Optimizing Speed Of Newly Installed SSD

[Sammy's]

I just replaced my 2009 Mac Mini's Hard Drive with a Samsung 860 EVO SSD and restored the OS to El Capitan. Is there anything I have to do to ensure that I'm getting the fastest speeds out of this drive for this machine?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nermal]

You might want to do "sudo trimforce enable" at the command line; this makes it use a faster method of deleting old files.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Run the "Blackmagic Disk Speed Test" app for a few seconds and post the results. Folks here will let you know if it doesn't look "fast" enough.

 

[Sammy's]

Run the "Blackmagic Disk Speed Test" app for a few seconds and post the results. Folks here will let you know if it doesn't look "fast" enough.

Hope I chose the correct drive:

 

[BrianBaughn]

That looks about the same as my MacBook which has the same SATA bus speed (3.0 GB/s)...so you're good to go, I think.

 

[Sammy's]

That looks about the same as my MacBook which has the same SATA bus speed (3.0 GB/s)...so you're good to go, I think.

Cool - that is what I was hoping for. Curious, how do you translate the numbers on the test to = 3.0 GB/s?

 

[Carlos51]

Hi,
I guess your question is how to convert from MB/s to GB/s. So:
1,000 MB/s = 1 GB/s
Carlos

 

[MacManiac76]

The SATA II speed limitation is actually 3.0 Gb/s, not 3.0 GB/s. The proper base2 conversion is also actually 1024 MB/s = 1 GB/s.

 

[Sammy's]

Hi,
I guess your question is how to convert from MB/s to GB/s. So:
1,000 MB/s = 1 GB/s
Carlos

Kinda - I was more wondering which numbers on the test equated to a drive speed of 3.0GB/s (the drive is advertised as 6GB/s but wouldn't be able to get that on this machine. 3.0GB/s is what I was hoping for and not the 1.5GB/s that some say different SSD's end up giving)

 

[MacManiac76]

3.0 Gb/s = (3.0*1024)/8 = 384 MB/s which would be the theoretical maximum speed you would ever get on a SATA II bus.

 

[Sammy's]

3.0 Gb/s = (3.0*1024)/8 = 384 MB/s which would be the theoretical maximum speed you would ever get on a SATA II bus.

So how do I figure my actual speed given the numbers on the speed test?

 

[MacManiac76]

So how do I figure my actual speed given the numbers on the speed test?

The bus speeds you are getting would be Read (265/1024)*8 = 2.07 Gb/s and Write (203/1024)*8 = 1.59 Gb/s.

* Also there is a big difference between GB vs. Gb and MB vs. Mb. I think you are misinterpreting what you are reading in the drive specs.

 

[Sammy's]

The bus speeds you are getting would be Read (265/1024)*8 = 2.07 Gb/s and Write (203/1024)*8 = 1.59 Gb/s.

Cool - in post #5 BB mentioned I was getting 3.0 Gb/s. If i'm not hitting those numbers but I potentially could, how do I go about doing so?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Sorry for the confusing. That iMac has a SATA II (3.0Gb/s) storage interface. See everymac.com. The storage interface doesn't change...no matter what SSD you put in there.

 

[Sammy's]

Sorry for the confusing. That iMac has a SATA II (3.0Gb/s) storage interface. See everymac.com. The storage interface doesn't change...no matter what SSD you put in there.

So is there a way to optimize this so that you get close to the 3.0Gb/s?

 

[MacManiac76]

So is there a way to optimize this so that you get close to the 3.0Gb/s?

No. You are going to be limited by the SATA II bus, data transfer overhead, the operating system, drive firmware, etc. Also, the transfer speeds are also usually limited based on the size of the drive. A 1 TB drive will almost always have greater read/write speeds vs. a 256 GB drive of the same brand/type. What size is the drive you have?

 

[Sammy's]

No. You are going to be limited by the SATA II bus, data transfer overhead, the operating system, drive firmware, etc. Also, the transfer speeds are also usually limited based on the size of the drive. A 1 TB drive will almost always have greater read/write speeds vs. a 256 GB drive of the same brand/type. What size is the drive you have?

It's a Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB - got it for $72 which seemed like a good price.

 

[MacManiac76]

It's a Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB - got it for $72 which seemed like a good price.

That is a pretty good deal. You might want to try AmorphousDiskMark, which I find gives more accurate speed tests over Blackmagic. The speeds on the first line are what Blackmagic measures. The other three are smaller file sizes that give a more accurate speed test for everyday computing tasks.

 

[hondaaccord]

Hi,
I am also looking to install a new SSD in my 2009 Mac mini. Does the Samsung 860 in system report give you a negotiated speed of 3.0 ? I want to buy an SSD that will not dowgrade to 1.5

 

[kensic]

It's a Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB - got it for $72 which seemed like a good price.

ahahah lol, i think its funny that people still can't tell they are talking bout Mb or MB.

most speed testing softwares (ie black magic) output unit is in MB. (big B)

however transfer speed rating in cables/network are shown in Mb. (little b)

so just do the conversion . 8Mb = MB

SATA II max limit is 3Gb/s = 375MB/s...however with cable/hardware losses 300 MB/s is probably real life maximum

OP is getting write is 206 MB/s and read is 265 MB/s

therefore you are GOOD, getting very close to the real life maximum speed for sata II. EASY BREEZY

people say the bigger the hard drive, the faster the write/read speed. so the 1TB evo, would probably get abit closer to that 300 MB/s limit

hope this helps
[doublepost=1550249481][/doublepost]

That is a pretty good deal. You might want to try AmorphousDiskMark, which I find gives more accurate speed tests over Blackmagic. The speeds on the first line are what Blackmagic measures. The other three are smaller file sizes that give a more accurate speed test for everyday computing tasks.

thats interesting, thank you for the infor.