13" Mbp Only 1.5gb Sata ? - SOLVED!!!!!!!!!

[ImaBigD]

You guys all rock! WE DID IT! I'm proud of everyones efforts to pressure Apple into releasing a firmware so quickly. This is how an effective campaign is run. This should serve as a lesson - there is power in numbers.

Here are my new benchmarks with a 3.0 Gb/s controller.

Before EFI Upgrade:


After EFI Upgrade:

 

[kloan]

Those numbers would be more useful if you compared them to the 1.5Gbs results.

 

[fehhkk]

Glad I got the update, I can now think about an SSD now

Did an Xbench before and after the update, and as I thought, there's no noticeable speed increase with my HDD... but that was expected.

Before upgrade:

Disk Test 50.12
Sequential 95.85
Uncached Write 109.93 67.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 106.72 60.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 65.29 19.11 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 125.80 63.22 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 33.94
Uncached Write 12.42 1.31 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 71.20 22.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 67.01 0.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 119.13 22.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]

After upgrade:

Results 47.36
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type Hitachi HTS545032B9SA02
Disk Test 47.36
Sequential 93.80
Uncached Write 105.70 64.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 97.43 55.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 68.43 20.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 120.41 60.52 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 31.67
Uncached Write 11.36 1.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 69.22 22.16 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 66.95 0.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 112.19 20.82 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[vanc]

Glad I got the update, I can now think about an SSD now

Did an Xbench before and after the update, and as I thought, there's no noticeable speed increase with my HDD... but that was expected.

Before upgrade:

Disk Test 50.12
Sequential 95.85
Uncached Write 109.93 67.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 106.72 60.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 65.29 19.11 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 125.80 63.22 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 33.94
Uncached Write 12.42 1.31 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 71.20 22.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 67.01 0.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 119.13 22.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]

After upgrade:

Results 47.36
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type Hitachi HTS545032B9SA02
Disk Test 47.36
Sequential 93.80
Uncached Write 105.70 64.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 97.43 55.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 68.43 20.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 120.41 60.52 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 31.67
Uncached Write 11.36 1.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 69.22 22.16 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 66.95 0.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 112.19 20.82 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Looks like the performance is worse for HDD after firmware update. Anybody confirm? If that's case, I will walk away from the update.

 

[tsubikiddo]

Well Done, you guys rock!

wt more needs to be said?

 

[Belm]

Even more impressive is that's 2009 and they still allow themselves to state something as ludicrous as this. Ho well, who cares?
We can now safely buy the MBP range without remorse or fear that in a few months time our new gear would be relatively obsolete.

Again, kudos to everyone.

Exactly

 

[Ruahrc]

Looks like the performance is worse for HDD after firmware update. Anybody confirm? If that's case, I will walk away from the update.

Here we go again...

The difference in the numbers is well within the variational limits between runs. If you run the test multiple times on the same setup you'll get slightly different results every time. The performance is not any different with the new update.

Here's a before and after from my Corsair P256: Biggest gains in sequential reading and writing, although I did see some modest gains in the random section as well. Honestly though I think I would be hard pressed to notice these differences in anything other than very specific tasks (i.e. large sequential writes)

Before:
Disk Test 179.12
Sequential 134.50
Uncached Write 184.69 113.40 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 162.60 92.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 72.24 21.14 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 230.80 116.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 268.06
Uncached Write 122.75 12.99 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 267.50 85.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1207.85 8.56 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 452.78 84.02 MB/sec [256K blocks]

After:
Disk Test 217.08
Sequential 174.44
Uncached Write 279.28 171.48 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 261.59 148.01 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 78.30 22.92 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 362.77 182.32 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 287.32
Uncached Write 120.20 12.72 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 327.59 104.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1298.90 9.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 561.91 104.27 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Ruahrc

 

[WishBone]

I think my results may give you a more complete overview of the XBench scores from stock to SSD (at 1.5 cap) and now with SSD and (3.0). This history is on a the new 13" MacBook Pro, 4gb, 250 gbHDD, and then upgrading to the 256 GB Corsair SSD.

