that a pm981? those are listed as non-compatible in the first post

MZVLB256HBHQ-00$00/07(256GB) | SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global

PM981a MZVLB256HBHQ-00$00/07(256GB). Find technical product specifications, features and more at Samsung Semiconductor.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Thanks, I tried to find out what kind it was from the codes on the SSD, no clue.

 

[Fastsavage]

Well the StarTech PEX8M2E2 with two Samsung 970 blades is up & running.

View attachment 1969674

Fits well in Slot 2 with the Quadro K5000 staying in Slot 1 and as I thought due to the StarTech being a short card it does not impact the single fan on the K5000 in any way and keeps things nice & tidy with Slots 3 & 4 free for future use.

View attachment 1969664

Temperatures have risen @10c compared to the Sabrents and I have ordered a couple of Gelid SubZero heatsinks from Amazon which should be here on Thursday so I'll be keeping my eye on it until then. It normally runs 24/7 but I might even shut it down overnight just to be on the safe side!

View attachment 1969667

Not the fastest kid on the block but disk speed has just about doubled over the same blades in the Sabrents @1400MB/s which were themselves around 5 times faster than both the Samsung SSD and Seagate HDD @ 250MB/s in the drive bays so a good result with minimum outlay as far as I am concerned.

View attachment 1969668

Early days yet so will have to see how reliability goes but if I even have one crash that will be one more than I have had since I got 'Big Mac' up & running in December!

-=Glyn=-

Just bought and installed the Startech card, with a 2Tb and 1Tb 970 Evo Plus blades - put it in slot 1 with my RX580 in Slot 2. Temps up a few degrees but upping the inlet and exhaust fan speeds a couple of hundred revs fixed that. Speeds are the same as @GlynH, a step up from my Kryo M2 card.

I also used aftermarket Heatsinks from Amazon

Good value addition

 

[Matty_TypeR]

I think the Samsung 980 pro M2 can be added to the list of working M2 drives. Firmware 5B2QGXA7 works flawless in Mac Pro 5.1 it is the latest firmware for the drive. Needs to be updated via Windows or in a PC. Both drives i purchased needed to be updated to the above firmware. ?

I also used heatsinks from Amazon, these ones. QIVYNSRY M.2 Heatsink NVME 2280 SSD Heat Sink Support Single Double Sided M2 SSD Cooling with Thermal Silicone Pads Cooler for Computer PC PS5 PCIE NVME or NGFF SATA M.2 SSD Installation, Black : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

[tsialex]

I think the Samsung 980 pro M2 can be added to the list of working M2 drives. Firmware 5B2QGXA7 works flawless in Mac Pro 5.1 it is the latest firmware for the drive. Needs to be updated via Windows or in a PC. Both drives i purchased needed to be updated to the above firmware. ?

I also used heatsinks from Amazon, these ones. QIVYNSRY M.2 Heatsink NVME 2280 SSD Heat Sink Support Single Double Sided M2 SSD Cooling with Thermal Silicone Pads Cooler for Computer PC PS5 PCIE NVME or NGFF SATA M.2 SSD Installation, Black : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Did you tested without a PCIe switched card? The problems happen when you connect it via dumb/passive adapters, directly to the PCIe v2.0 slots.

 

[Matty_TypeR]

I didnt test that yet but can do. will post back findings.

 

[Matty_TypeR]

Ok ran some tests with a 1TB 980pro on my old Kryo M2 evo dumb card in slot 4 and i got 1439 write speed and 1514 read speed, and all seems stable. if there were problems it seems the latest firmware has fixed it. I ran it several times and same results with in a few points.