Reddit reviews Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242)
We found 67 Reddit comments about Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Lycom DT-120 M.2 NGFF PCIe based SSD works in main board PCIe x4 bus slotPCI Express 3.0 x4 Lane Host adapterSupports PCIe Gen3 and PCIe Gen2 M.2 NGFF 80mm, 60mm, 42mm SSDSupports PCIe 1.0 ,PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 3.0 motherboardNote: this adapter is only for 'M' key M.2 PCIe SSD such as Samsung XP941 SSD. Not compatible with a 'B' key M.2 PCIe x2 SSD or 'B' key M.2 SATA SSD.
You can get a M.2 to PCIe 3.0 adapter for about $20 if you have a spare PCIe slot. Works like a charm and there's no need to replace your entire mobo.
EDIT: This is the adapter that I have and it works absolutely perfectly.
EDIT 2: Yes, I boot from it. My motherboard uses Intel's C236m chipset
the biggest limitation IMO is that you're on PCI-e 2.1
here's a list of what you can potentially do:
edit: my opinion on the price -- worth it if you have another $500 to drop on upgrades (you don't have to max it out!)
Well Anandtech tested a 950 Pro in sequential read performance, and got significantly higher numbers that 900MB/s So something is off with that configuration if they are only getting 900MB/s. Whether that is due to a PCIe x2 M.2 Slot or due to DMI interface lagging the drive I'm not sure.
In either case, You can find a plethora of consumer and professional motherboards that use CPU tied PCIe lanes for one or more M.2 slots, or you can get a PCIe adapter card and use the standard PCIe slots in the same manner.
So you can essentially homebrew your own setup and compare to this SSG, if I had the money to splurge on a new motherboard and a pair of NVMe SSDs I would do it myself.
I also can't find any reference to a Beta version of this card anywhere, and the video does not suggest any changes to the way the card is implemented. So I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that there will be a change in architecture.
make sure your m.2 slot isnt gen 2. my z97 has a gen 2 but the pci-e slots are gen 3, use this adapter and it will be 5x faster
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You would need an adapter like this note that I just linked the first one I found and have no idea if that is a good one
Edit: apparently this one won't even work for this drive
> Because you failed to notice I'd made the distinction?
Quite the opposite. It was the first thing I responded to when I brought up the speeds capable of single NVMe drives.
>What I wrote was entirely true. It was your error in not recognizing the distinctions I'd made, both for RAID and NVME.
It wasn't. And I've already shown that it wasn't. A single NVMe SSD proves you're wrong.
>And there you go. I was correct.
Except... you weren't at all... and you just conveniently skipped over everything I wrote about PCIe enclosures.
>To place the SSD you mentioned, the Samsung 960 Pro into an external NVME enclosure, you'll need to first buy an extremely expensive solution, toss out the SSD that ships with it, to replace it with another expensive SSD.
$220 for the enclosure
$20 for the M.2 PCIe adaptor
There's no SSD that needs replaced and tossed out. Its just an external enclosure that you can put literally any SSD into. And its one of many.
Expensive? Certainly. Anything involving Thunderbolt is... But I'm not here arguing prices and markets. I'm simply arguing against this:
>AFAIK, there is no (external) drive on the market able to saturate 3.1 gen 2, and probably won't be for some time. Saturating it requires RAID, the fastest of NVME SSD's in a (non existent?) external NVME enclosure, or a large number of extremely high data rate peripherals.
This is what's not true, and I've shown that.
https://amzn.com/B00MYCQP38
If the M.2 slot is already being used, they you would need to add an adapter card such as this one in order to use another M.2 SSD in the system.
I wouldn't try to get this bootable again if you just want to recover the data.
Buy one of these or use a system that supports M.2, remove your M.2 SSD, clone it to another drive, then work primary from that clone.
You should just use UFS Explorer or any other half decent recovery tool to scan the drive for the primary partition(EXT3/4/XFS/etc) and extract the data on a separate machine. So long as the tool you use supports your filesystem and can scan for the boot sector of that filesystem you should be able to get your data with folder structure quite easily. I highly recommend UFS Explorer for Linux recoveries.
(Assuming you've lost your partition table..)
If you really want to use testdisk and are used to working in linux, you can have it scan the disk for known filesystems. Ignore all the entries it finds besides your primary root filesystem. Be sure the filesystem type correct before replacing the MBR, then write a new MBR. Refer to here for more info on how to use testdisk.
