13" MBP SATA interface downgraded to 1.5 Gigabit

ldoogy wrote:
That's perfectly understandable Haricot... Please let us know if/when you change your mind... 🙂

One thing I'd love to see is a benchmark of this drive, preferably before and after the firmware upgrade, but I'll settle for a "before" if you don't plan on installing the update. By the way, I must say I am confident the update is very low-risk considering the earlier MacBooks/MBPs (late 2008 unibody) were based on the exact same chipset and ran at SATA II.

There is someone in another thread who thinks it may have something to do with the type of connector cable that Apple is using. He seems to be hinting that the cable may not be the proper type for 3.0 Gbit/sec communications. If that's the case, then no firmware update alone is going to make it work properly. Apple said that they never tested it and didn't support the use of the 3.0 Gbit/sec interface spec.

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9712558#9712558

He's talking about CRC (cyclical-redundancy checking) errors. These are common in all sorts of serial interfaces, including USB, FireWire, and SATA. I only have a basic understanding, but I think I can explain on a macro level. Those are checks done on a stream of data where the sender adds a bit or bits at the end of a "packet" based on a formula. The receiver is supposed to calculate what this check value is supposed to be and compares it to what it sees transmitted on the line. If there's any sort of "signal integrity" issue where the data is read incorrectly, the check values almost always don't match up and typically the communication will be retried. If they absolutely pile up CRC errors, it could eventually crash.

Yep!

I just installed the Intel X-25M in a 15" 2.8GHz upgraded to EFI 1.7 and have seen read performance of over 220MB/s, which should not be possible without SATA-II support.

Only 70MB/s write performance though, but that is what that drive should give... A high-capacity X-25E, that would be another thing... 😉

The machine says 3Gbps in System Profiler also.

No before figures though, I upgraded the firmware before installing the drive...

So, it looks good and no problems so far! Boot performance is spectacular.

Also, it seems stable.

Here are some performance numbers using Xbench:

---------------------------------------------
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2MH160G1GC
Disk Test 225.54
Sequential 143.78
Uncached Write 128.75 79.05 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 102.84 58.19 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 125.06 36.60 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 428.57 215.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 522.86
Uncached Write 646.62 68.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 226.81 72.61 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1472.08 10.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 984.81 182.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
---------------------------------------------

I don't have access to my tests here but I have a new 2.53GHz 13" MBP. I tested it with xbench before swapping to an Intel X-25M drive. As expected the tests from base model to SSD showed significant improvement even at SATA speeds. Then after the firmware my drive got another speed bump and my disk test went up by 25%.

Those do look like SATA 2 numbers. My Intel XM25 on a Unibody MBP 17 2.93 which definitely shipped with SATA already set at 3.0 GBps are...


System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J61)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,2
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2MH160G1GC
Disk Test 177.82
Sequential 146.69
Uncached Write 129.01 79.21 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 108.53 61.41 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 125.85 36.83 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 424.37 213.28 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 225.72
Uncached Write 374.76 39.67 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 75.25 24.09 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2416.44 17.12 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 741.33 137.56 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Haricot, this is the tool everybody's been using: http://www.xbench.com/. If you use it to post numbers, it would make them comparable to all other systems on this thread...

Here are numbers from my MBP13 after the EFI firmware update to 3.0 GBps. Drive is an Apple supplied Seagate 7200.3 320 GB pulled from my Unibody 17 and put into my MPB13.

Results 46.48
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type ST9320421ASG
Disk Test 46.48
Sequential 89.15
Uncached Write 115.52 70.93 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 100.17 56.68 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 53.30 15.60 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 133.95 67.32 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 31.43
Uncached Write 10.63 1.12 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 106.80 34.19 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 60.60 0.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 137.44 25.50 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Haricot,

It is a TOSHIBA. Look at the first two letters of the model number. Samsung drives will start with SM.

Cool utility! Took it 3 times in a row - Old firmware (13 inch MBP not upgraded) -


----------------------------------
Results 194.67
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type APPLE SSD TS128A
CPU Test 152.39
GCD Loop 263.58 13.89 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 127.71 3.03 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 106.87 3.53 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 189.83 33.06 Mops/sec
Thread Test 321.49
Computation 458.35 9.29 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 247.57 10.65 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 165.00
System 166.80
Allocate 132.79 487.64 Kalloc/sec
Fill 174.44 8481.53 MB/sec
Copy 211.77 4374.11 MB/sec
Stream 163.23
Copy 156.76 3237.83 MB/sec
Scale 153.36 3168.35 MB/sec
Add 172.47 3673.91 MB/sec
Triad 172.21 3684.06 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 191.70
Line 171.83 11.44 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 228.60 68.25 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 185.71 15.14 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 176.74 4.46 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 206.39 12.91 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 148.98
Spinning Squares 148.98 188.99 frames/sec
User Interface Test 331.59
Elements 331.59 1.52 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 189.35
Sequential 123.69
Uncached Write 183.12 112.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 168.61 95.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 60.21 17.62 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 230.42 115.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 403.63
Uncached Write 245.52 25.99 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 308.86 98.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1251.44 8.87 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 555.44 103.07 MB/sec [256K blocks]

