SSD drive on 2010 Mac Pro?

[HCMarkus]

Is there a post somewhere that explains the best way to switch boot up drives?
I'm ordering the new 2TB ssd with the PCIe card. My thinking is that I should use my time capsule to restore the whole disk to the new one.

Is that correct? And do I have to be concerned about what slot it should go in?
I have a graphics card in slot one right now. Do I need to change this?

Thanks.

I'm just about to set up a new boot drive on a PCIe SSD; it sounds like you are about to do the same. Unless I am disabused of the idea in the interim, my plan is to format the new drive then clone my current boot SATA SSD to it. For cloning, I've been using Super Duper without issue for years. The Time Capsule approach should work, too.

Your Mac Pro has four PCIe slots: the two lowest slots are 16x slots, the two upper slots are 4x speed, but "provide support for up to 16x cards"... i.e. they use 16x connectors but only provide 4x speed.

As far as which slot to put your new PCIe SSD in, the correct answer depends on the PCIe adaptor card you use. I will be using a simple pass-thru adaptor (with heatsink), which will, at most, use the resources provided by a 4x PCIe slot. There are other adaptors that will allow a PCIe SSD to operate at its full potential (but they cost a lot more.) They may need a faster slot to work properly. Regardless of whether you need 4x or 16x, you should not need to move your GPU.

Peruse this thread at MacRumors: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pc ... ci.2146725 for more info. It also has PCIe SSD compatibility info. I went with the 1TB ADATA drive.

[NealF]

Thanks.
Very helpful. I'll check out the link you gave.

This is the PCIe card I bought: OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives

[mikehalloran]

An NVMe boot drive requires High Sierra or later.

You really want to install the OS onto the new drive using the Apple installer (can be anything including th old boot drive) and use Migration Assistant to pull the files over after the new drive boots—which it does automatically. Those with plenty of time on their hands can do a clean install afterward if they like.

Too many threads to count over at MacRumors on this. All the problem threads have "then I cloned" or You Neeeeeeeed to run SD! or CCC in them. No you don't. Neither does it save any time.

Those who do it as Apple recommends don't have these problems.

[HCMarkus]

An NVMe boot drive requires High Sierra or later.

You really want to install the OS onto the new drive using the Apple installer (can be anything including th old boot drive) and use Migration Assistant to pull the files over after the new drive boots—which it does automatically. Those with plenty of time on their hands can do a clean install afterward if they like.

Too many threads to count over at MacRumors on this. All the problem threads have "then I cloned" or You Neeeeeeeed to run SD! or CCC in them. No you don't. Neither does it save any time.

Those who do it as Apple recommends don't have these problems.

MOTU specifically told me to avoid Migration Assistant Mike. Yeah, I'd rather do a clean install, but don't have the heart to go thru THAT time consuming nightmare again, having done so only a few weeks back when my MOTU Pro Audio Driver got hosed.

I've been running from a clone since then, without difficulties. I figure I'll give it a try again, as I will always have my current boot SSD as fall back.

[HCMarkus]

Thanks.
Very helpful. I'll check out the link you gave.

This is the PCIe card I bought: OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives

OK, so it look like you are going for a SATA SSD, not a PCIe SSD like I described.

No SATA PCIe card - including the one you have purchased - will need more than a 4x PCIe slot.

Interesting that the OWC card uses the ASM1062 chipset. The card I bought some years back uses the 1061 chip. A little research suggests the 1062 connects at 2x PCIe speed and should thus allow full SATA3 speeds. The 1061 is a 1x card, which (at least theoretically) slightly limits SATA3 speeds.

ASM 1061 cards are very common and very cheap... as little as $10. But the inexpensive cards don't provide power, like the OWC card does, and you have to mount the drive somewhere, which means a longer cable may be required.

Your $45 purchase should make installation of your new SSD a snap.

[NealF]

Man, I keep thinking I'm doing this right only to find out I screwed up.
I thought I ordered a PCIe SSD. If I remember correctly, the ad said it gives the speed of a III.

So, will I get the faster speed with what I bought? Or should I try to cancel the order?

Sorry for all these questions. This area is very new to me.

[HCMarkus]

Man, I keep thinking I'm doing this right only to find out I screwed up.
I thought I ordered a PCIe SSD. If I remember correctly, the ad said it gives the speed of a III.

So, will I get the faster speed with what I bought? Or should I try to cancel the order?

Sorry for all these questions. This area is very new to me.

Based on the PCIe card you ordered from OWC and the discussions leading up to this point, I figured you bought a new SATA SSD and purchased the OWC card to allow the SSD to speak SATA3 (instead of the slower Mac Pro-native SATA2) to your Mac.

If you already own a SATA SSD and are looking to maximize the speed of its connection, you chose wisely. If you are looking for a faster drive, you won't need the OWC card... you will need a PCIe SSD and adaptor for your Mac Pro, as discussed in the MacRumors thread I linked to a few posts back.

[NealF]

Got it.
Thanks.

[Izzie Werner]

Getting more slots on your laptop computer is one way to improve performance. There are two main ways to increase the space in your laptop. The first way is to install an SSD directly in the slot. However, if your laptop doesn’t have an expansion slot, you can use a 2.5-inch HDD. Then, you can use the M.2 slot to fit an SSD. The second way is to install an NVMe SSD.

[mikehalloran]

Getting more slots on your laptop computer is one way to improve performance. There are two main ways to increase the space in your laptop. The first way is to install an SSD directly in the slot. However, if your laptop doesn’t have an expansion slot, you can use a 2.5-inch HDD. Then, you can use the M.2 slot to fit an SSD. The second way is to install an NVMe SSD.

Uh... the 2012 was the last year that could be done on a Mac. No more SATA in 2013 except the iMac and Mini.

2013–14 uses AHCI SSDs. These can be upgraded to NVMe 3 x4 as long as you run a Terminal Command that disables Deep Sleep (or they never wake up). Even though they only use 2 lanes in the PCI bus, they're still 3x faster. This also applies to the Mac Pro 6.1 except that Deep Sleep is not an issue.

Mid 2015, Apple went to a 4 lane PCI bus (except the MP 6.1). The non MBP laptops still used an AHCI SSD but installing an NVMe 3 x4 blade increased the R/W speed 6x and no longer required disabling Deep Sleep—this also applies to the 27" iMac. The 2015 MBP was the first Apple to use an NVME 3 x4 SSD—by 2017, they all did except the MP 6.1.