You should now have a new partition table, try mounting your filesystem manually.
mkdir /mnt/test ; mount -t etx4 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/test (for example)
Be sure you only work from the clone in case you screw up.
Good news is your data is all likely still there based on your story and you can pay for data recovery service if you cant figure things out. Or you can always take the easy route and do a deep scan on the entire drive with Data Rescue; be warned that this only works with filesystems that are not fragmented and you will lose all your folder structure, databases, etc. Good for pictures on supported filesystems though.
Normal SATA SSDs in the drive bays?
Yes, that works, but they are limited to 3Gbit which will cost performance (up to 50% on speed, IOPS not affected as much)
PCIe 3/4 do x4 total (around 20Gbit) so you can put one of the single 6Gbit SSD adapter cards in each, they do around 5Gbit (due to x1 uplink) - No link, but Sonnet Tempo is one of the more expensive ones.
More sense - both price and speed wise - are 2 Samsung SM951 or similar PCIe drives (NOT NVMe!) which are bootable for OSX and Windows, and 2 cheap PCIe x4 adapters (23$). They share BW in the 3/4 config of around 1800MB/s total but that should be fine if you only have either OS running and then you are able to max out this one fully. These deliver a bit more IOPS by design and integrated PCIe-SATA controller on the SSD (= better tested, same company, pref. vendor etc. etc.).
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
If you need it fast and can only spare one slot Sonnet also has an x4 card that takes 2 2,5" SSDs at 6Gbit each, costs iirc far more than 200$. There are solutions for 2 PCIe SSDs on a single x4 link but also at a price. The x16 slots can be split for up to 4 PCIe SSDs at x4 at a very high price.
I'd recommend this configuration:
The 280X just like the original card allows enabling of boot menu and more important disk encryption of OSX/Windows. I don't think the original AMD 4870 included in my 4.1 works in 10.9+ at all, but it works for install and recovery.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124167&cm_re=SYBA_nvme-_-15-124-167-_-Product
First reviewer says they have a 960 evo working in it at full speed.
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
That one too plenty of reviewers stating they are using it with a 960 evo and it was the first amazon link to come up when I google searched 'nvme pcie adapter'.
So, I have to ask again any links pointing to the supposed issues? Because without the full picture I'm not sure why there would be any issues.
Just buy a PCIe x4 adapter...
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
This one, but it doesn't matter a whole lot which one you use
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MYCQP38/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496087663&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pcie+to+nvme&dpPl=1&dpID=41ui-dV0KoL&ref=plSrch
Sure, there are a lot but here's the one I've been using for a year and it's been flawless.
Ah yes, a M.2 SSD won't work in an older system, unless you get an adapter and the motherboard has support for it.
For GPUs PCIe is a fantastic forwards/backwards compatible standard. A newer PCIe 3.0 card will work fine in a PCIe 2.0 slot.
Since my motherboard has an M.2 slot and NVMe support, but only supports x2 lanes with the onboard slot, I use this with a 950 PRO 512GB and get full advertised speed (2.5GB/s read, 1.5GB/s write).
A general compatibility guide:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0D9-0009-001N3
This one is good to go https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=pd_cp_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9X5TY00419MJAPKDJS7S
It will not physically fit without an adaptor. http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38 and its still limited to x4
This was the one i think works with the Sansung 950 over pci-e. I'm waiting for the price of the 512gb model to drop a bit. I'm planning on using the x4 slot on my Dell t20 server (meant for video card), its got the lanes to support the cards speed, in theory at least.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MYCQP38/
I don't know if you're made of money or not...
But I think I'd go with Samsung's new [960 Pro] (https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-PRO-Internal-MZ-V6P1T0BW/dp/B01LY3Y9PH/) in which ever size meets your needs. I swear there are PCIe 3.0 8x cards that'll hold a pair of m.2 cards, but all I could quickly find is this 3.0 4x card that holds one, [Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38/) for example.
Is [Intel SSD DC P3600] (https://www.amazon.com/Intel-P3600-SSDPEDME012T401-1-2TB-Height/dp/B00L0LFGQQ/) what you're talking about? I'd double check that the 960 Pro out performs it... but if they're pretty close, you can get 2x the space w/ the new Samsung M.2 NVMe SSDs.
There is no M.2 slot on that motherboard, you could use an adapter but I'm not 100% sure if your board can boot from a pci-e device.
If you have 8GB of RAM, I would just get a video card and a NVMe SSD.
It appears that your board will work with this M.2 adapter and matching M.2(M) drives.
