10.13.2 (17C205): Check SSD Speeds

[bsbeamer]

Noticed a performance hit "issue" this morning on MacPro 5,1 after the 10.13.2 (17C205) update when a system SSD (SATA) was connected directly to drive tray #1 via sled (OWC blue tray). SSD performance slowed close to 100MB/s for writes. Reads were unchanged. System drive was formatted (updated?) to APFS during the High Sierra update install by macOS.

Swapped in an identical SSD (same brand/model/style, purchased at the same time) which was a system clone (Carbon Copy Cloner) and formatted HFS+ (Mac OS Extended Journaled). Speeds increased near where they were previously and within expected range.

Put the original system SSD (APFS format) into a USB 3 enclosure. Performed a disk test and speeds checked very closed to where they should.

Not scientific and speeds tested with AJA system test lite. Unsure if this is an issue with APFS & the security update when drives connected via SATA, or is this is/was something else. Reconfiguring SSD placements within the machine (some via PCI slot adapters) and drive performance is again as expected.

 

[owbp]

It's all good for me, hitting the SATA 2 limit in lower optical bay (*waiting for the delivery of OWC Mount Pro).


SSD is EVO 850 1TB, APFS formatted, TRIM enabled.

 

[bsbeamer]

No idea what initially caused this. I was getting speeds in the 130's & 140's with write. Never had that much of a performance hit for "no reason".

 

[elf69]

140 write and 340 read in my MacBook Air 2012.

its an 11.6" model with i5 and 64GB SSD.

 

[bsbeamer]

140 write and 340 read in my MacBook Air 2012.

its an 11.6" model with i5 and 64GB SSD.

Unsure if that is normal or within usual range for your system. My SSD in that slot was getting 240-250 write before the 17C205 update. Changing back to HFS+ resolved the issue when connected via SATA (in OWC sled) in MacPro. Again, do not know if this was coincidence or something else. Worth looking into for that kind of improvement.

(System was reconfigured and this same system SSD drive is in a PCIe slot via Velocity adapter getting 470s on write, 480s on read - which is within normal range when configured this way.)

 

[elf69]

I do not think the numbers at least for write should be that low in my air.

not sure if it is the OS or an old dying SSD.
sadly the 2012 models had SSDs that only fit the 2012 so possibly looking at fitting an M2 adaptor or something like that.

a used 512GB SSD for this air is £259.99 plus shipping.

but having said the above it does not seem slow to me.

 

[bsbeamer]

I do not think the numbers at least for write should be that low in my air.

not sure if it is the OS or an old dying SSD.
sadly the 2012 models had SSDs that only fit the 2012 so possibly looking at fitting an M2 adaptor or something like that.

a used 512GB SSD for this air is £259.99 plus shipping.

but having said the above it does not seem slow to me.

Maybe check the Air forums? It does seem low. I get about 120MB/s write onto common single drive external USB HDDs or around 160MB/s when using better quality 7200rpm drives. Just for reference, MacBook Pro late 2013 gets 780MB/s+ write on system SSD.

 

[elf69]

it should be almost double at around 230 for write, read is not far off mark though.
[doublepost=1516034306][/doublepost]a quick search on web gives me this:

MacBook Air 2012 SSD: writes at 364MB/sec, reads at 461MB/sec

MacBook Air 2011 SSD: writes at 152MB/sec, reads at 145MB/sec

MacBook Air 2010 SSD: writes at 157MB/sec, reads at 188MB/sec

so maybe my almost 5 year old SSD is on way out.

 

[bsbeamer]

it should be almost double at around 230 for write, read is not far off mark though.

That was almost exactly what I was experiencing with the system SSD in MacPro5,1. Basically changed drive to a HFS+ clone and all was fixed. If you have the ability to clone to another drive, reformat as HFS+, and then restore the clone it MAY help fix.