New Crucial m4 SSD, low write speeds?

[TexasChemE]

Hello all,

Today, I received my Crucial m4 128Gb SSD for my 2011 MacBook Pro. I installed it in my main hard drive slot without a hitch, got OS X Lion installed and all my information migrated over without a hitch. Here is my problem. I downloaded the Disk Speed Test, and I consistently got a write speed of ~200Mb/S (+/-10Mb/s) and a read speed of around 480Mb/S. So, I decided to enable Trim (Using Trim Enabler 2.1, but first I erased all the free space in single user mode at the root prompt), and these are the speeds that I consistently get with Trim enabled. Are these normal speeds, and if not, how can I fix these speeds (mainly the write speed)? I've searched a good amount, but I can't come up with a decent answer/explanation of why this is happening.

 

[ano0oj]

have you done all firmware updates through crucial website?

 

[jekyoo]

If I'm not mistaken, these speeds are correct for the Crucial M4. Remember that the Crucial M4 has marvell controller.

According to Crucial's website, the specs are

Sustained Sequential Read: Up to 500 MB/s(SATA 6Gb/s)
Sustained Sequential Write: Up to 175 MB/s(SATA 6Gb/s)

I think the speeds are right.

 

[IngerMan]

Hello all,

Today, I received my Crucial m4 128Gb SSD for my 2011 MacBook Pro. I installed it in my main hard drive slot without a hitch, got OS X Lion installed and all my information migrated over without a hitch. Here is my problem. I downloaded the Disk Speed Test, and I consistently got a write speed of ~200Mb/S (+/-10Mb/s) and a read speed of around 480Mb/S. So, I decided to enable Trim (Using Trim Enabler 2.1, but first I erased all the free space in single user mode at the root prompt), and these are the speeds that I consistently get with Trim enabled. Are these normal speeds, and if not, how can I fix these speeds (mainly the write speed)? I've searched a good amount, but I can't come up with a decent answer/explanation of why this is happening.

you are supposed to erase disk space after trim is enabled. But as stated those are the speeds the 128gb list at. It is the 256 that has 250gb write speeds.

 

[TexasChemE]

you are supposed to erase disk space after trim is enabled. But as stated those are the speeds the 128gb list at. It is the 256 that has 250gb write speeds.

Ah, I was getting conflicting reports on erasing free space before vs afterwards. Thanks for the responses, guys. Appreciate it

 

[IngerMan]

It looks like you are getting above spec speeds with the 128gb. That's good and I am as well with the 256gb.

 

[jekyoo]

The Crucial M4 may not have the best performance but they for sure are the bang for buck SSD. An SSD for almost $1/gb is amazing. SSD ftw!

 

[diamond3]

I almost bought the same SSD today as it went on sale at Newegg. OP if you bought it from newegg, you might be able to get an adjustment. I decided not to because the price has dropped so fast in the past few weeks and I might go with the Samsung 830 or sale the laptop if a new one is released soon.

Anyway, my main question is how's the battery life?
It's my understanding there shouldn't be much of a difference since SSD's are quicker at reading/writing despite having a higher power usage, so they use more while they work but don't work as much because they're faster.

Also, did you install your other hard disk drive in the optical bay? Does anyone think this will effect the battery life greatly with both in place? Understandably, with 2 running > 1 drive running, but is the end effect really significant?

 

[aziatiklover]

This is what i bought today on newsegg deal, but OP can i ask you which software did you use to migrated everything over the new ssd from the stock hdd? Im gonna install that in my new mac mini base model, and gonna have them both. Lion will be on the ssd and files will be on the stock hdd.

 

[TexasChemE]

I almost bought the same SSD today as it went on sale at Newegg. OP if you bought it from newegg, you might be able to get an adjustment. I decided not to because the price has dropped so fast in the past few weeks and I might go with the Samsung 830 or sale the laptop if a new one is released soon.

Anyway, my main question is how's the battery life?
It's my understanding there shouldn't be much of a difference since SSD's are quicker at reading/writing despite having a higher power usage, so they use more while they work but don't work as much because they're faster.

Also, did you install your other hard disk drive in the optical bay? Does anyone think this will effect the battery life greatly with both in place? Understandably, with 2 running > 1 drive running, but is the end effect really significant?

Nah, I had some Amazon gift cards, so I got this bad boy for "free" $164.99. I've seen the price drop to $149.99 then change back up to $169.99 over night. Regarding the battery life, I haven't really gotten a chance to test out the battery life extensively, as i've had it plugged in all day because i've been moving lots of flies and such. As for the actual setup, I did put my original 500Gb (5400rpm) hard drive in the optical bay to store my music, videos, and pictures on. I'll get back with you on the battery life after a few days of testing it out and such. I don't expect more than a 30 min or so drop from what i've heard from other people (someone who was running a 17'' MBP with a 7200rpm with an SSD only lost around 30 minutes).