Lycom DT-120, PCIe 3.0 x4 Host Adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD
Samsung 950 Pro MZ-V5P512BW 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0X4 SSD
By not buying the unneeded system upgrade, you can get the much more powerful GTX 1070. The GTX1070 is going to feel faster now, and last longer then the 1060 would have.
MSI GeForce GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G Video Card 8GB GDDR5
Your SSD will be faster and will be in the right shape for next-gen systems. These parts will go into your 6-core Coffee Lake system in 2018.
These are the changes I would make to the parts you proposed:
Let me know if you have more specific questions about the parts I picked.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD RYZEN 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor | $323.49 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler | $79.79 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Asus CROSSHAIR VI HERO ATX AM4 Motherboard | $248.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory | G.Skill TridentZ Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $234.97 @ Jet
Storage | Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $249.99 @ B&H
Storage | Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $249.99 @ B&H
Storage | Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $122.88 @ OutletPC
Video Card | PNY GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Founders Edition Video Card | $494.97 @ Amazon
Case | Fractal Design Define C with Window ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $105.99 @ SuperBiiz
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.99 @ Amazon
Other | FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier (Black) | $75.99 @ Adorama
Other | Transcend USB 3.0 SDHC / SDXC / microSDHC / SDXC Card Reader, TS-RDF5K (Black) | $6.16 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2363.19
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-06 18:05 EDT-0400 |
With adapter card you can use it as storage, but probably can't boot from it.
For example one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
Storage classically is the biggest choke point on a given computer system. M.2 is finally easing this, but SATA is still necessary for most systems that need large capacities, and is still the slowest thing in a machine by far.
M.2 drives are getting pretty cheap anymore, so using up your extra PCIE slots is a pretty attractive option. I am spec'cing out a new system for myself, and am looking at using something like these adapters to mount 2TB m.2 drives like these.
You could try plugging the laptop serial number in here to see if they give you a detailed parts list that might say for sure NVMe or SATA:
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/partslookup
As for the adapter (sounds like you already ordered, but...), something like this for SATA:
https://www.amazon.com/M-2-External-Converter-Adapter-Enclosure/dp/B076DCNZM3
PCIe gets a little trickier. You would need something like this and a desktop PC with a PCIe slot to put it in:
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
As for recovery services, I've seen https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/ mentioned a lot. I've yet to have someone use any of the services, as they usually find out their data isn't as important as they think it is when they get a $1,000+ quote.
This does 2500 MBps with a Samsung 950 pro
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
how about adapting?
Shouldn't be a problem tbh... If you want to be 100% sure, get an m.2 to pci-e adaptor like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
then you can just put the sound card and the ssd in slot 1 and 2 and the GPU in the 3rd.
Good luck :)
Adapters exist.
This one should work? Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_F4ThAb08RBF90
This one
This adapter has good reviews
I found this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38?keywords=PCI-E%20to%20M.2&qid=1449622347&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 Looks like it'd do the job.
It's much easier if you have external USB drives and an M.2 to PCI express adapter (I used this one for my NVME's Samsung 960 EVO https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYCQP38/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) You might need something else if you have like a B-Key M.2.
Put Laptop 1 M.2 drive into PCI-E adapter and into a PC. Clone it onto USB drive 1. Shut off, put Laptop 2 M.2 drive into PCI-E adapter and into a PC. Clone it onto USB drive 2. Now clone data from USB drive 1 to the second M.2 drive and shutoff, put first M.2 drive back in and clone USB drive 2 data to it.
Most of the people commenting on this thread are giving you completely wrong advice.
The SSD in the picture you linked is an NVMe SSD. This is a newer, very fast type of SSD that uses a direct PCIe connection instead of an older SATA connection. As a result, getting data off of an NVMe drive like this is more difficult than with a traditional SATA drive - there are not super cheap USB adapters or anything that allow you to easily hook up an NVMe SSD to any old computer.
Instead, you have a few different options:
Thanks for your input.
Would there be any loss of read/write speed if I used one of these?
Just get a PCIE adapter card, stick it a PCIE slot and tell your BIOS to boot from that.
You need to get this:
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449600253&sr=8-2&keywords=pcie+m.2+x4
If amazon charges tax in your state, go with the 3rd party seller to save a few bucks.
Ah...I made a mistake. Seems it's 10Gb/s and not GB/s, which still doesn't make sense considering it's a M.2 device and even high end boards only support up to 10Gb/s M.2.
Might be something for someone that already owns the drive to answer because it may seem that the interface is entirely different.
