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

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Oneballs

macrumors newbie
Dec 13, 2014
6
1
Some awesome info in this thread. Couldn't resist ditching my Sata 2 boot drive after seeing these benchmarks.

I recently received the Sintech adapter and a 256gb apple blade on a 4,1. Works as advertised at first, but I've noticed I "lose" the ability to boot into the PCIe ssd on cold boots after I have shutdown. Upon powering up, I get stuck on the gray screen until the comp finds my old boot drive minutes later. When I boot back in my original boot drive (Samsung 830), the apple blade shows back up as an available start disk and I can start the process over again.

Have tried the normal trouble shooting fixed (SMC, PRAM, switching PCI slots). Any other thoughts on this?
 
ibarnett

ibarnett

macrumors regular
Aug 20, 2010
240
67
Gold Coast, Australia
Oneballs said:
Have tried the normal trouble shooting fixed (SMC, PRAM, switching PCI slots). Any other thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Mine is working fine now.
I did have an issue after changing my PCie cards around, the blade on the Sintech "disappeared". I tried several things, but it re-appeared after reseating the Sintech card.
Must have been bad contact in the slot.
Has been fine ever since.
I have a Mac Pro 5,1 with the Sintech in slot 2.
 
SamPotts

SamPotts

macrumors 6502
Sep 25, 2010
278
59
Sydney, Australia
Just bought the Bplus Dual M.2 M2P4S (and ribbon cable for later) along with a 256GB XP941 Samsung blade. Going into an 6 core 4.1 (5.1 f/w) Mac Pro. Should go alright. I'm only a little worried about TRIM but that drive has Garbage Collection which should help I'd imagine?
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,960
4,283
Would someone mind linking a picture of these PCIe drives both with, and without the heat sink?

I have the nMP 6,1 and if I get one via eBay, I want to make sure I get one with a heat sink.
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,960
4,283
Another couple of questions....

Assuming I find a decent deal on a new 1TB PCIe SSD w/heatsink for my nMP, and it comes with the OS already loaded, how to I erase? I know how to use Disk Utility, etc. I'm just trying to understand the most efficient process flow.

Is there some kind of enclosure or card that works with a nMP I could use to format the drive, before I re-install my OS from a TM back up?
 
Pressure

Pressure

macrumors 603
May 30, 2006
5,047
1,384
Denmark
BeatCrazy said:
Another couple of questions....

Assuming I find a decent deal on a new 1TB PCIe SSD w/heatsink for my nMP, and it comes with the OS already loaded, how to I erase? I know how to use Disk Utility, etc. I'm just trying to understand the most efficient process flow.

Is there some kind of enclosure or card that works with a nMP I could use to format the drive, before I re-install my OS from a TM back up?
Click to expand...

You could boot up the recovery partition and erase the drive with Disk Utility.
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,960
4,283
Pressure said:
Yes, something like this adaptor should do the trick.

Or you could sell it, are you in Europe by chance? ;)
Click to expand...


I don't see how that would work, as I have a nMP 6,1. I would need an enclosure that is USB bus powered or similar.

I'm in the US. Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get the faster 1TB PCIe any time soon, anyways. eBay seller chrisdillio (who used to sell the MZ-KPV1T00/0A2) has apparently sold out for good. He claims it's identical performance to the slower MZ-KPU1T0T/0A2, but will not get more.
 
Pressure

Pressure

macrumors 603
May 30, 2006
5,047
1,384
Denmark
BeatCrazy said:
I don't see how that would work, as I have a nMP 6,1. I would need an enclosure that is USB bus powered or similar.

I'm in the US. Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get the faster 1TB PCIe any time soon, anyways. eBay seller chrisdillio (who used to sell the MZ-KPV1T00/0A2) has apparently sold out for good. He claims it's identical performance to the slower MZ-KPU1T0T/0A2, but will not get more.
Click to expand...

Thought you meant another computer:)
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,960
4,283
SamPotts

SamPotts

macrumors 6502
Sep 25, 2010
278
59
Sydney, Australia
Got my Bplus adapter running with an XP941 256GB and getting 960MB/s read and 760MB/s write. Probably not earth shattering compared to others but it's good enough for me. Converted a cMP to 3.33 Hex Core and 16GB RAM, a 7970 GPU and it's working well.
 
Upgrader

Upgrader

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2014
345
53
SamPotts said:
Got my Bplus adapter running with an XP941 256GB and getting 960MB/s read and 760MB/s write. Probably not earth shattering compared to others but it's good enough for me. Converted a cMP to 3.33 Hex Core and 16GB RAM, a 7970 GPU and it's working well.
Click to expand...

Those speeds are great! I need a media drive solution for After Effects and those speeds will be good for a few years yet. Can't stretch to the 1tb Samsung/apple prices so will prob go for a 512 XP941. I have an Accelsior 240gb PCIe SSD as my boot drive and after a couple of jobs using it I have zero speed complaints - and it's slower than your speeds with the XP.
 
Last edited:
Upgrader

Upgrader

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2014
345
53
SamPotts said:
You'll be even faster with the 512GB XP941. It seems to benchmark a decent amount higher in reviews. :)
Click to expand...

Ah yes, it's coming back to me now, the 512 does benchmark higher but I'm pretty sure Handheldgames says on this thread somewhere that the Samsung/apple 1tb is faster still and only $100 more for twice the storage. But again, those prices may have changed since he wrote that. Need to catch up on prices.
 
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Harry322

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2005
100
20
Los Angeles
So, as usual, I'm getting an itchy trigger finger on these SSDs. Would love to give my Mac Pro a little Christmas tune-up. As of now, I have a few choices. Could someone please advise on each of these options and make sure I have my facts straight? :

MZ-KPV1T00/0A2 - Hold out hope for this legendary beast to resurface. Transfer speeds should be somewhere in the range of 1200 MB read and write. Hope to snag one for $750, but prepared to pay a pretty penny more.

MZ-KPU1T0T/0A6 - A more common SSD. Speeds hover around 950 MB read and 850 MB write. Regularly goes for $750 on eBay.

MZ-KPU1T0T/0A2 - A slower option than the "0A6" (?), but it fetches the same price. Should I avoid this model? How much slower is it?

Are there any other SSD options that I should be looking at? Thanks again for everyone's hard work and expertise.

Merry Christmas!
 
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