MacBook Pro (Stock)

6/16/09 - MacBook Pro 13", 2.53, 250gb 5400 HD


Results 134.97
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02
CPU Test 153.15
GCD Loop 295.13 15.56 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 143.07 3.40 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 90.77 2.99 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 211.77 36.88 Mops/sec
Thread Test 331.34
Computation 421.07 8.53 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 273.14 11.75 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 188.41
System 222.36
Allocate 299.77 1.10 Malloc/sec
Fill 183.65 8929.45 MB/sec
Copy 212.30 4384.90 MB/sec
Stream 163.45
Copy 155.85 3218.96 MB/sec
Scale 154.55 3193.00 MB/sec
Add 173.26 3690.88 MB/sec
Triad 172.02 3679.89 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 204.10
Line 189.28 12.60 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 244.35 72.95 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 200.13 16.31 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 197.61 4.98 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 197.41 12.35 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 165.08
Spinning Squares 165.08 209.42 frames/sec
User Interface Test 328.84
Elements 328.84 1.51 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 43.46
Sequential 85.85
Uncached Write 124.21 76.26 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 116.90 66.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 44.06 12.89 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 137.13 68.92 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 29.09
Uncached Write 10.22 1.08 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 75.34 24.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 58.87 0.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 106.16 19.70 MB/sec [256K blocks]

MacBook Pro after adding 256GB Corsair SSD (Capped at 1.5gb)

Results 179.58
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type CORSAIR CMFSSD-256GBG2D
CPU Test 160.85
GCD Loop 295.42 15.57 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 130.60 3.10 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 111.91 3.69 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 204.46 35.60 Mops/sec
Thread Test 273.23
Computation 415.84 8.42 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 203.46 8.75 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 149.97
System 162.41
Allocate 220.26 808.86 Kalloc/sec
Fill 154.72 7523.03 MB/sec
Copy 133.89 2765.37 MB/sec
Stream 139.30
Copy 134.36 2775.16 MB/sec
Scale 133.69 2761.97 MB/sec
Add 146.09 3112.03 MB/sec
Triad 143.92 3078.91 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 173.05
Line 160.79 10.71 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 207.00 61.80 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 169.97 13.85 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 166.20 4.19 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 168.27 10.53 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 148.52
Spinning Squares 148.52 188.41 frames/sec
User Interface Test 264.93
Elements 264.93 1.22 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 162.66
Sequential 118.42
Uncached Write 170.53 104.70 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 148.05 83.77 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 60.51 17.71 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 215.92 108.52 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 259.66
Uncached Write 118.50 12.54 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 260.17 83.29 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1158.65 8.21 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 442.61 82.13 MB/sec [256K blocks]

MacBook Pro -256GB SSD - (after update to 3.0gb)

Results 212.32
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type CORSAIR CMFSSD-256GBG2D
CPU Test 170.63
GCD Loop 295.27 15.56 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 142.88 3.39 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 119.81 3.95 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 212.30 36.97 Mops/sec
Thread Test 327.36
Computation 390.07 7.90 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 282.02 12.13 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 188.23
System 219.83
Allocate 286.63 1.05 Malloc/sec
Fill 183.46 8920.15 MB/sec
Copy 212.44 4387.88 MB/sec
Stream 164.57
Copy 157.37 3250.37 MB/sec
Scale 153.92 3179.91 MB/sec
Add 175.20 3732.21 MB/sec
Triad 174.03 3722.96 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 204.63
Line 190.42 12.68 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 243.94 72.83 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 200.57 16.35 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 197.51 4.98 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 198.63 12.43 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 163.99
Spinning Squares 163.99 208.03 frames/sec
User Interface Test 305.71
Elements 305.71 1.40 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 222.97
Sequential 181.31
Uncached Write 281.32 172.73 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 263.84 149.28 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 84.59 24.76 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 345.44 173.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 289.47
Uncached Write 120.77 12.79 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 338.63 108.41 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1329.78 9.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 545.55 101.23 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Hope this is helpful to those interested to see the actual upgrade values. I gotta admit, I'm very pleased with the user experience on this MacBook with the upgrade to the SSD drive. YMMV

 

[TEBnewyork]

Before and After

Here is my before and after test

13" MBP 2.53GHz, 4GB, Intel X25M 160gb

 

[baseline01]

Here we go again...
The difference in the numbers is well within the variational limits between runs. If you run the test multiple times on the same setup you'll get slightly different results every time. The performance is not any different with the new update
Ruahrc

Ho god, thank you for this. You beat me to the punch.
Yes people, these are marginal differences (3 ~ 4 decimal points) in I/O transactions measured in MBs per second, you won't feel a thing believe me.
But those of us working with bulk inserts into transactional databases sure will.
Can't wait to install my new vertex on to this baby

Cheers

 

[Nistilian]

The drive was less then a week old.

