MacPro M2 + HDX system power cable - also 3rd party PCIe mounted drives recommended

[d.f.]

Happy holidays y'all!

Just got to putting my HDX system PCIe cards (2 cards) into my MacPro M2 2023 and discovering that the power cable I have a) does not fit, and b) is not long enough.

It seems the power on the CPU board is 8 pin (?) and goes to the normal HDX 4 pin.

Does anyone have a link where I can order this cable from please? I'm really struggling to find the correct one online.

Posted pics below.

A couple of other questions:

1. I put the HDX cards in the first two available slots from the top. Is this the correct configuration? (There is UAD card in the next slot after)

2. I would like to put two PCIe mounted drives into the MacPro as well - one for audio and one for sample library - but the apple ones are prohibitively expensive. Are there any 3rd party manufacturer ones available that you guys would recommend? I guess I'm looking at about 4 TB each (?)

Many thanks in advance,

David.

[uptheoctave]

You need this:

https://www.belkin.com/pcie-power-ca.../P-F8E968.html

Also the power socket is on the left of the first photo, not up where your hand is.

When it comes to drives, that machine is PCIE 4.0 so I'd suggest buying an NVME drive card that supports PCIE 4.0.
The usual suspects from OWC and Sonnet are only PCIE 3.0.

OWC do this, which is PCIE 4.0: https://www.owc.com/solutions/accelsior-8m2
But it has a fan, which might not be suitable if your Mac Pro is in the control room.

I use a Highpoint SSD7505 which is PCIE 4.0 but it is probably overkill for what you want as it is a RAID card.
It also has a fan.

[Darryl Ramm]

Sonnet do have cards with PCIe 4 support...

https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m.../overview.html

And importantly for the Mac it is switch based/does not rely on slot bifurcation.

No personal experience with that card but it is the obvious one to get for a new Mac Pro so I would follow the mob on that.

As always the details of the SSD matter a lot. Samsung 990 Pro recommended. Yes 4TB limits now, no do not use RAID, just KISS and deal with the separate drives if you need more space.

And it is your job to manage these SSDs, especially to check the bloody firmware is up to date before doing anything with the drives. https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=425632 Much easier now Samsung Magician is available on macOS.

As always have a great backup/recovery plan--even more important with a new system, new storage, and new user/admin experience.

[uptheoctave]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Sonnet do have cards with PCIe 4 support...

https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m.../overview.html

And importantly for the Mac it is switch based/does not rely on slot bifurcation.

No personal experience with that card but it is the obvious one to get for a new Mac Pro so I would follow the mob on that.

As always the details of the SSD matter a lot. Samsung 990 Pro recommended. Yes 4TB limits now, no do not use RAID, just KISS and deal with the separate drives if you need more space.

And it is your job to manage these SSDs, especially to check the bloody firmware is up to date before doing anything with the drives. https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=425632 Much easier now Samsung Magician is available on macOS.

As always have a great backup/recovery plan--even more important with a new system, new storage, and new user/admin experience.

Good to know Sonnet are doing PCIE 4.0, cheers.

[d.f.]

Thanks so much guys.

[bzone]

Running the new sonnet 8x4 cards here with Samsung pro 990 4 T eight of them installed with HDX 3 . Have the correct firmware on the 990’s all runs very fast and smooth.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[d.f.]

Ok guys, sorry about this ...the Belkin cables arrived and nothing seems to fit!

1. None fit into the HDX cards
2. None fit into the MacPro

It's frying my head!! I'm terrified it might be "operator error" (if so sincerest apologies) ...but surely I'm not THAT stupid!?!?

I have put some pics below.

I'm wondering if I need to get a 6 pin to 8 pin adaptor?:

https://www.amazon.fr/Cable-Matters-...3871408&sr=8-1

Lastly, I will also need to get a link (HDX TDM cable?) for the two HDX cards. The one I had for my previous Sonnet chassis doesn't fit with the slot configuration (slots 4 and 5) as suggested on the Avid website:

https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites...-Configuration

Can anyone help!!

David.

[uptheoctave]

I wrote this article back in 2019.

https://www.production-expert.com/ho...ser-case-study

It shows the cable you need, which is ‘6-pin to 6- pin power cable' and it shows you where to plug it in:



Hope this helps.

[A1]

Originally Posted by d.f.

Ok guys, sorry about this ...the Belkin cables arrived and nothing seems to fit!
Can anyone help!!
David.

You might be trying to plug into the wrong source.
The power source is on the bottom of your HDX cards (the ones aligned with your UAD card)