Hello, I am trying to upgrade from an HDD to an SSD on my Mac Pro 4,1 2009. I know the fastest SSD would be PCIE. It seems that AHCI drives are extremely rare to find nowadays as I have not been able to find one for a decent price. I have read all the articles mentioned here, but I am still confused on one aspect. My question is if I were to get the NVME, would I need to upgrade my GPU which is a GT120 to get a mac OS that supports NVME; or is there a Mac OS that will work with NVME and my GT120? My last resort would be a SATA SSD drive, but I am not sure if that makes a difference that is worth the money. Also, this would be my main OS/software drive. Thank you!
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MP 1,1-5,1 Need urgent help for upgrade please
- Thread starter ngloading
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tsialex
Contributor
A METAL supported GPU is required for the Mojave firmware upgrade that will provide NVMe support, read the first post if the thread:
forums.macrumors.com
You can go back to 10.13.6 and GT120 after the firmware upgrade, but a METAL GPU is required for the firmware upgrade process itself.
MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)
Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...
forums.macrumors.com
You can go back to 10.13.6 and GT120 after the firmware upgrade, but a METAL GPU is required for the firmware upgrade process itself.
MarkC426
macrumors 601
Ngloading: depending on what you use your mac for, a samsung evo/pro will speed it up massively, without the need for nvme or gpu upgrade.
DPUser
macrumors 6502a
Any decent SATA SSD will run rings around your spinner. Try it, you'll like it.
Crucial MX or Samsung EVO are favorites that have proven to be durable.
Crucial MX or Samsung EVO are favorites that have proven to be durable.
What's the best and most stable OS I can run on my 4,1 without upgrading the GPU? Past El Capitan of course..
tsialex
Contributor
10.13.6, High Sierra.
No bootable NVMe support, since MP51.0089.B00 don't have the NVMe EFI support.
I decided to go with a PCIE Sata III SSD to avoid the hassle of modding the firmware and obtaining a new GPU. I will stick with that and 10.13.6 then. Thank you for all your help!