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What's a good solid-state drive for my Pro 1.1, c.250-500gb?

What's a good solid-state drive for my Pro 1.1, c.250-500gb?

Mac Pro

Posted on Jan 15, 2015 12:11 PM

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23 replies

Jan 15, 2015 12:42 PM in response to Dulciana

Any of the SATA III will work fine but if you connect them to the SATA bus like the HDs they will operate at the slower SATA speed of the Mac's SATA bus.

You can also get PCLe cards that will operate a SATA III SSD at full speed. Yo can also get PCLe cards with blade SSD that operate at speeds faster than STAT III. However, there is problems with used PCLe cards to boot from.

Jan 15, 2015 1:01 PM in response to Dulciana

Samsung XP941 + adapter, the ONLY PCIe device that is bootable!


These are M.2 style. And Samsung is bootable, no drivers, no actual controller, just an adapter, works on any Mac Pro and OS independent (10.5 and above).


They cost more but the adapter is just $30 w/ shipping.


The XP941 $135 128GB / $499 500GB / $250 256GB


The 128GB is 400MB/sec writes, 800MB/sec reads. This is what I now use.


The 500GB is 900MB/sec writes and 1000MB/sec reads.


Much better than using SATA II, but you do have 4 drive bays and two ODD ports but limited to 250MB/sec that way.


Most use it for just the system so 128GB is fine, enough for small non-media libraries, to also be on the boot drive.


Otherwise I would recommend Samsung again but 850 EVO series and $18 sled adapter.

Jan 15, 2015 1:33 PM in response to lllaass

I have four from Amazon. OWC stopped the 2006-2008 Icy Dock it looks like.

http://www.amazon.com/Icy-Dock-EZConvert-2-5-Inch-Converter/dp/B002Z2QDNE/


PCIe adapter

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38/


XP941

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XP941-128GB-80mm-MZHPU128HCGL/dp/B00IT8VTN2/


The 256GB model has better performance, could only find on Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147366&cm_re=Samsung_XP 941-_-20-147-366-_-Product


Learned about these on MacRumors thread dealing with Apple's blade in nMP and learned the above combo

Jan 15, 2015 2:02 PM in response to lllaass

In my experience and wasted $$'s there were and are no bootable PCIe cards for a 1,1.

The XP941 does not have any issue, is not using any controller, so it is native to the Mac


Works with most Z97 and X99 motherboards and Mac Pro.

Not compatible with the MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro.


M2P4A (PCIe 2.0 X4 to M.2 (NGFF) SSD Adapter)


  • Allows user to use standard PCIE base M.2 SSD to PCIe x4 in the Desktop or Laptop.
  • Transparent to the operating system and does not require any software drivers.
  • Support 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 type M.2 Card dimension.
  • Heat Sink (92x57x8 mm) for SSD module.
  • Support M.2 Key M Card Type.


http://www.amazon.com/M2P4A-PCIe-2-0-NGFF-Adapter/dp/B00IPO7YCU/


This is an alternate that has heat sink for those that want, or if the other item from Lycom is out of stock.

Jan 16, 2015 8:37 AM in response to The hatter

Hi everyone!


Been reading for the last few days everything I could get my eyes on regarding this very same issue, I own myself a Mac Pro 1.1 (2 x 2.66) and am looking as well into getting a SSD to use as boot drive (more question on this will follow).



Do I understand correctly that (budget allowing) would I be better off going the PCIe road with the XP941 rather than going for the Samsung 850 EVO? I am asking this before until not long ago you were recommending just the Samsung 840, saying nothing about the PCIe option (unless I missed some posts, if so, I apologize). It is true that it goes for double the price (at least here, in Spain), but I really doubt I'd need more than the 128Gb drive so, if performance is indeed better, I don't mind.


Next question: the adapter I can get here is either the Lycom you suggested or the M2P4S. Looking at your last post, how important would it be to get an adapter with a heat sink?



And last - bear with me, please - , I have pretty much understood how to create a boot drive on the ssd unit, mainly thanks to this article:


http://macintoshhowto.com/hardware/how-to-speed-up-your-mac-with-a-ssd-drive.htm l



Is this the correct way to do it? Anything else I should know beforehand?


Thank you in advance! 🙂

Jan 16, 2015 9:52 AM in response to smadru

I only in the last months learned about the XP941 as an option, and for all Mac Pro models.

And that was in the middle of a long thread that led me to look further.


User uploaded file User uploaded file SATA Express meets the '09 MacPro - Bootable NGFF PCIE SSD (User uploaded file 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)


So the adapter is cheap $24-52 versus say Sonnet Tempo Pro SSD ($295) which is not even bootable in 2006/7.


No need for $15 Icy Dock. Does not take up drive bay or any of the 6 SATA II ports.


Yes up until last fall/winter the 840 EVO was fine, I have half a dozen ranging from 128GB up to 500GB and they work fine.


In the past I ended up using the Sonnet card just for data (graphic library for Adobe and iPhoto) and not the system.


Options are always good to have.

Jan 16, 2015 10:57 AM in response to The hatter

Thank you for that, I will try to go through the whole thread even though I am no techie so it might be a bit difficult.


I am pretty convinced of the benefits of the XP941, I'd just like to ask about something that I just read:


How noticeable is the performance difference between the 128 and the 256 version for a normal everyday user?

Jan 16, 2015 11:45 AM in response to smadru

XP941 writes for 128GB 450MB/sec


That compares to Samsung 840 EVO 500GB of 540MB/sec on SATA III


Also, I copied 100GB (graphic photos) from the 840 to the XP941 showed real speed of 150-180MB/sec so it went very fast, fastest I have yet seen.


Most systems, using it as regular M.2 device are often in 2x bandwidth slots and most MacBook series so they tend to get the 400 and 700 results anyway.


It is only in Mac Pro you can use PCIe and see 1100-ish like in nMP also. And if you need that speed - massive or large graphics Photoshop and Lightroom etc you probably have newer hardware and have tried out PCIe SSD solutions already. And yes that helps.


People even setup an array and use two.


The next generation from Samsung of the XP950 series should push performance even higher.


For me, it has meant a quiet system AND instant responsiveness loading and writing data. And I/O is the general bottleneck. After that then maybe processors and then graphics system.

Mar 14, 2015 6:21 AM in response to smadru

So did you go for the 840 or 850? Prices look similar. However, which version did you buy or should you buy? The 850 EVO seems to have a new technology V-NAND/3D NAND. It looks to be cheaper than the EVO Pro. What is the difference? I am primarly interested in making a purchase for an SSD in my early 2009 mac pro tower.


$199

http://www.frys.com/product/8144435#detailed


$129

http://www.frys.com/product/8310177#detailed

Mar 14, 2015 6:44 AM in response to lllaass

Last longer? than what? 1TB of writes a day for two years or some astronomical abuse.

http://techreport.com/review/25889/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-500tb-update


850 EVO on Newegg (shipping though is slower and costs) or Amazon (free 2-day with Prime) $114.


I think backups, concerns about Yosemite and TRIM (and yes more than just over provisioning, free space lets an SSD perform better longer). So buy larger than you need, maybe by factor of 2X.

What's a good solid-state drive for my Pro 1.1, c.250-500gb?

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