The Need for Speed (Part 3)...
Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 2:02AM In the continuing saga about optimising my Macs to get the maximum speed possible....
Checkout my previous blog posts Need for Speed... and Need for Speed (Part 2)... for some background.
Real World SSD Speed Comparisons
As promised, I did some very unscientific timings of my MacBook Pro (2.66 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo and 4GB RAM, but the generation before the sealed battery) with both the supplied SATA 320GB drive and the 256GB SSD drive.
Just to remind you, I've installed a 256GB SSD (Solid State Drive) to replace my standard drive. The timings were done on the MacBook Pro with my standard account and applications setup. To install the SSD drive, I replaced the SATA drive, formatted the SSD drive and then did a fresh install of Snow Leopard on the SSD. I then used the migration assistant to copy my user account and applications across from the original drive to the new SSD. This should mean that the timings are comparable.
Before letting you in on the timings, I'd just say that my Voyager Q Interface has been a tremendous boon, allowing my to swap drives around for backups, test installs, creating a SL boot drive - marvellous. I used it in this instance to mount the original 2.5" SATA drive via Firewire to copy across my setup to the SSD. A really great bit of kit!
OK, so on to the timings!
First, the operation of the MacBook Pro
Sleep and Wake don't look that different but just look at the boot from cold to login panel result! Almost a minute quicker. The login panel to last icon bounce result was also hugely impressive although I'm not sure if all is as it seems. I have several applications loading on boot and for some reason, LittleSnapper seems to take an age to load on the standard drive.
OK, let's look at some application loading.
As I say, pretty unscientific, the number of bounces for the SSD is the number taken for the application to be loaded and the screen drawn. Obviously, in the case of Mail, it takes longer for the mail to be updated but we're just looking at application loading times here. Interestingly, with the eSata drive, on Mail and iTunes, the applications hadn't been drawn on the screen even when the icon had stopped bouncing, taking a few seconds more in each case.
It's really hard to visualise what these speed increases mean without actually trying it out, but I think you'll agree, there are some pretty significant improvements to be had if you're fortunate enough to have the spare cash for an SSD card. I've no doubt that the cost will drop dramatically over the next few years.
I wonder if the fabled iPad or Apple tablet could be fitted with an SSD drive as standard. Well we know that Snow Leopard has been slimmed down for a reason, it's just the price premium that's the blocker I would imagine. But a 10" tablet with Snow Leopard and a 64GB SSD....
Now the next project to try out is the 10,000RPM hard drive for the Mac Pro as mentioned in a previous post. I have to admit though, I'm wondering if the improvements on the Mac Pro would be as dramatic using an SSD.
I'll have to think about that!
Reader Comments (26)
Would an SSD work in a Drobo?
Wow !
I would love to see a screencast about this one !
Prefereble with video about the innstallation of the ssd disk :)
thanks for posting the numbers Don - now I really want an SSD. My only concern is the price for the storage that I want.
That is a damn good question.
Can't see why not. The SSD is in a 2.5" form factor and it's possible to buy brackets to convert to mount in a 3.5" drive. Not sure if there's a bracket to allow you to just push the SSD into the Drobo though.
The Drobo would just see it as a standard drive.
Bit expensive though for 4 x 256GB drives. Would only give you about 690GB of usable space
Yes a SSD would work in a Drobo with a 2.5 to 3.5 inch caddy for the SSD. However it wouldn't be worth it as USB/FireWire would be a bottleneck.
Now over iSCSI in a Drobo Pro and things would be different.
Oh and Don why do you refer to the SATA drive in your MBP as eSATA?
Pure unadulterated ignorance and habit. I keep forgetting that eSATA is the external connector. I've changed the blog post to reflect that it should refer to SATA or Serial ATA. Thanks for teh correction!
I hope the next generation of MBP will have a BTO option to substitute a SSD for the optical drive. Reasonably sized SSD for boot drive. Large hard drive for photos, music, … External SuperDrive.
I know I can build this myself right now. Would love to see it as BTO. While they are at it, they could add a larger battery in the space saved from dropping the 5.25" optical.
Don -- I'm almost ready to purchase a Crucial SSD, but their website FAQ has a question: "Will built in garbage collection be in the upcoming firmware release?" http://tinyurl.com/kusoej.
What is that all about? Is it a problem that the firmware does not currently have this already built in? Does that mean there is some maintenance utility that has to be run? What is TRIM and why does it need to be run manually? Also, what is the wiper utility that someone mentioned and why is that needed?
Dave P.
Massachusetts
?????????????! ???????? ? ????????? ?? ?????? ? ?? ?????.
Don, I was going to ask if you will be able to test the performance of the SSD in the Mac Pro vs WD 10,000 drive. The SSD sounds so fast will the HD be able to compete? Ian
Ian, that thought did cross my mind but I wasn't going to say as it may take some time to organise/undertake. Will do if I can manage it.
