I ordered a Seagate t-bolt connector.

[gingerbenn]

Hi guys,
I need alittle help, just got my t-bolt adaptor and a corsair force GT 90GB SSD, whats the best way to check read & write speeds. I've just downloaded blackmagicdesign speedtest and ran the 5gb test. Results seem alittle slow on the write side of things coming in at 115.8MB's and read seems ok at 343.9MB's. Over all system performance is prettty amazing, eg opening apps etc and boot time.

My current setup is a mac mini 2.3ghz with 8gb ram, am booting via the SSD via the T-bolt adaptor.

Also my overall plan is to make the SSD my main boot drive and my internal 500gb drive my storage drive. Is there any problem with heat etc with the SSD (at the moment just feels warm), currently i have it mounted on a metal 3.5" tray that came with drive that is perfect for lifting up the drive to the t-bolt adaptor.

 

[shortcut3d]

Hi guys,
I need alittle help, just got my t-bolt adaptor and a corsair force GT 90GB SSD, whats the best way to check read & write speeds. I've just downloaded blackmagicdesign speedtest and ran the 5gb test. Results seem alittle slow on the write side of things coming in at 115.8MB's and read seems ok at 343.9MB's. Over all system performance is prettty amazing, eg opening apps etc and boot time.

My current setup is a mac mini 2.3ghz with 8gb ram, am booting via the SSD via the T-bolt adaptor.

Also my overall plan is to make the SSD my main boot drive and my internal 500gb drive my storage drive. Is there any problem with heat etc with the SSD (at the moment just feels warm), currently i have it mounted on a metal 3.5" tray that came with drive that is perfect for lifting up the drive to the t-bolt adaptor.

AJA System Test Disk Whack will give you better results. If you want near the top performance of your drive you would select the following settings:

1920x1080 10-bit RGB
1.0GB
Disable File System Cache

Black Magic Disk Speed Test uses incompressible data which will impact your SSD write scores. 4k random speeds are the most important and the Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex 2.5" adapter is not affecting those. Even the best SSDs on the market can't exceed SATA II 3.0Gbps 4k random read/writes.

 

[gingerbenn]

Hi Shortcut,
ok using the AJA system Disk whack my results are the following:

Write: 341.1MB/s
Read: 362.5MB/s

Would that be about right for my corsair force GT 90GB???,
as I was expecting slightly faster results.

 

[philipma1957]

yeah the corsair 90gb


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204


specs at a max of 550 read 500 write. highest test score I found is this:


Why wait?
Pros: This drive is great for whatever you need it to do. Changed the BIOS to read AHCI, loaded Windows 7 Ult in 50 minutes. Im using a Caviar Black 1TB as data/ low usage app store, but I installed firefox, my preferred game at the time, blu-ray suite, and my gfx OC tuner on this drive, with 30GB to spare. ATTO Disk Bench write was 480MBps and read 500MBps, as advertised. Caviar Black posts 92/ 96 MBps.Why wait? I booted and launched firefox in under 40 seconds this morning.

Cons: None yet, people complaining about the SATA not having a clip are crazy. It is true, but don't drive around on a bus with your gaming rig and you'll be fine.



now remember. you have

1 )ssd
2)t-bolt controller from seagate
3) a chip on one end of the t-bolt cable
4) a chip on the other end of the t-bolt cable
5) t-bolt controller in the mini
6) sata controller on the mobo

the higher test on newegg has
1) ssd
2)sata controller on the mobo


this will slow the ssd down a bit.


I am waiting on a second mushkin ssd same as my first I will put one in the seagate and one in the mini they will be clones and I will run the same tests on both. this will show the lag time caused by an external connection .

 

[gingerbenn]

Hi Shortcut,
ok using the AJA system Disk whack my results are the following:

Write: 341.1MB/s
Read: 362.5MB/s

Would that be about right for my corsair force GT 90GB???,
as I was expecting slightly faster results.

Acutally slight better results below, did't have video frame size set correctly to 1920x1080 10-bit rgb.

Write: 344.1MB/s
Read: 369.2MB/s

----------

yeah the corsair 90gb


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204


specs at a max of 550 read 500 write

I've got corsair force GT 90gb, should i be getting near to the max 550 read 500 write? Or is it down to the seagate t-bolt adaptor???

