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MP 6,1 Help/Advice with poor nVME read/write speeds - 2013 Mac Pro

w4rmk

w4rmk

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 13, 2006
286
84
I upgraded the SSD on my recently acquired 2013 Mac Pro. First I ordered a 2TB MyDigitalSSD BPX Pro 80mm nVME and was getting about 217 MB/s write and 232 MB/s read speeds. I assumed this was due to issues with compatibility or an issue with the SSD so then I purchased an Intel 660p 2TB nVME drive and now I am getting 340 MB/s write and 343 MB/s read speeds. Any suggestions? Maybe its an issue with the Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card? I have ordered a different brand that is awaiting delivery, QNINE M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter.
Any other ideas on why my SSD performance is so poor???

My-Digital-SSD.jpg


Intel660p.jpg


41J8htHejqL._AC_.jpg
 
UPDATE: After poking around Google searches I ran across an article that talked about checking Link Width in System Report. Also found an article saying that these nVME adapters sometimes have an issue where the bottom edge of the connectors make contact with the metal strip along the top of the SSD socket on the Mac Pro. So first thing I did was check the Link Width and found that it was x1. I checked my MacBook Pro and found it was x4. Wow what a difference. I removed the SinTech adapter and checked the protection tape which looked ok. Long story short, I played around the tape placement and got the link width to x2, then messed around with it some more and re-seating everything and now the Link Width is x4. The speed results are pretty much 4x faster now than before. I have a different brand/mfg adapter coming tomorrow so will try that one too.

Link-Width.jpg


Revised660p.jpg
 
Glad you've found some information that put you on the right track!

I asked my question above because there have been many cases of the 2013 Mac Pro not updating its BootROM/firmware with 3rd-party SSDs installed. Check your BootROM version and—after future macOS updates—pay attention to whether the BootROM is updating to the latest version available for your version of macOS.

If you've installed Catalina 10.15.1, you should have BootROM version 133.0.0.0.0 at this time.

See this post for a version table (your system is in the last row):

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread....2132317/page-160?post=27928444#post-27928444

If your BootROM does not match that, then your new 3rd-party SSDs might continue to cause you trouble when updating. In that case, reinstall the Apple SSD to update your BootROM.
 
I do recall that issue and I have put my original 256GB SSD away for exactly that reason. When new major OS updates come out I am planning to re-install the original SSD and upgrade that way then repeat with the Intel NvME.
 
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