I've seen some of the benchmarks but I have no idea what they mean compared to whats out there...so my question is how are the SSDs that apple uses for the 768Gb configuration? I'm assuming they arent top of the top but are they noticeably deficient compared to things like the Samsung 840?
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How good is the internal 768Gb SSD?
- Thread starter Yougotcarved
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53x12
macrumors 68000
This:
IIRC the Samsung is a bit higher, in the low 500s I think, but I dont know if this makes a difference for speed of opening apps and files etc
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Just about nobody really cares, right? 😀 The 2012 iMac is likely using a Samsung 830 anyway. It's more than fast enough for 99.9% of people. If you really need ridiculous speed, RAID0 SSDs in Thunderbolt enclosures is the way to go, and then the 840 Pro can't touch that.
hfg
macrumors 68040
That looks pretty good to me! 🙂
Just for comparison using the same test program, the following test results are on a Velocity Solo x2 PCIe card in my Mac Pro (SATA-III). One is the popular Crucial M4 512GB SSD, the other is a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD:
-howard
Left: Crucial M4 ------------ Right: Samsung 840 Pro
Just for comparison using the same test program, the following test results are on a Velocity Solo x2 PCIe card in my Mac Pro (SATA-III). One is the popular Crucial M4 512GB SSD, the other is a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD:
-howard
Left: Crucial M4 ------------ Right: Samsung 840 Pro
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53x12
macrumors 68000
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
hfg
macrumors 68040
Here is my test of the LaCie "Little Big Disk" enclosure with a pair of Crucial M4 512GB SSD in RAID-0. It should be noted that I purchased a "refurbished" LaCie and removed the hard disks and installed the SSDs in their place. I am fairly confident that the reason the LaCie enclosures are "refurbished" is that they are dumping the old SATA-II bus units. The new LaCie units claim to have been upgraded to SATA-III internally ... but of course they are much more than the refurbished ones, and are probably faster.
I also show a test of a 2012 MacBook Air 13" with the 512GB internal blade-type SSD.
I wish I had a pair of Samsung 840 Pros to try in the LaCie RAID-0!
-howard
LEFT: LaCie RAID-0 SSD ---------------- Right: MacBook Air blade SSD
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When it comes to performance of SSDs... MB/sec is without doubt... the absolute worse metric to use for comparison of SSDs... or comparing SSDs to HDDs. It is a relic from testing HDDs... and is almost meaningless for SSDs.
When it comes to NVM... the most single important metric is I/O's per second (IOPS).
MB/s performance between HDDs and SSDs are relatively close together. For example... a HDD might give 50 MB/s and as SSD might be 10X at 500 MB/s. That is NOT why SSDs perform so well.
For IOPs... a HDD might give 200-400 IOPS. By contrast, a consumer SSD might be 100X (or higher) the performance at 50,000 IOPs. Enterprise SSDs might be 1000X at 500,000 IOPS.
It is IOPS that makes computer fly with SSDs... not MB/s.
/Jim
When it comes to NVM... the most single important metric is I/O's per second (IOPS).
MB/s performance between HDDs and SSDs are relatively close together. For example... a HDD might give 50 MB/s and as SSD might be 10X at 500 MB/s. That is NOT why SSDs perform so well.
For IOPs... a HDD might give 200-400 IOPS. By contrast, a consumer SSD might be 100X (or higher) the performance at 50,000 IOPs. Enterprise SSDs might be 1000X at 500,000 IOPS.
It is IOPS that makes computer fly with SSDs... not MB/s.
/Jim
It's part of the deal. As much as it's part of the deal loading 2gbs of samples in 3 seconds instead of 20.
MB/S read speed does count.
MB/s are a measure of large read/writes. These are extremely rare in client systems. Of course they occur... but they are relatively rare.
The statistics that I have seen are ~90% small random reads on client systems. The vast majority of the remaining 10% are small random writes. These small random accesses are where the IOPS help significantly. When you hear your disk drive sounding like a popcorn maker at peak rate... that is what kills IOPS performance of HDDs. It is also when your system becomes non-responsive. SSDs are often 100X or higher performance at these times.
I maintain that MB/s are the absolute worse rating for SSDs.. and a remnant of testing HDD's. I'll be happy when the metric is eventually retired.
Your example of 3 vs 20 seconds for a large block read is a perfect example of this. Less than a 10X improvement. Very few people are inconvenienced by waiting a few extra seconds for the occasional large file transfer. By contrast... when your machine is clicking away with small random accesses and it becomes unresponsive with full disk queues... it affects the basic usability of the machine. Everyone notices this. This is where SSDs value become evident.
/Jim
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53x12
macrumors 68000
hfg
macrumors 68040
I guess I use the BlackMagicDesign "Disk Speed Test" because it is widely used on these forums to display disk performance for easy comparison and the program is free and readily available to anyone. Even if it isn't a good measure of SSD performance, it does give a common base for rough comparison. The AJA test is also commonly used, and gives different results for some brands of SSD due to the controllers used.
What is available to measure and compare IOPS in the same way we use Disk Speed Test?
-howard
What is available to measure and compare IOPS in the same way we use Disk Speed Test?
-howard
hfg
macrumors 68040
Is that the current 1TB LaCie SSD drive or a DIY using their enclosures?
Are you using 2 LaCie LBDs in a 4-SSD RAID, or a single 2 drive unit to get those speeds? What disks are you using in them? Those are pretty impressive results.
If you boot from an external TB ssd what happens to the internal hdd/ssd?
Does it just sit there and do nothing or does it power off?
Does it just sit there and do nothing or does it power off?
More than likely. That's what an eSATA drive would do, so the internal drive would be like an... iSATA 😀 So it should shut up after a bit, or you could just eject it.
For the time being I'm going to do a boot SSD over Thunderbolt, but I will likely summon up the courage to install an SSD inside after a day or two of playing with the computer when it shows up. 🙂
I think the Lacie 1TB SSD comes with two 512's... add a backpack and you're good to go/won't even know it's there!
If only the Backpacks worked with the 2012! Waiting for the update from TwelveSouth. Supposedly they will sell the clips for the 2012 model soon.
They don't fit? Damnit!!!
Wait.... I thought I saw someone post one up.... one of the first people to get a 21.5. He made a thread about opening some external drive and swapping in an SSD. I think he posted a pic of it... hmmm
News to me...!
Twelve South link below..
https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1727034/1400299/?v=a