That really sucks. You should be able to return it as defective, right? What about manufacturer's warranty?

 

[bugout]

That really sucks. You should be able to return it as defective, right? What about manufacturer's warranty?

Intel fedex'd me a new one on a cross ship.. I should have it tomorrow morning.

 

[Jiten]

Although I'm not directly affected by this, I'm extremely happy that Apple fixed this problem. It just shows that its good to complain and make ourselves heard - unlike certain apologists who defend the mistakes of Apple and thus get in the way of progress.

 

[Slurpy2k8]

Now I can recommend the new laptops to my niece (and maybe one or myself as well).

Yes, because your niece's usage would certainly have been crippled by that 1.5Gps transfer speed, right? How old is she? Was she planning on using a raid SSD array? Or running SATA benchmarking software for fun? Because if not, then I don't see how this changes anything for her.

I always wonder if these types of posts are satire or not. Unfortunately, I doubt they are.

 

[HLdan]

You guys all rock! WE DID IT! I'm proud of everyones efforts to pressure Apple into releasing a firmware so quickly. This is how an effective campaign is run. This should serve as a lesson - there is power in numbers.

Here are my new benchmarks with a 3.0 Gb/s controller.

Ha, you gave MR the credit for Apple fixing this? Do you really think this vocal minority has that much power. I can assure you there were people at Apple (like the employees and engineers) that noticed this amongst many other of Apple's customers that brought this issue up.

 

[relativist]

Yes, because your niece's usage would certainly have been crippled by that 1.5Gps transfer speed, right? How old is she? Was she planning on using a raid SSD array? Or running SATA benchmarking software for fun? Because if not, then I don't see how this changes anything for her.

I always wonder if these types of posts are satire or not. Unfortunately, I doubt they are.

Dude what are you talking about? Your post is discriminatory towards young people, like they are not somehow able to tax a computer via multimedia and gaming usage? Why do you think he should have recommended it anyway when an obvious problem was built into the machine? Maybe you should be less arrogant and short sighted.

 

[stylinexpat]

You guys all rock! WE DID IT! I'm proud of everyones efforts to pressure Apple into releasing a firmware so quickly. This is how an effective campaign is run. This should serve as a lesson - there is power in numbers.

Here are my new benchmarks with a 3.0 Gb/s controller.

+1000

 

[ImaBigD]

Read the EFI upgrade page. It says "MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro..."

Who do you think the vocal minority of those "small number of customers" represents? Very likely, the hundreds (if not thousands) of us who have been posting to forums like this one and yelling and screaming at Apple via their feedback. The Mac Rumors thread had 1,600+ posts and the Apple Discussion thread had over 20,000 views.

Yes, I give credit to the "small number of customers" that forced a giant's hand (in this case, an Apple). In the end, they didn't need to release this upgrade - it doesn't affect their core customers who don't intend to upgrade one bit - but it affects the vocal minority, who expected a "PRO" product and was unwilling to accept an outdated SATA.

We are loud, and we are proud. Viva la revolution!

Ha, you gave MR the credit for Apple fixing this? Do you really think this vocal minority has that much power. I can assure you there were people at Apple (like the employees and engineers) that noticed this amongst many other of Apple's customers that brought this issue up.

 

[ImaBigD]

Sorry guys, here is the before and after again on my Intel X-25M 80GB. I picked up almost 100 MB/s on the sequential read speed!!

Before EFI Upgrade:


After EFI Upgrade:

 

[Jigga]

