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  #1  
Old 12-08-2021, 11:21 AM
Augusta Global Augusta Global is offline
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Default Recommendations Needed For An SSD

Hello,

Running a PT10 HD setup (Magma Chasis) with a Mac Pro 5,1.

I am looking for recommendations on 2TB - 4TB internal SSD.

I am currently running 2TB (4x) HDD.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 12-08-2021, 11:26 AM
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

If you are running internal SSD then you are limited to the SATA speed of the internal connector, so any SSD will be more than capable of using full speed of the connection.

Unless you mean you wish to spare one PCI-express slot for a switching host card for NVMe blades. That would give you extra speed, and if that is what you want search this forum about it and especially comments by Darryl Ramm.
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Old 12-08-2021, 11:34 AM
Augusta Global Augusta Global is offline
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

Janne,

Thanks for the feedback.

"If you are running internal SSD then you are limited to the SATA speed of the internal connector"

If the internal connector is a bottleneck, then is there any advantage to running SSD over HHD internally like this?


you wish to spare one PCI-express slot

I have two open slots as the top slot is taken by the Magma card and the bottom by the video.
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Old 12-08-2021, 11:37 AM
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

Of course there is advantage, because your spinners are not fully using the whole bottleneck which SSD would do easily. Also there is zero noise, less electrical consumption and due to no moving parts better reliability if you ever move your computer from place to place.

But if speed is what you are looking for, search this forum, there are plenty of good threads already and Darryl Ramm is the master of this area. Trust the comments and recommendations.

With today's SSD sizes you can get 2TB easily with a cheap adapter and single NVMe blade, but if you want larger and even more speed, SWITCHING type adapter and more blades (two or four) is recommended.
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Old 12-08-2021, 12:54 PM
Augusta Global Augusta Global is offline
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

"your spinners are not fully using the whole bottleneck which SSD would do easily"

Understood. Thank you. This makes perfect sense.

"search this forum, there are plenty of good threads already and Darryl Ramm"

Will do, thanks for the point in the right direction.
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Old 12-08-2021, 01:23 PM
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

What was said above is true. (SATA speed is limited internally but much faster access to SSDs than rotational drives. In essence, you won't experience the full performance of an SSD with the internal connector but it is still much better.)

As for model/type: Samsung EVO models. (Not QVO models. Though you could go to the PRO models but you'll be paying extra and get nothing outdoing the EVO performance in your computer so a bit of a waste of money)
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Old 12-08-2021, 01:25 PM
Augusta Global Augusta Global is offline
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

"As for model/type: Samsung EVO models"

Thank you. I will look into these models.
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Old 12-08-2021, 01:59 PM
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

So with a Mac Pro 5,1 you have pretty good PCIe/NVMe SSD upgrades options as long as you have a decent spec PCIe slot spare (e.g. 8 lane) and you are able/willing to update macOS etc. to support NVMe. And that macOS and Pro Tools updates may mean this will *not* work for you since I'm gathering you are on PT 10 and HD/TDM not HDX.

--- but if you do want to go ahead....

So what exact physical and electrical specs are the free PCIe slots you have? (or what are the best you can get by rearranging stuff?)

Just about any Samsung NVMe drive is a great choice. I'm running 980 Pro in Thunderbolt 3 expansion chassis nowadays, maybe overkill for the 5,1 ... but check prices, I might go there if they are not much more than others (I'm using them to standardize across M.2 drives on other systems... connected via PCIe 4 on a AMD Threadripper).

You will need an M.2 to PCIe adapter card and you ideally want one that supports switching that does PCIe 2 to 3 link aggregation. Like a Syba card... but what exact spec slots do you have available?

There is a lot of information online about updating Mac PROMS, macOS etc. to support NVMe. Start here: http://blog.greggant.com/posts/2018/...ade-guide.html

--- otherwise you are going to have to go with a 2.5" SATA based SSD, like a Samsung 860 Evo, and ideally find a PCIe to SATA III adapter card. Those cards either directly mount the 2.5" SATA drive(s) on board or you can can find optical bay adapters to mount the drives there or with more work find ways to mount them in the old internal drive bays... which are only SATA II, you can connect a SSD there, but it's painfully slow. Sonnet and OWC sell different cards and mounting options, but I'd use a Samsung drive over OWC's own SSDs.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 12-08-2021 at 02:10 PM.
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Old 12-08-2021, 03:45 PM
Augusta Global Augusta Global is offline
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

Darryl,

Thanks for the feedback. Thats a lot of great info. I need to wrap my brain around it.

As far as slots go, I have 2 MacPros - 2007 and 2010.

The Magma is currently hooked up to the 2007 (Original), I just got the 2010 and I am in the process of upgrading the 2010 and adding the Magma to it. The 2010 is the machine I will be using moving forward.

2010 - the two lowest slots are 16x slots, the two upper slots are 4x speed.

Thanks.
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  #10  
Old 12-08-2021, 03:55 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Recommendations Needed For An SSD

Right, but if you are on Pro Tools HD 10 you can't upgrade beyond what? Mountain Lion/10.8 and so can't get NVMe support in macOS, which you'll probably want to be on Mojave or later. I'm not even going to look up their exact details because you will be so far off. And NVMe options won't work for you. (AHCI based M.2 drives would work but have long since been replaced by NVMe and are effectively unobtainable). Of course if you were going to give up HD/TDM then by all means I'd move to NVMe SSDs, they are fantastically fast.

So I'd assuming the best options for you are to start looking at all the 2.5" SATA drive mount options and different SATA III cards.... and for that any of your slots will work (although if you want the SSD on cards you need more physical slot space... and may not say want to have the drive up against a hot running GPU).

Like https://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempossd.html or https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/...sior/S-Carrier

But my personal bias would be to not mount the SATA drives on the PCIe card, largely because I'd want multiple drives. In which case just about any SATA III card will work, and using mounting options from folks like OWC: https://eshop.macsales.com/owcpages/multimount

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 12-08-2021 at 10:26 PM.
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