The Crucial M4 SSD thread

Well, there is a few...but I agree we could focus the information a bit..

1) Coming from my Momentus 7200rpm/4GB SSD hybrid drive, with an atrocious write speed of 60, I got write speed increases of 275% and read speed increases of 631% with my Crucial M4. Think works great and is easily updateable.

2) Hardware overview:
- 15" hi-res glossy from early 2011
- MacBookPro8,2
- 2 GHz Intel Core i7
- 8 GB Ram
- 5 Gt/s
- 6 Gigabit, 6 Gigabit negotiated
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

4) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- 512 GB
- Disk bay installed: Main bay
- Firmware version 000F (I haven't felt justified to update the subsequent two minor firmware revisions because they were mainly to optimize the drive for Window's 8 machines)

3) Sleep HD mode turned off, turned Hibernation Mode turned off, Sudden Motion Sensor turned off , no problems

1) I don't have a screen shot of the "before" benchmark, but it was 40MB/s read and 35MB/s write. The M4 is 265MB/s read and 205MB/s write.

2) Hardware overview
- 13" mid 2009
- Core2 Duo
- 2.53GHz
- 8GB 1333MHz
- Bus Speed
- SATA link speed 3.0Gb/s, negotiated link speed 3.0Gb/s
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

3) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- 256GB
- installed in Main bay
- Firmware version 000F, 010G and 040H; with no issues to report on any one.

4) Other notable modifications: No noticeable change in battery life. The computer is 3+ years old now, so the battery isn't in perfect health anyway.

*edit* Corrected iPhone induced technical errors.

2) Hardware overview:
- 15" HR/AG - Early '11
- MacBookPro8,2
- 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
- 16 GB Ram
- 5 Gt/s
- 6 Gigabit, 6 Gigabit negotiated
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

4) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- 256 GB
- Disk bay installed: Main bay
- Firmware version 010G (tried to update to 040H but utility wouldn't find the drive...so i just left it as is)

3) Sleep HD mode on, Hibernation Mode on, SMS on, no issues

1) I don't have BlackImage and i'm too lazy to start going to the MAS. So here's an AJA test from Snow Leopard days. Still get similar speeds today. Came from a regular Hitachi 7200RPM drive.

1) Don't have speeds before install. I already had Samsung 256GB 830 installed in my HDD bay as a main disk, added Crucial 512GB m4 for data storage in superdrive day.

2) Hardware overview:
- 13" cMBP mid-2012
- MacBookPro9,2
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
- 16 GB Ram
- 5 Gt/s
- 6 Gigabit, 6 Gigabit negotiated
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

4) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- 512 GB
- Disk bay installed: Superdrive with OWC Data Doubler
- Firmware version 010G

3) Sleep HDD mode: OFF, Hibernation Mode: OFF, Sudden Motion Sensor: OFF

I have a 128GB Crucial M4 installed in my 15" 2012 MBP. Hoping to upgrade to 512GB soon.

1) I've been using it for a while and it seems I only get about 200MB/s write speeds and about 490MB/s read.

2) Hardware overview
- 15" MacBook Pro, Mid 2012
- MacBookPro9,1
- 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
- 4GB 1600Mhz RAM
- 5Gt/s
- 6 Gigabit Link Speed & 6 Gigabit Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

4) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- 128GB
- Installed in main bay
- Firmware version: 010G

3) No other notable modifications. Great battery life.

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- SATA link speed 3.0GB/s, negotiated link speed 3.0GB/s

Link speed is in Gigabits not Gigabytes

I've had 4 M4s die on me in the last 18 months. Never again.

jvpython said:

SATA link speed 3.0GB/s, negotiated link speed 3.0GB/s

Link speed is in Gigabits not Gigabytes

Click to expand...

I assume you're talking to me. I know the difference between GB and Gb. Unfortunately, my iPhone doesn't and it insists on autocorrecting to "GB" every time. I didn't feel like arguing with it today.

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TheSpeaker said:

I've had 4 M4s die on me in the last 18 months. Never again.

Click to expand...

That's awesome! I haven't had any issues with any of the ones I've purchased. Since you had multiple failures of a drive that's actually considered to be very reliable, it sounds like something is wrong with your setup.