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
Seems to be what you're looking for.
I have no idea how reliable or good this is though :/ Not many options to buy around here..
They might be green, but that doesn't mean they're bad. Just look up reviews. Many of the reviews for this one mention achieving full speed with the 950 Pro: http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/
You've hit a bump in the road, but don't let it get to you. It's all part of learning. You'll have a great computer at the end.
No they can't read that fast, but honestly I doubt that the CPU's will be able to process that much anyway. I think you're assuming that the CPU will actually processing 1 second of footage per second which may be unlikely. In any case, there are some PCIe and M.2 ssd's that can reach speeds close to there.
edit: although this motherboard doesn't have M.2 support, so it'd have to be PCIe (more expensive).
edit 2: although I guess you could get something liek this and then an adapter like this
You can always get an M.2 NVMe -> PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter. This way you get all the performance of the drive without losing 2 SATA ports, assuming that you have an extra PCIe 3.0 x4/x8/x16 slot.
Edit: I have this exact drive and adapter combo.
So something like this then? Glad to hear all's not lost. Thanks for the quick reply
I may be wrong but I believe they should work on a 2.0 slot. This one for instance states as much.
Hey, you seem to be knowledgeable. Any recommended PCI adapters for this baby? I've got a Rampage Gene VI and have a free PCIE slot. Looking at this one
Hi I read your post because I saw the BIOS update on the MSI page. Just wanted to tell that the 950 pro is not compatible with the m.2 slot on the motherboard. I had to read the manual and the internet over and over again as well to finally figure it out. The m.2 port on the motherboard will only support up to 750mb/s anyway, because it is limited to SATA.
However, you can get one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
It is a PCI gen3.0 x4 to m.2 adapter. This will allow you to run your 950 pro as an addin card, which will be detected by the bios as an internal harddrive. Just stick it in the second PCI x16 port on the motherboard (don't worry that the connector on the motherboard is wider than on the card). I also have such a setup with a SM951 and it works perfectly (~1500mb/s)
PCI to m.2 adapter could work
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
I found reference here to an M.2 drive, the Samsung 960 Pro, that functioned with an M.2 to PCIe slot physical adapter.
https://www.dell.com/community/PowerEdge-HDD-SCSI-RAID/Configuring-R730-with-NVMe-and-PCIE-SSD-s/td-p/5081594
I’ve used this adapter for that purpose when capturing an image from an end user workstation before attempting data recovery.
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
I certainly can’t guarantee that combination would work, but as far as I can see, it’s your highest chance of success without changing your RAID/HDD configuration to allow installing FreeNAS on a drive in the drive bay, which kinda negates the point of using FreeNAS. With that said, I see there is an optional 2x2.5 SATA drive flex bay on the rear of the server, was your server spec’d with that, or could you add it as an aftermarket part? Then you could just throw in a pair of SATA SSDs and set them up as mirrored boot devices, so that you’ve got redundancy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf5Z75z11v4
You can get a M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter.
I'm curious why you "need" an M2/NVMe drive...
At any rate, you can get a PCIe card that has an M.2 slot on it:
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
...this one supports 2242, 2260, or 2280 drives, and you need a free PCIe x4 slot on the board to take full advantage. It was just the first one that came up when I searched.
I don't know what the issue was I just sent it to dell and they fixed it and sent it back. I removed the hard drive before sending it and got it all off with a so I didn't lose anything. I used this to get all my data off the drive before wiping it:
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
I read on the manufacturers site that its a x2 Gen2 m.2 slot. The 960 is x4 Gen 3. Can i use for example this to use one of my pcie slots instead? Sorry for the loads of questions
Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_opPiDbXTQ74M6
I use this one, others may work as well
Would this increase the speed to its rated speed?
Im going to order this to transfer the data from my old SSD to this m2 drive because I cant boot from both drivers at the same time even if I forced m2 or for sata in the bios HD settings.
So I will have to buy something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473187010&sr=8-3&keywords=PCIe+M.2+adapter
Is there no way to change that speed? I've changed quite a bit around in my motherboards bios and still have had no success. My SSD doesn't even show up on the motherboard page for Sata stuff. There's no m.2 option I've been able to find anywhere on my motherboard too.
Thanks!
I have a Z77 Pro3 (Not sure if it supports it), I will look it up when I get home. I was also told I need an adapter and follow some guide on how to Boot windows(10) from PCI Storage
Here is the guide I was reading : https://tinkertry.com/how-to-boot-win10-from-samsung-950-pro-nvme-on-superserver
The Adapter he used : https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
I am pretty noob when it comes to this, does the Z77 Pro3 has support for Gen 3x4?