 

[gingerbenn]

yeah the corsair 90gb


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204


specs at a max of 550 read 500 write. highest test score I found is this:


Why wait?
Pros: This drive is great for whatever you need it to do. Changed the BIOS to read AHCI, loaded Windows 7 Ult in 50 minutes. Im using a Caviar Black 1TB as data/ low usage app store, but I installed firefox, my preferred game at the time, blu-ray suite, and my gfx OC tuner on this drive, with 30GB to spare. ATTO Disk Bench write was 480MBps and read 500MBps, as advertised. Caviar Black posts 92/ 96 MBps.Why wait? I booted and launched firefox in under 40 seconds this morning.

Cons: None yet, people complaining about the SATA not having a clip are crazy. It is true, but don't drive around on a bus with your gaming rig and you'll be fine.



now remember. you have

1 )ssd
2)t-bolt controller from seagate
3) a chip on one end of the t-bolt cable
4) a chip on the other end of the t-bolt cable
5) t-bolt controller in the mini
6) sata controller on the mobo

the higher test on newegg has
1) ssd
2)sata controller on the mobo


this will slow the ssd down a bit.


I am waiting on a second mushkin ssd same as my first I will put one in the seagate and one in the mini they will be clones and I will run the same tests on both. this will show the lag time caused by an external connection .

Ok thats fair enough regarding your points, I was't expecting max speeds via the seagate adaptor, but am am impressed with the over all boot speed and speed opening apps. Can I use my SSD in my adaptor like a normal drive, eg sleeping it at night etc without worry of over heating etc?

 

[philipma1957]

I have used a mushkin 240gb sata III ssd and an Intel 600gb sata II ssd.

With great results as my boot drive.


Leave it on over night all good.

I see no reason for your corsair to be a problem. now i run lots of tests. so I rest my fanless seagate along with fanless lacies on a fan.

 

[shortcut3d]

Acutally slight better results below, did't have video frame size set correctly to 1920x1080 10-bit rgb.

Write: 344.1MB/s
Read: 369.2MB/s

----------



I've got corsair force GT 90gb, should i be getting near to the max 550 read 500 write? Or is it down to the seagate t-bolt adaptor???

The maximum speeds are typically achieved with 240GB drives because the chip density and channels are optimized. Larger or smaller drives are typically slower.

 

[fgullama]

The maximum speeds are typically achieved with 240GB drives because the chip density and channels are optimized. Larger or smaller drives are typically slower.

I have the 240gb Corsair GT and just did a quick test and am getting 376mb reads and 355mb writes in AJA using Shortcut3D's settings listed above. The scores of the 90gb Corsair look right in line with what I'm getting.

This has been a smoking setup on my iMac and I've run into pretty much zero problems with this config. I installed my SSD into one of the cheap Seagate enclosures off of ebay, but the silicone sleeve worked fine as well.

The only oddity I have noticed lately is that my machine does not seem to want to fully go to sleep fully (the SSD light stays on). I googled and installed Please Sleep and that problem has gone away. It very well could be something else besides the drive that was keeping the machine awake, but I was feeling too lazy to troubleshoot it

Maybe not the theoretical max, but damn quick performance and nothing I would spend too much time on if those are your numbers. I would recommend this setup in a heartbeat. Sit back and enjoy the speed......

Frank

 

[shortcut3d]

The two Apple Thunderbolt Cables I was able to confirm the firmware were:

Cable Micro Firmware Version 0.1.18

Unfortunately, I can not figure out how to verify the 3rd cable because its connected to a 2011 Mac mini running Windows 7 Professional x64 as a dedicate HTPC/DVR. It's prime time here, so downing the HTPC is not wise

 

[Kell1]

HMMMMM all bets may be off.....
for $599 you get 4 gig at a 700 read and 500 right plus the ability to daisy chain and no need for the Seagate t-bolt! WOW this seems like a great investment. But my question is how is this possible via HDD and not SSD's??

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/15/western-digital-mybook-thunderbolt-duo/#continued

 

[gingerbenn]

I have the 240gb Corsair GT and just did a quick test and am getting 376mb reads and 355mb writes in AJA using Shortcut3D's settings listed above. The scores of the 90gb Corsair look right in line with what I'm getting.