1) I installed SSD since day 1 so I don't have a screen grab on HDD.



2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- 15.4" Macbook Pro late 2011
- Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2
- Processor Name: Intel Core i7
- Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB
- Bus Speed: 1333MHz
- Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
- TRIM: On
- OS X 10.8.2

4) Info on the Crucial M4 SSD.
- Capacity 512 GB
- Disk bay installed: Main
- Firmware version 040H

3) Sleep HDD mode: OFF, Hibernation Mode: OFF, Sudden Motion Sensor: OFF Battery life around 5-6 programming+iTunes hours.

jvpython said:

[...] SATA link speed 3.0GB/s, negotiated link speed 3.0GB/s

Link speed is in Gigabits not Gigabytes

Click to expand...

Oh, I thought it sent three Great Britain's per second. My bad.

T5BRICK said:

That's awesome! I haven't had any issues with any of the ones I've purchased. Since you had multiple failures of a drive that's actually considered to be very reliable, it sounds like something is wrong with your setup.

Click to expand...

That's awesome! Nope, several machines.

M4, 512gigs.

000F firmware. no issues, so i'm not upgrading it.

Approx 520 read, and iirc, varied between 220-260 write on black magic.

Zero issues, been great and fantastic in the laptop.

I just bought a 2012 15" MBP yesterday and promptly installed a 256gb M4 SSD and 16gb RAM. I can attach a screen shot later, but when I ran the BlackMagic speed test, I got about 261 write and 502 read.

I dont like to use BM much since it puts a lot of stress on my SSD.
But far as I remember,

1) -500GB@7200rpm stock: 60mbps write, 110 mbps read
-Crucial M4 128GB: 198mbps write, 512mbps read

2) -2011 17in MacBook Pro
-MacBookPro8,3
-2.2GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core 2720QM
-16GB DDR3 1333MHz
-Link & Negotiation: 6Gigabit
-TRIM Off
-Mac OS X 10.8.2

3) 1TB Samsung Spinpoint HDD@5400rpm inside optibay
No change in battery time
4) -128GB
-Main bay
-OFW: 309

My early 2011 13 inch. Has a 256GB running 000F, had it since end of April and never really gave me problems. My GeekBench score is only 6 points lower than the Retina 13! I would most likely get an 840 now though. Back when I bought mine there was still about a $40 dollar difference in price and I'm cheap. BTW THE RAM IS PNY Brand, its eh.

FuNGi said:

- Firmware version 000F (I haven't felt justified to update the subsequent two minor firmware revisions because they were mainly to optimize the drive for Window's 8 machines)

Click to expand...

I'm not sure where you got that information but that newer firmware(s) does much more than that. I have been working with Crucial's tech support folks and the last two revisions have been changes to the internal drive operations, Windows 8, some chipset issues, and data optimization.

A company I do consulting for had some of the 512 GB M4's and a machine developed the sleep issue with one of the firmwares (I think the one before the current one, but I don't remember). Anyway, while working with tech support they talked about the changes the firmware was going to include.

I was surprised at how much house keeping the drive does internally. That is why the was recommending people do 20 mins - 30 secs - 20 mins drive resets for the sleep issue. By powering the drive and letting it sit, it could resolve most issues.

The newer firmware (especially the latest one) really improves this function of the drive.

With regard to the sleep issue, it became apparent that the more time you give the drive the better chance it will resolve itself. I did 20-30-20, then 40-30-40, and on my own I did 60-30-60 and that solved the problem. When I told tech support what I did, they said they had people do 24 hour - 30 sec - 24 hour before.

I thought the SSDs were sophisticated before but this really helped me to understand how sophisticated they really are.

The latest firmware solved the sleep issue.


-P

Pentad said:

I'm not sure where you got that information but that newer firmware(s) does much more than that. -snip-

-P

Click to expand...

That's great if it solved issues you were having with sleep. The current and past updates mentioned Windows 8 optimization along with other minor improvements that I deemed unworthy of risking upgrade. Such as this passage from Crucial's current 040H revision:

"Like firmware version 010G, version 040H has improvements
over versions 000F and earlier which are specific for
Windows 8 and new UltraBook systems, although systems
running Windows 7 and other operating systems may also
see improvements. Any m4 firmware version will function
normally in Windows 8, even without these performance
improvements."

