2017 iMac T3 drives: TEKQ Rapide vs Internal vs T5

[wardie]

Here we go... I needed to offload some space on my internal iMac drive (for bootcamp) so I just got a T3 NVMe drive - a TEKQ Rapide 1TB drive. I tested it against both the internal apple SSD (1TB also) and also a Samsung X5 1TB I have. I used AmorphousDiskMark (1GB) tests because that benchmarks 4k random read/writes as well as "headline" sequential performance, the former being more representative of real use IMHO.

Screenshots below but in summary TEKQ is pretty close to internal drive except for random writes, where it performs like the T5.

Note: format is HFS+ for the externals, APFS internally - don't know how much difference that makes
Note: I've also found that booting externally from the TEKQ is a bit quicker for some unknown reason than internal drive, it just seems to not pause so much when the progress bar gets to about 2/3 way along... odd.
Note: I don't have an X5 to compare but this TEQK was over £100 cheaper in UK than X5. Interesting. Enjoy!

Machine spec: 2017 27" iMac i7 4.2GHz Radeon Pro 580 8GB 24GB RAM 1GB internal flash
Benchmark: http://www.katsurashareware.com/pgs/adm.html
Tests:

• Sequential 128 KiB block read/write tests (queue depth=32)
• Random sequence 4 KiB block read/write tests (queue depth=32)
• Sequential 1 MiB block read/write tests
• Random sequence 4 KiB block read/write tests

 

[d.steve]

Good info, thx. I have a TEKQ Cube and a 2TB SSD coming soon. Should be pretty similar, though I have no idea what SSD is included with yours.

My guess is that you're blowing through the write cache in all 4k QD32 tests, and the Apple one just has a better write cache.

 

[wardie]

Good info, thx. I have a TEKQ Cube and a 2TB SSD coming soon. Should be pretty similar, though I have no idea what SSD is included with yours.

My guess is that you're blowing through the write cache in all 4k QD32 tests, and the Apple one just has a better write cache.

Tom’s Hardware review said it was Toshiba Phison 15nm MLC flash and have some pics: https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/tekq-rapide-thunderbolt-3-portable-ssd,review-34301.html

 

[d.steve]

Some results with TEKQ Cube with Sabrent Rocket 2TB, based/build with Phison E12 with firmware 12.2.

MacBook Pro 2017 running High Sierra (work computer, Mojave still blocked).

I bought the TEKQ Cube with the smallest SSD I could find - 120 GB. I decided to compare HFS+ and APFS in case anyone found it interesting.

APFS

HFS+

[doublepost=1562009863][/doublepost]ahh...so APFS might help your 4K random write rates.

 

[wardie]

Some results with TEKQ Cube with Sabrent Rocket 2TB, based/build with Phison E12 with firmware 12.2.

MacBook Pro 2017 running High Sierra (work computer, Mojave still blocked).View attachment 845989
I bought the TEKQ Cube with the smallest SSD I could find - 120 GB. I decided to compare HFS+ and APFS in case anyone found it interesting.

APFS
HFS+
[doublepost=1562009863][/doublepost]ahh...so APFS might help your 4K random write rates.

Good tip thanks d.steve, here’s the same test but now I’ve converted the TEKQ to APFS:
Fixed the slow 4K writes. Crikey this thing is fast - at pace with Apple internal and out-stripping it in parts.

 

[d.steve]

Sweet. Kinda jealous of that MLC

 

[wardie]

What would be interesting is if anyone out there as a Samsung X5 running APFS and can run same benchmark? I just got the TEKQ of Amazon UK stocks were limited but a few left, and significantly cheaper - more than T5 less than X5.

 

[Natesac]

Perhaps you guys might be more knowledgeable about SSD’s. I think I am close to buying a TEKQ Cube and replacing the 120GB with a 1TB NVMe m.2

There are a few on amazon for a decent price, however I am not quite sure what the possible performance difference would be. The price difference is around $40US. The advertised R/W performance is about the same. Are there any other factors that could make for real world difference in performance? Cache? I have seen some talk of write cache in other posts, not very familiar with how that works.

The nitty gritty of SSD’s is something I could use a bit of an education about.

I am trying to decide between the Sabrent Rocket vs. the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro


https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-ROCKET-1TB/dp/B07LGF54XR



https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/dp/B07K1J3C23

 

[d.steve]

I briefly looked at the ADATA one but it didn’t come in a 2TB model. It has some pretty glowing reviews and benchmarks.

 

[d.steve]

One thing about this TEKQ Cub/Sabrent Rocket combination: it doesn't show SMART status. All my other drives (SATA via TB3) show SMART fine.

@wardie do you get SMART status on your TEKQ Rapide?

 

[wardie]

One thing about this TEKQ Cub/Sabrent Rocket combination: it doesn't show SMART status. All my other drives (SATA via TB3) show SMART fine.

@wardie do you get SMART status on your TEKQ Rapide?

Well... macOS (Mojave) DIsk Utility just says not supported. However I have a copy of SMART Utility 3.2.5 which I started up and that detects it fine and gets all the SMART attributes from the drive OK. Weird.

 

[Natesac]

Ordered the ADATA SX8200 Pro and the TEKQ Cube. Swapped in the ADATA, cloned my drive with super duper and am up and running with the ADATA +Cube combo as my boot drive. I am on a 2017 iMac 5K with the 3.4GHz i5 and 24Gb RAM with the Radeon Pro 570 macOS Mojave 10.14.5

Not quite as fast as I had hoped. Not sure what my bottleneck is. I am no expert in computers, or drives for that matter. Could be this is just what this machine tops out at over TB3? Or perhaps this configuration of drive/enclosure?

Overall I am happy with it. It's a pretty big speed bump over the fusion drive in the machine and the Sandisk Extreme 900 USB-C drive I was using as the boot drive before.


Here is what I am getting on the ADATA APFS:

 

[rewrew999]

Some results with TEKQ Cube with Sabrent Rocket 2TB, based/build with Phison E12 with firmware 12.2.

MacBook Pro 2017 running High Sierra (work computer, Mojave still blocked).View attachment 845989
I bought the TEKQ Cube with the smallest SSD I could find - 120 GB. I decided to compare HFS+ and APFS in case anyone found it interesting.

APFS
View attachment 845990
HFS+
View attachment 845991
[doublepost=1562009863][/doublepost]ahh...so APFS might help your 4K random write rates.

Hi, can i ask you what kind of tekq SSD (120/240gb) there is inside the cube? can you post a pics of it? is it PCIe nvme or sata? what controller Phison E7/E12 or other?! thank you very much

 

[d.steve]

Hi, can i ask you what kind of tekq SSD (120/240gb) there is inside the cube? can you post a pics of it? is it PCIe nvme or sata? what controller Phison E7/E12 or other?! thank you very much

I looked around but couldn’t find where I put it. If I find it, I’ll update.

 

[MCAsan]

I got a Tekq Cube with a 120GB SSD that I made into a USB dongle. I put an Inland Premium 2TB SSD in the Cube as an experiment. I was running out of room on the internal 512 SSD. Very pleased with this experiment. Good chance over the holidays I will open the iMac and install a EVO Plus or a SX8200 Pro.