Edit: Sorry aziatiklover, I originally missed your post. I actually just did a fresh installation of Lion on my SSD, and then I used Lion's built in Migration Assistant to migrate my use account and my information (excluding my pictures, videos, and music). Check this link out if you have any questions about Migration Assistant, or shoot me a PM

 

[diamond3]

Nah, I had some Amazon gift cards, so I got this bad boy for "free" $164.99. I've seen the price drop to $149.99 then change back up to $169.99 over night. Regarding the battery life, I haven't really gotten a chance to test out the battery life extensively, as i've had it plugged in all day because i've been moving lots of flies and such. As for the actual setup, I did put my original 500Gb (5400rpm) hard drive in the optical bay to store my music, videos, and pictures on. I'll get back with you on the battery life after a few days of testing it out and such. I don't expect more than a 30 min or so drop from what i've heard from other people (someone who was running a 17'' MBP with a 7200rpm with an SSD only lost around 30 minutes).

Thanks, I figured that would be the case since you just got it. I plan to do that as well since I still need the extra space. I kind of wish I would have upgraded to a 7200rpm drive when I went from a 320Gb to 750Gb drive last year since I do video work. I guess if I have to I can throw some of the files on the SSD to work with, but will avoid doing so when possible.

How did the Hard Drive Caddy fit? Was it sturdy with no movement?

 

[TexasChemE]

Thanks, I figured that would be the case since you just got it. I plan to do that as well since I still need the extra space. I kind of wish I would have upgraded to a 7200rpm drive when I went from a 320Gb to 750Gb drive last year since I do video work. I guess if I have to I can throw some of the files on the SSD to work with, but will avoid doing so when possible.

How did the Hard Drive Caddy fit? Was it sturdy with no movement?

I used this one because I am cheap. Very snug fit in the optical bay and the hard drive can be secured in the mount by two screws on the bottom of the mount.

 

[jekyoo]

I used this one because I am cheap. Very snug fit in the optical bay and the hard drive can be secured in the mount by two screws on the bottom of the mount.

I can vouch for this hard drive caddy. I bought the same one.

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This is what i bought today on newsegg deal, but OP can i ask you which software did you use to migrated everything over the new ssd from the stock hdd? Im gonna install that in my new mac mini base model, and gonna have them both. Lion will be on the ssd and files will be on the stock hdd.

I recommend using superduper or carbon copy cloner.

 

[aziatiklover]

Nah, I had some Amazon gift cards, so I got this bad boy for "free" $164.99. I've seen the price drop to $149.99 then change back up to $169.99 over night. Regarding the battery life, I haven't really gotten a chance to test out the battery life extensively, as i've had it plugged in all day because i've been moving lots of flies and such. As for the actual setup, I did put my original 500Gb (5400rpm) hard drive in the optical bay to store my music, videos, and pictures on. I'll get back with you on the battery life after a few days of testing it out and such. I don't expect more than a 30 min or so drop from what i've heard from other people (someone who was running a 17'' MBP with a 7200rpm with an SSD only lost around 30 minutes).

Edit: Sorry aziatiklover, I originally missed your post. I actually just did a fresh installation of Lion on my SSD, and then I used Lion's built in Migration Assistant to migrate my use account and my information (excluding my pictures, videos, and music). Check this link out if you have any questions about Migration Assistant, or shoot me a PM

Oh i see yea i was gonna do the samething, but didnt know if that would be faster than using a clone software! Btw wat about trim? Should i install it or just leave it simple?

I can vouch for this hard drive caddy. I bought the same one.

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I recommend using superduper or carbon copy cloner.

thanx

 

[TexasChemE]

Oh i see yea i was gonna do the samething, but didnt know if that would be faster than using a clone software! Btw wat about trim? Should i install it or just leave it simple?

thanx

I can't vouch for which way is faster. But, for Trim, I got conflicting information, but I went with enabling trim with Trim Enabler 2.1

 

[aziatiklover]

I can't vouch for which way is faster. But, for Trim, I got conflicting information, but I went with enabling trim with Trim Enabler 2.1

Yea bit confused here too for trim. I read its bad for the ssd if u dont have trim enable and wont last. I think im gonna go with trim until apple enable it.

 

[jekyoo]

Oh i see yea i was gonna do the samething, but didnt know if that would be faster than using a clone software! Btw wat about trim? Should i install it or just leave it simple?

thanx

When cloning your hd, it depends on your connection. If you're doing it via usb 2.0, people suggest doing it over night since it will take a couple hours. I plan to put my SSD in the optical bay and then cloning it to utilize the sata 3 speeds to speed up the process. Once it's cloned, I'm going to put the sdd into the hdd slot and the hd into the optical bay.

Cloning via usb 2.0 is longer than installing a fresh OS but i think it's more convenient since everything is the way you had it before.

 

[Magrathea]

I get exactly the same speeds, will try to update firmware and report back.

 

[punchwalk]

I believe TC's posted speeds are correct for the 128GB M4. I installed a new 128GB M4 on my Winter 2011 MBP (ten months ago) and have reads and writes within the same neighborhood (my write is a bit slower -- usually close to 170 MB/s -- but has benchmarked consistently throughout its lifespan up to this point).

BTW, I'm using firmware version 000F, which is the most recent version at the time of this post.