This has been a smoking setup on my iMac and I've run into pretty much zero problems with this config. I installed my SSD into one of the cheap Seagate enclosures off of ebay, but the silicone sleeve worked fine as well.

The only oddity I have noticed lately is that my machine does not seem to want to fully go to sleep fully (the SSD light stays on). I googled and installed Please Sleep and that problem has gone away. It very well could be something else besides the drive that was keeping the machine awake, but I was feeling too lazy to troubleshoot it

Maybe not the theoretical max, but damn quick performance and nothing I would spend too much time on if those are your numbers. I would recommend this setup in a heartbeat. Sit back and enjoy the speed......

Frank

Frank,
thanks for those speeds you gave for your 240gb Corsair GT, very simlar speeds to what I am getting. Yep am just go see how everything performs now, have you ever played with trim? eg Trim Enabler??

Benn

 

[philipma1957]

HMMMMM all bets may be off.....
for $599 you get 4 gig at a 700 read and 500 right plus the ability to daisy chain and no need for the Seagate t-bolt! WOW this seems like a great investment. But my question is how is this possible via HDD and not SSD's??

Image

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/15/western-digital-mybook-thunderbolt-duo/#continued

that test uses at least 2 units maybe 4 units. one unit is 599 a pair of 2tb hdds so if it is 4 sets cost is 2400 not 600. still for fast storage at 600 it is less then the lacie the lacie 4tb is 649. also remember that test for long write and reads. not osx and programs.

the ideal setup for a mini may be one of those and a seagate adapter. run those for large fast storage and run the t-bolt for osx. more and more this gear is showing that the mac pro is not long for the world.

 

[shortcut3d]

HMMMMM all bets may be off.....
for $599 you get 4 gig at a 700 read and 500 right plus the ability to daisy chain and no need for the Seagate t-bolt! WOW this seems like a great investment. But my question is how is this possible via HDD and not SSD's??

Image

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/15/western-digital-mybook-thunderbolt-duo/#continued

The WD MyBook Thunderbolt utilizes 3.5" Hard Disk Drives in RAID 0. The 700/500 read/write speeds quoted are for FOUR (4) WD MyBook Thunderbolt daisy chained together in RAID 0.

The WD MyBook Thunderbolt MAY have TWO fully functional SATA III 6.0Gbps channels and one could swap out the HDDs for SSDs and get performance quoted in the article with just one WD MyBook Thunderbolt. The down side with the LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk is the controller is SATA III 6.0 Gbps, but only a single channel so LaCie used a splitter daughter card internally to connect both 2.5" drives. This means the LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk maxes out just shy of a single Sandforce 2200 series SSD on an Intel Sandybridge chipset (~400MB/s vs ~500MB/s).

 

[Kell1]

that test uses at least 2 units maybe 4 units. one unit is 599 a pair of 2tb hdds so if it is 4 sets cost is 2400 not 600. still for fast storage at 600 it is less then the lacie the lacie 4tb is 649. also remember that test for long write and reads. not osx and programs.

the ideal setup for a mini may be one of those and a seagate adapter. run those for large fast storage and run the t-bolt for osx. more and more this gear is showing that the mac pro is not long for the world.

Ok i know that was just a little to good to be true and now, we have to wait and see what real world speeds produces.

 

[philipma1957]

okay as promised I order the second mushkin put it in the mini. I will run 4 comparisions each with xbench aja black magic. first is using the older mushkin on the external seagate and a blank mushkin inside. this should give the fastest scores, in theory.

next I clone the external seagate mushkin to the internal mushkin. this is a 140 gb clone takes about 18 minutes. due to the small osx files the fast clone is at an avg of 133MBs.

the internal mushkin it is now a 142gb clone of the external. so it is a bootable osx and both aja and black magic will no longer write on it.

I just ran an xbench test on the identical mushkins one using the internal mini gets better scores this is expected due to the seagate controller the two chips in the t-bolt cable and the t-bolt controller in the mini's mobo.

this shows the slowdown quite clearly.


next test I will erase the external mushkin and run all 3 tests.

