SSD Adapter for Mac Pro 3,1

[sim667]

I've done this install on my mac pro before, but now my freind wants one for his, and I can't remember what PCIe adapter I used. Plus it was a while ago, so there's probably newer and better ones now.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

 

[XNorth]

What kind of SSD? 2.5" or M.2? SATA, AHCI, or NVMe?

 

[sim667]

What kind of SSD? 2.5" or M.2? SATA, AHCI, or NVMe?

It will probably be a samsung 850 evo 2.5"

 

[AidenShaw]

What kind of SSD? 2.5" or M.2? SATA, AHCI, or NVMe?

For all practical purposes SATA and AHCI are the same thing - native SATA mode is AHCI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

Most (all?) SATA controllers and drives can also be run in IDE mode (legacy parallel ATA compatibility).

 

[Zeke D]

I've used both these adapters in my 3,1 and 5,1 with inexpensive ADATA SSDs:

Velocity Solo X2 [Link is for the x1, since the x2 is no longer available.]
OWC Accelsior S

The Solo is 1x, and maxes out in the 300mbps range, and the Accelsior is 8x, and maxes out in the 500mbps range. Both are available for $50.

 

[bsbeamer]

It might be worth finding a Velocity Solo X2 (over the Velocity Solo X1) for the firmware update that was made. There was a compatibility conflict that was addressed with the X2 firmware update several years ago. It was something Apricorn offered for free if mailing the card back to them, but all newer cards shipped with the update. Does not look like the cards are being manufactured, so doubt they'd still offer the update.

There is a random seller with an X2 on Amazon, but for the markup would look elsewhere.

 

[barmann]

It will probably be a samsung 850 evo 2.5"

Just use a slide adapter like an Icy Dock converter then , if you want a cheap solution .

 

[XNorth]

It will probably be a samsung 850 evo 2.5"

For 2.5" EVO SSDs, you can connect them directly to the HDD bays with a 3.5" cheap cMP sled adapter from OWC. Or if you want greater performance, use one of the PCIe controller cards recommended by others like the Tempo SSD Pro.

If using AHCI/NVMe blades, there's also a lot of choices for higher performance than SATA SSDs, from inexpensive single blade PCIe adapters to quad-blade $500 adapters.

 

[rpmurray]

I went with a Sonnet [URL='https://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempossdproplus.html']Tempo SSD Pro Plus[/URL], but you could also go with the cheaper Sonnet Tempo SSD.