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Anyone use Black Magic Disk Speed test from the App Store?

jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
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If so, what kind of results are you getting? They should be slower than you think because it now uses UNCOMPRESSED data for the tests. Regardless, I was just curious what your results were like (regardless of what SSD you're using). It's a free app if you want to check it out.
 
johnhurley

johnhurley

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2011
777
56
jamesryanbell said:
If so, what kind of results are you getting? They should be slower than you think because it now uses UNCOMPRESSED data for the tests. Regardless, I was just curious what your results were like (regardless of what SSD you're using). It's a free app if you want to check it out.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's a bunch of test results reported using that tool under the long running thread ( something like post your SSD and LCD manufacturer ... sorry forget exact name ).

I have the samsung 256 gb ssd ( SM256C ) and tool reported 259 MB/s write performance and 231 MB/s read performance.

Not sure if you are supposed to let it run a really long time or what ... but anyway we all know how fast these air's are right!
 
A

aph3x

macrumors member
Jun 28, 2007
57
0
Reno, NV
Works fine for me. 248/230 here with Samsung 256.

I wouldn't recommend running disk speed apps like this consistently - your just putting unnecessary wear on the drive especially with bigger file sizes.
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
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Something's seriously wrong with my SSD then. I've NEVER seen higher than about 84 read and about 165 write. I have an OWC Blade SSD 240GB (3G).

It just runs the same test over and over and over. Is it supposed to COMPLETE anything and give other kinds of data or something? (Random 4k writes, etc)
 
Zudeo

Zudeo

macrumors member
Jul 29, 2010
89
2
Toronto, ON
Well, according to the help file you can choose between 1GB to the default 5GB for the stress test. The 5GB Stress Test is the most accurate though. Also, the test never 'ends', you have to hit the start button to end the test at any time.
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
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Zudeo said:
Well, according to the help file you can choose between 1GB to the default 5GB for the stress test. The 5GB Stress Test is the most accurate though. Also, the test never 'ends', you have to hit the start button to end the test at any time.
Click to expand...

84/165 is absolutely dreadful though for an OWC SSD (Mercury Aura Pro) isn't it?? What gives?? Am I doing something wrong?
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,024
7,867
jamesryanbell said:
84/165 is absolutely dreadful though for an OWC SSD (Mercury Aura Pro) isn't it?? What gives?? Am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...

Did you ever do a secure erase or anything that might have left a lot of "garbage" to collect? Also, did you install a TRIM enabler (since OS X won't natively support the OWC drive)?
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

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Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
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KPOM said:
Did you ever do a secure erase or anything that might have left a lot of "garbage" to collect? Also, did you install a TRIM enabler (since OS X won't natively support the OWC drive)?
Click to expand...

I can't erase free space in Disk Utility. It's grayed out.

I installed TRIM enabler and rebooted. It's showing TRIM is enabled now.

Did the disk test again just for kicks. 75/114. What is going on?

I wrote OWC about this. It's gotta be something I'm doing wrong. The drive has to be faster than that.
 
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Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,076
1,448
jamesryanbell said:
I can't erase free space in Disk Utility. It's grayed out.

I installed TRIM enabler and rebooted. It's showing TRIM is enabled now.

Did the disk test again just for kicks. 75/114. What is going on?

I wrote OWC about this. It's gotta be something I'm doing wrong. The drive has to be faster than that.
Click to expand...

Why are you triming a OWC drive? It has a different controller that does its own garbage collection.

BTW...trim enabler is a hack. Who knows what its doing to your OWC.
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

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Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
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ZipZap said:
Why are you triming a OWC drive? It has a different controller that does its own garbage collection.

BTW...trim enabler is a hack. Who knows what its doing to your OWC.
Click to expand...

I just turned it on about an hour ago. I thought it couldn't hurt. So now I SHOULDN'T use it? Ok. Turning it back off.
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,024
7,867
jamesryanbell said:
I just turned it on about an hour ago. I thought it couldn't hurt. So now I SHOULDN'T use it? Ok. Turning it back off.
Click to expand...