 

[DCJ001]

I just remembered that, when I called OCZ support before receiving my OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD, I asked if there was anything that I should know, like updating the firmware or anything else.

OCZ support recommended that I do not clone and OS to the SSD due to the different architecture of the SSD compared to an HD. So I installed OS X 10.7, migrated everything from by internal boot drive, then updated the 10.7 software to 10.7.3.

If you're having slower results with an SSD after cloning to it, this may be an explanation of why this is happening. You may want to erase the SSD, and do what I did. I'm new to SSDs, which is why I called OCZ support for tips.

Here are my AJA results:

 

[philipma1957]

I just remembered that, when I called OCZ support before receiving my OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD, I asked if there was anything that I should know, like updating the firmware or anything else.

OCZ support recommended that I do not clone and OS to the SSD due to the different architecture of the SSD compared to an HD. So I installed OS X 10.7, migrated everything from by internal boot drive, then updated the 10.7 software to 10.7.3.

If you're having slower results with an SSD after cloning to it, this may be an explanation of why this is happening. You may want to erase the SSD, and do what I did. I'm new to SSDs, which is why I called OCZ support for tips.

Here are my AJA results:

Image

this does not apply to my tests. as I am cloning from 1 ssd to another ssd they are indentical ssds. these tests are to show speeds of an ssd inside the mini vs speeds of an identical ssd inside a seagate t-bolt adapter

the loss caused by the seagate adapter. can be measured.

so if you are feeling up to putting an ssd in the mini you will get faster speeds then the seagate t-bolt adapter. a plus.




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

on the downside void your warranty maybe maybe not but a risk. a minus == seagate no risk

replacement takes time. a minus == seagate instant if you choose to keep an ssd on hand

the osx is not portable. a minus === seagate you can move the osk from machine to machine and lock it up if it has expensive info on it.

-------------------------------------------------


each person needs to weigh the plusses and minuses to decide.




to please my curious nature may i ask you where was your vertex 3 120gb ssd when you tested it inside the seagate adapter?

if it was in the seagate adapter this is why you got slow down not cloning.

 

[fgullama]

Frank,
thanks for those speeds you gave for your 240gb Corsair GT, very simlar speeds to what I am getting. Yep am just go see how everything performs now, have you ever played with trim? eg Trim Enabler??

Benn

Hey Benn,

In testing before, I didn't see big differences in benchmark results enabling TRIM, but do do indeed have TRIM enabled currently using TRIM Enabler. I figured as long as it seemed to be supported and working correctly, why not.

Frank

 

[shortcut3d]

OWC warns against TRIM in OSX with the Sandforce controllers. Its fine for Samsung, Intel and Marvell.

----

The loss of the Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex 2.5" adapter can be attributed to the controller used (I believe Marvell). The Intel Sandybridge SATA III 6.0Gbps controller is the best desktop controller on the market in terms of performance. This is well documented in the OCZ forms when SSD users compare performance on desktop main boards with multiple SATA III controllers or AMD chipsets.

Based on philipma's test results, it looks like the controller in the Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex 2.5" adapter struggles with incompressible writes. This is the reason behind the significantly better AJA test scores, which are much closer to what one would expect from an internal drive.

 

[Kenneth64]

I'd love to get my hands on one of those, I assume it doesn't come with the cable at that price..

 

[fgullama]

TRIM On Sandforce

OWC warns against TRIM in OSX with the Sandforce controllers. Its fine for Samsung, Intel and Marvell.


Good read, thanks. I did skim over that before but got the impression that while you didn't need TRIM, it might help a bit and would not hurt... As this does not appear to be the case, I've since disabled TRIM.

Thanks!

Frank

 

[Pheo]

FYI New Intel 520 is Sandforce based as well, so don't enable TRIM on this new drive if you are installing one!

 

[shortcut3d]

I had the Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex 2.5" adapter with 1TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex drive randomly disconnect daisy chained through the LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk

Seagate released a firmware for the WiFi drive that did great things, hopefully one is coming for this.

 

[philipma1957]

I had the Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex 2.5" adapter with 1TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex drive randomly disconnect daisy chained through the LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk

Seagate released a firmware for the WiFi drive that did great things, hopefully one is coming for this.

that is good to know. so far the seagate mushkin has been flawless