The Q/A here on NewEgg
Said it doesnt, so probably won't work lol. I think I will just get a 2.5" SATA for booting windows and loading my favorite game.
Thank you for your response, sorry that I'm a little late in responding to you.
I just purchased this product on amazon based on someone else's recommendation, what are you thoughts on it?
http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
untuk m.2 ada tuh m.2 to PCIE adapter kayak gini https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_147_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=X3XRAKNX9K5TCXG23C58
You'll need to get an m.2 PCIe adapter card to use it with your motherboard, but yes it should work
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
I believe that would be easier than ASUS support. Though, I already have a SATA based one for my SATA m.2 SSD.
Would something like this work aswell then, i have an open pci 16 or 4 slot in my motherboard but the m.2 ssd is sata.
There are two types of M.2 drives; SATA and PCIe.
Exactly what mobo do you have? It may have a M.2 PCIe slot on it already, depending on the model.
If it doesn't then yes you need to get a M.2 PCIe adapter. Something like this.
But what mobo do you have?
Would something like this work? No idea what I'm looking for here. (Wish I could find something that was black)
Also, would this
not work for it then?
https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
Also there is no official nvme bios available for your motherboard so you will have to make one yourself.
http://www.win-raid.com/t871f16-Guide-How-to-get-full-NVMe-support-for-Intel-Chipset-systems-from-Series-up.html
Yeah, at least an SSD is worth it, and maybe some other things. You just need to make sure you're getting the right things so you don't spend too much and they fit in the machine. It can handle Adobe CS apps and it's more cost effective than repairing your MBP or getting a new one.
SSD: get a more current blade style SSD with M.2 port at any capacity. This form factor because you could use this for something else a few years down the road. And it's PCIe, so max speed and faster than on SATA. 128 GB is enough for macOS and the apps, or a bigger one you can/want to afford.
Then an adapter like this: https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38
The adapter piggybacks the SSD and you hook it up to one of the PCIe slots. There are 4 slots numbered from bottom to top, the GPU will be in the bottom one (Slot 1), use Slot 2 for the SSD, it's faster than Slots 3 and 4 at the top.
RAM: I'd say 16 gigs is enough for this machine. For very large Photoshop files 32 gigs might be helpful, but only marginally. Mac Pros are picky when it comes to RAM, here's some info: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/faq/mac-pro-early-2008-how-to-install-ram-backwards-compatible-with-older-memory.html
https://support.apple.com/HT205043
CPU: one of the CPUs in the Wiki link above. But I wouldn't do it. Could add more performance but you need the know how and tools to flash the Mac Pro firmware, otherwise the machine wouldn't recognize the new CPU.
GPU: another potential minefield: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/frequently-asked-questions-about-nvidia-pc-non-efi-graphics-cards.1440150/
Requires flashing of the GPU as well so they work and you never know if it's surviving an update to macOS.
But Apple officially sold the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and 5780 as upgrade kits for the Mac Pros. These are officially supported. Funny enough Googling these cards I mostly see hits about the older Mac Pros. Saw this link: http://www.apple.com/shop/question/answers/readonly/will-early-2008-mac-pro-owners-be-able-to-use-the-ati-radeon-hd-5770/QDDDH2T2JF44XHHAD
Now finding a 5770 or 5780 on eBay is definitely worth it, will add a substantial amount of performance.
Or any other card that's officially Mac compatible, like the GeForce GTX 950 or 960 and Nvidia's web drivers (install drivers before adding the card!).
I/O: something to consider, adding USB 3.0 is worth it. This card is officially Mac Pro compatible: https://www.amazon.com/Ports-Inateck-PCI-E-Expansion-Version/dp/B00I027GPC/
Btw, here's a patch to get Sierra onto the machine: http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html
> Will it work
As long as the adapter supports the mp500's 2280 M key format, such as this one
> get the right speeds?
As long as the adapter supports pcie 3.0 4x, such as the one above
> And will it be able to boot off it?
Depends on the motherboard. After looking around for a shirt while, I found this thread that claimed that you can indeed use m.2 pcie SSDs in the slot, but it will disable the first sata port (so just connect sata drives to the third port).
Unfortunately, I couldn't find if the motherboard let's you boot off it, but if it can't, a bios update could help. Also, using a pcie to m.2 adapter won't affect whether you can boot from it.