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Hexley said:

FuNGi any benchmarks? I am curious as to the performance of the drive on your Mac. Also how is the battery life? Is it better than the Seagate you replaced? How many hours battery life did you get before with the HDD and after with the SSD.

Click to expand...

The performance is excellent. Apps and huge photo libraries open instantly. Black magic was around 275/490 last checked (not on MBP now) EDIT:see pics before on Momentus XD and after on Crucial M4. Don't notice battery life improvements much as my MBP is mainly run in clamshell mode hooked up to my 24" ACD. Plus I've found battery life a slippery thing to clock.

sleep issue?

Pentad said:

A company I do consulting for had some of the 512 GB M4's and a machine developed the sleep issue with one of the firmwares (I think the one before the current one, but I don't remember). Anyway, while working with tech support they talked about the changes the firmware was going to include.

I was surprised at how much house keeping the drive does internally. That is why the was recommending people do 20 mins - 30 secs - 20 mins drive resets for the sleep issue. By powering the drive and letting it sit, it could resolve most issues.
...

With regard to the sleep issue, it became apparent that the more time you give the drive the better chance it will resolve itself. I did 20-30-20, then 40-30-40, and on my own I did 60-30-60 and that solved the problem. When I told tech support what I did, they said they had people do 24 hour - 30 sec - 24 hour before.
...

The latest firmware solved the sleep issue.

-P

Click to expand...

My Mac Pro tower is suddenly having problems waking from sleep. Boot drive is a 256GB Crucial M4 in the 2nd optical bay. I'm visiting the MBP forum since no answers yet on MP forum.

Could you explain what you mean by 20-30-20 or 40-30-40 etc? What exactly are you doing during those time periods to reset the drive? And does that somehow resolve sleep issues? Thanks!

Or ... should I just go ahead with the 040H firmware upgrade?

You may solve your issues with the update. I would try that before trying the sleep cycles.

I went ahead and updated and everything seems fine. After rebooting there was an initial delay in tracking my clicks but it soon went away.

2009 mbp 13" 2.53 in HDD bay. 040H firmware Trim enabled.

1. HDD vs SSD
HDD: 60 MB/s write, 60 MB/s read
SSD: 262 MB/s write, 493 MB/s read

2. Hardware overview
Screen size, model year: 13-inch, late 2011
Model identifier: MacBookPro8,1
Processor name: Intel Core i5
Processor speed: 2.4 GHz
Memory: 8 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz (Corsair Mac)
Bus speed: Intel Direct Media Interface 5 GT/s
Serial-ATA link speed: 6 Gigabit
Serial-ATA negotiated link speed: 6 Gigabit
TRIM: On
OS X version: 10.8.2 (12C60)

3. Crucial M4 info
Capacity: 256.06 GB
Disk bay installed: Main bay
Firmware version: original 000F, upgraded to 040H

4. Comments
No noticeable improved battery life
Shutdown takes quite long (10-15 seconds)
Sleep HD mode turned on*
Hibernation mode turned on*
Sudden motion sensor turned off
No actual problems thus far

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* I turned them on just now to see if it makes any difference regarding shutdown. Will post results in a few days.

J.Appleseed said:

4. Comments
No noticeable improved battery life
Shutdown takes quite long (10-15 seconds)
Sleep HD mode turned on*
Hibernation mode turned on*
Sudden motion sensor turned off
No actual problems thus far

------

* I turned them on just now to see if it makes any difference regarding shutdown. Will post results in a few days.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the info, I am about to get a 512GB M4 for my early 2011 15" MBP; & am a bit concerned about your long shutdown time, is it normal?

early 2009 MBP 17", 64GB M4 in HDD bay, trim enabled, 040h firmware

Joseph Farrugia said:

Thanks for sharing the info, I am about to get a 512GB M4 for my early 2011 15" MBP; & am a bit concerned about your long shutdown time, is it normal?

Click to expand...

2012 13" MBP i7: 8-10 second shutdown with M4 512gb installed.