I see everyone's comparison stats and I'm trying to figure out why mine looks so poor?
Before the firmware upgrade:
Results 124.40
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type Hitachi HTS545016B9SA02
CPU Test 141.93
GCD Loop 264.33 13.93 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 127.99 3.04 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 88.32 2.91 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 189.94 33.08 Mops/sec
Thread Test 272.16
Computation 363.57 7.37 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 217.47 9.36 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 179.65
System 207.18
Allocate 265.14 973.68 Kalloc/sec
Fill 169.51 8241.96 MB/sec
Copy 207.92 4294.56 MB/sec
Stream 158.58
Copy 153.81 3176.83 MB/sec
Scale 149.63 3091.22 MB/sec
Add 166.54 3547.67 MB/sec
Triad 165.70 3544.79 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 178.63
Line 166.95 11.12 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 213.85 63.85 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 177.92 14.50 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 172.17 4.34 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 169.61 10.61 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 142.04
Spinning Squares 142.04 180.18 frames/sec
User Interface Test 269.38
Elements 269.38 1.24 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 42.32
Sequential 81.24
Uncached Write 57.85 35.52 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 101.72 57.55 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 74.48 21.80 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 115.03 57.82 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 28.61
Uncached Write 11.34 1.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 70.97 22.72 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 35.69 0.25 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 105.32 19.54 MB/sec [256K blocks]


After the upgrade:
Results 187.91
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type Hitachi HTS545016B9SA02
CPU Test 143.87
GCD Loop 259.73 13.69 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 127.84 3.04 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 91.97 3.03 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 190.23 33.13 Mops/sec
Thread Test 292.35
Computation 350.08 7.09 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 250.96 10.80 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 178.76
System 205.96
Allocate 258.35 948.73 Kalloc/sec
Fill 173.96 8458.38 MB/sec
Copy 202.15 4175.33 MB/sec
Stream 157.91
Copy 150.87 3116.20 MB/sec
Scale 149.73 3093.29 MB/sec
Add 166.32 3542.99 MB/sec
Triad 166.33 3558.20 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 181.15
Line 168.84 11.24 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 213.71 63.80 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 177.55 14.47 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 173.05 4.36 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 178.93 11.19 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 146.22
Spinning Squares 146.22 185.49 frames/sec
User Interface Test 294.17
Elements 294.17 1.35 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 43.44
Sequential 81.91
Uncached Write 91.97 56.47 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 103.43 58.52 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 59.01 17.27 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 88.14 44.30 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 29.56
Uncached Write 10.65 1.13 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 67.74 21.69 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 58.94 0.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 102.97 19.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[bcaslis]

One last confirmation

MBP 2.8GHz, Intel X25-M

Before firmware update:

System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3032)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2MH160G1GC
CPU Test 190.40
GCD Loop 326.81 17.23 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 158.98 3.78 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 135.04 4.46 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 235.12 40.94 Mops/sec
Disk Test 195.74
Sequential 127.36
Uncached Write 115.77 71.08 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 110.68 62.63 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 105.10 30.76 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 236.94 119.09 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 422.64
Uncached Write 562.96 59.60 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 192.02 61.47 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1249.62 8.86 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 595.32 110.47 MB/sec [256K blocks]

After firmware update:

System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3032)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2MH160G1GC
CPU Test 189.58
GCD Loop 326.42 17.21 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 158.88 3.78 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 133.59 4.41 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 234.94 40.91 Mops/sec
Disk Test 235.42
Sequential 153.29
Uncached Write 135.33 83.09 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 122.62 69.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 123.92 36.27 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 403.16 202.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 507.15
Uncached Write 650.09 68.82 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 221.19 70.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1298.44 9.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 945.37 175.42 MB/sec [256K blocks]

This what I expected before. Also the system profiler is now showing the SATA bus as 3Gb.

 

[TEBnewyork]

I see everyone's comparison stats and I'm trying to figure out why mine looks so poor?

Because it looks like you have a standard hard drive and not an SSD drive. Is this correct? The big gains are coming from people with fast SSD's like the Intel X25 models. But that was the whole point of this....it wasn't about regular drives but the newest versions of SSD's that are very fast.

 

[Jigga]

Because it looks like you have a standard hard drive and not an SSD drive. Is this correct? The big gains are coming from people with fast SSD's like the Intel X25 models. But that was the whole point of this....it wasn't about regular drives but the newest versions of SSD's that are very fast.

Ooops. Yes I do

 

[Jigga]

Because it looks like you have a standard hard drive and not an SSD drive. Is this correct? The big gains are coming from people with fast SSD's like the Intel X25 models. But that was the whole point of this....it wasn't about regular drives but the newest versions of SSD's that are very fast.

Question though. Why would my system be slower after the firmware upgrade?

 

[sadatkarim]

Question though. Why would my system be slower after the firmware upgrade?

5-10% or less differences are negligible.