That's a new one on me! Looks like it's the equivalent of disk fragmentation. Not sure how big an issue it is to be honest.
http://www.storagesearch.com/ssd-jargon.html
Don
Man, I'm confused. The SSD section of Crucial's forum has a recent message from an Apple user who says, "As we all know - and I'm simplifying here, the necessity of having to pre-erase existing memory areas already containing data before writing accounts for the slowdown of SSDs with use."
Anyone know what this is about?
Great information Don.
I am also interested in how an SSD would perform in a Mac Pro.
I'm thinking that the SSD could be used for purely System and App storage (which could get away with a smaller capactity) and all data on the other drives (which could be all 10,000rpm units) Which would mean relocating the user home directories on the other drives which could be fiddly.
What do you think?
Paul
Hi Paul, Starting to think that a 256GB or smaller would do as the system drive in a Mac Pro. You can buy adaptors that allow you to fit a 2,5" drive in the second optical bay.
Not sure what you mean about relocating home directories on the other drives? Do you mean in a server install?
If we are going to go completely wacky, I could get away with three 64GB drives in a RAID0 to replace my existing RAID0 setup. No need for permanent storage, just fast working space for editing. All my archives go off onto external drives anyway.
My 320Gb Seagate boots to login screen in 29 seconds on a MacBook. Not sure why yours is taking 1:17? SSD sounds good for you, but may not help me much.
DID YOU GET THE VOYAGER Q FROM SOMEWHERE HERE IN THE UK?
Bloody caps lock
Yes, from theBookyard.com
Thanks Don. Great information, and as usual perfect timing. I'm on the verge of buying a MBP. Would you suggest I go with the Apple installed SSD or would I get a better deal following your steps? Also, does swapping in an SSD invalidate warranty and Apple Care etc.?
Not sure of the current pricing so you'd need to do a comparison. I'd suggest also comparing the technical specs such as read and write speed. I've been impressed with the Crucial SSD. As far as warranty is concerned, no issues that I'm aware of but....I have the previous generation of MBP. the one with the removable battery and cover. The drive is accessible once you take the user removable cover off. The latest models have a sealed battery hence, it's a lot more fiddly taking the back off and accessing the drive.
Don -- In reference to my comments above, here is info from an email I received today from Crucial tech support:
I apologize for the late response to your email. TRIM is a feature in Windows 7, for the purpose of cleaning up the SSD and maintaining high performance throughout the lifetime of the drive. Simply put, when sectors on a flash drive are erased they are not wiped entirely clean, and the left-over data will eventually begin to slow the drive down. TRIM clean the sectors and prevents this.
Active Garbage Collection fills that for other operating systems, for example Windows XP or the Mac OS. "True" Garbage Collection runs in the background as soon as the system is idle, but there are some utilities mimicking it's functionality that need to be run manually, wiper is one of them. Wiper is offered by OCZ.
Dave, so are they saying I should be running this Wiper utility? Haven't noticed any problems?
Don -- According to Wikipedia, TRIM is a command specification that is being standardized as part of the ATA interface standard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM_(SSD_command)
In a telephone call to Crucial tech support a couple of weeks ago I understood that TRIM has not yet been implemented by Crucial. They are awaiting TRIM firmware to be available from a company called Indilinx, and then they will incorporate it into their SSD (and probably provide a firmware updater). Also, the OS needs to support TRIM and apparently Mac OS X doesn't as of now. Hopefully it's not far off.
TRIM makes a huge difference in the performance of an SSD, according to a chap who is testing TRIM... he benchmarks a clean SSD drive at 13.1 MB/sec, then the speed drops to 6.93 MB/s after being used for a period of time. But, by implementing TRIM the speed jumps up again to 12.9 MB/s! Here's his article:
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3625
He has a really good article that explains everything you'd want to know about SSDs... here is the page that explains the TRIM command:
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531&p=10
Because TRIM isn't really available to us yet (Indilinx firmware is in beta and Mac OS X doesn't support TRIM), there is a Wiper Tool that can be run manually that pretty much does what TRIM will do automatically. Again, the tech support guy I spoke to at Crucial said their Wiper utility is forthcoming.
Looking forward to my Crucial SSD 256GB which is arriving today! Hard drives will soon become as obsolete as a floppy disks!
Don -- Sorry, I didn't address the Active Garbage Collection. I'm not sure I understand this fully, but Wikipedia elaborates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)
While researching Garbage Collection I came across another article by the SSD expert I mentioned in my previous post. Apparently Samsung is the OEM for Apple's SSDs, and Samsung's SSD's are about the same speed as mechanical hard drives! Plus, the firmware on Samsung's drives can't be updated and there's no Wiper utility. He recommends NEVER purchase a SSD as an option... Great article:
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=19&cp=5