There are several schools of thought on TRIM Enabler and why Apple didn't enable TRIM in OS X except for drives that ship with Macs. One school is that Apple hasn't optimized OS X to support TRIM except on those drives and that it's risky (although Windows 7 supports TRIM on just about any drive without issues). Another is that Apple is just being Apple and selectively adding TRIM support.

As for TRIM Enabler, it works by replacing some kernel extensions. There is another way in Lion using the following link that might be safer since it doesn't replace any files on your Mac.

http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/
 
jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
Repeated emails to OWC with screen shots resulted in them telling me that any test that's not SpeedTools QuickBench is not worth looking at. I have yet to find a free version of that program compatible with Lion.

Email 1:
"Our SSD uses a feature similar to compression for faster performance. The test you are using was recently updated according to their site, and the write test is now compressed itself for a faster test but that results in lower numbers. We recommend an uncompressed test, a true benchmark like SpeedTools QuickBench if you are looking to see max numbers of your machine. Otherwise I assure you everything is looking great, the problem is some drives handle compression differently and that test is not the same it used to be."

I then sent a picture in of an XBench comparison of the stock 2011 Samsung SSD vs my OWC 240GB Mercury Aura Pro (since I'd already sent screenshots in from the results of Black Magic's results). I was then sent this...

Email 2:
"I'm sorry, but it's the same story here. The test is based on compression, and even worse it's designed for HD only, so I am not surprised to see the numbers skewed on an SSD. The last update was 2009 looks like. When this test was developed SSDs like ours didn't exist. If you are adamant about benchmarking SSDs, professionals would tell you QuickBench is the way to go. DIY testing has it's place, but there is a reason these tests are free :)"

Someone care to help me understand this? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks. :)
 
johnhurley

johnhurley

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2011
777
56
jamesryanbell said:
Someone care to help me understand this? I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the samsung is a stronger performer than even I was aware of!

Does your machine run fast enough for you? That's the bottom line right?

Just enjoy it and have fun and don't worry about arbitrary benchmark results.
 
SDColorado

SDColorado

macrumors 601
Nov 6, 2011
4,360
4,324
Highlands Ranch, CO
jamesryanbell said:
Repeated emails to OWC with screen shots resulted in them telling me that any test that's not SpeedTools QuickBench is not worth looking at. I have yet to find a free version of that program compatible with Lion.
Click to expand...

Thats a bunch of nonsense from OWC. My results from Black Magic and Speed Tools are different, because Black Magic is basically only showing you Max speeds. But comparing the Max speeds between Black Magic and Speed Tools, you don't see that big of a difference. Certainly not enough to account for your really slow numbers.

Black Magic:
Write: 248 / Read: 265

SpeedTools:
Write: 251 / 261 (Max) and 231 / 225 average

Edit: The above results I was giving where from another Intech program, SpeedTool. But OWC did say QuickBench. So just to clarify, here are the results from QuickBench.

4f7f22f1.jpg
 
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jamesryanbell

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
I have to be honest...

I really feel like I got hosed. If this was a $100 drive, then "whatever" would be my attitude. For $430 for 240GB of space, and promises like "Up to 68% faster than factory SSD in real world uses....sustained writes up to 275MB/s"...based on what I'm seeing, not only is it not true, it's NOT EVEN CLOSE TO TRUE. My stock 2010 Toshiba drive was *WAY* faster based on what I'm seeing as results of *any free benchmark test I run*. Lastly, my boot time INCREASED several seconds after installing it, which isn't comforting.

Again, for a small amount of money spent, I'd just write it off because I got more space (128 to 240GB). But at a little less than $2 per GB, I'm unhappy. I'm sorry but I should be able to benchmark my drive and see results without having to buy a program....just like I have with *every other drive I've ever owned".

I know I posted raves about it after using it for fifteen minutes, but I guess it was "perceived" feel. Now that I'm noticing longer boot times, and that I can't find any program to substantiate speed claims without paying for it, I'm just a little miffed.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

:(
 
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