-------------------
Results 192.71
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type APPLE SSD TS128A
CPU Test 151.72
GCD Loop 264.54 13.94 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 128.21 3.05 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 104.92 3.46 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 190.33 33.14 Mops/sec
Thread Test 279.41
Computation 333.78 6.76 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 240.28 10.34 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 176.72
System 197.14
Allocate 208.65 766.25 Kalloc/sec
Fill 175.50 8533.14 MB/sec
Copy 211.54 4369.23 MB/sec
Stream 160.14
Copy 154.08 3182.55 MB/sec
Scale 151.60 3132.05 MB/sec
Add 168.60 3591.46 MB/sec
Triad 167.76 3588.77 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 192.02
Line 171.32 11.41 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 229.23 68.44 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 185.29 15.10 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 178.47 4.50 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 206.67 12.93 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 147.31
Spinning Squares 147.31 186.87 frames/sec
User Interface Test 335.53
Elements 335.53 1.54 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 181.21
Sequential 118.40
Uncached Write 182.64 112.14 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 169.25 95.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 55.36 16.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 230.62 115.91 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 385.94
Uncached Write 223.20 23.63 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 308.66 98.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1197.23 8.48 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 552.80 102.58 MB/sec [256K blocks]
-----------------------
Results 190.22
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookPro5,5
Drive Type APPLE SSD TS128A
CPU Test 151.20
GCD Loop 263.77 13.90 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 127.98 3.04 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 104.23 3.44 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 190.27 33.13 Mops/sec
Thread Test 288.80
Computation 355.34 7.20 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 243.25 10.46 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Memory Test 176.36
System 195.49
Allocate 202.58 743.95 Kalloc/sec
Fill 175.21 8519.08 MB/sec
Copy 212.65 4392.18 MB/sec
Stream 160.64
Copy 154.01 3180.97 MB/sec
Scale 151.47 3129.27 MB/sec
Add 169.74 3615.78 MB/sec
Triad 169.09 3617.21 MB/sec
Quartz Graphics Test 191.99
Line 172.13 11.46 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 227.12 67.81 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 184.97 15.08 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 178.99 4.51 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 206.72 12.93 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 148.73
Spinning Squares 148.73 188.68 frames/sec
User Interface Test 331.26
Elements 331.26 1.52 Krefresh/sec
Disk Test 163.89
Sequential 104.17
Uncached Write 182.60 112.11 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 169.25 95.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 44.09 12.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 230.78 115.99 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 384.10
Uncached Write 221.61 23.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 308.40 98.73 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1197.19 8.48 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 548.33 101.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Oh yeah, makes sense. Thanks krypttic.

@CTB

Did you already received your order with Apple installed SSDs in the new MacBook Pro? Because I'm very interested into the read- and wirte performance from the SSD's under EFI 1.7.

So it would be very nice, if you can post some results.

Thanks...

Yours sincerely'

immortalis

Well it is worthless speculation for the uninformed masses with a 50000ft view from the top. For people with actual experience building and running machines with NVidia junk it is a fact of life. Google creatively for more "proof".

I was very very happy with my SSD in my Jan'09 MacBook Pro 15" until I upgraded to a June MBP 17" and slapped my OCZ Vertex 250gb into the shiny new machine. It worked like a charm - for a while. On one rainy day after a couple of weeks of using the machine I got very erratic behavior, read errors, no boot drive at startup, regular lock-ups, very unapple behavior!

After reading thru 1000 forum messages at OCZ and Apple I am still not 100% sure what the issue is, but here is my take:

The new, nVidia chipset based MacBook Pro's suffered a downgrade to 1.5GBit SATA I - which seems quite anachronistic, there is hardly any SATA I drives out there anymore. The reason for this seems to be a heat issue with the nVidia Northbridge that also has the drive controller. Throtteling it seems to have been an Apple fix to get around the issue, even though Apple has issued an EFI bios update that fixes the fix.

All this doesn't help the heating issue. Fast SSD drives are the only SATA drives in the market (lest may be some SAS 15kRPM drives that won't fit in a Lappie) that are fast enough to challenge the drive controller. So basically, you are out of luck in a new MacBook Pro if you want a fast SSD.

May be this is also the reason why the SSD's that Apple ships are on the slower end of the 2nd gen SSD's. Here is my chart from my previous blog with the numbers updated with a MBP 13" with an "Apple" SSD (no easy way to find out who the real manufacturer is). Especially the sequential R/W operations are way slower then the faster gen 2 SSD's.

Details, charts, links here: http://www.synapps.de/you-want-you-need-ssd-drive-your-lappie-not-new-macbook-pr o039s

There was a 1.5Gbps downgrade only on the MBP 13" and 15" with EFI firmware 1.6 (original one).

THe MBP 17", that you have, has always been at 3Gbps, even with the original EFI (is there an EFI update for the 17"? I'm not sure). So the 17" is not concerned by the 1.5Gbps issue.

I'd suggest you to contact Apple for your SSD issue.

THe MBP 17", that you have, has always been at 3Gbps, even with the original EFI (is there an EFI update for the 17"? I'm not sure). So the 17" is not concerned by the 1.5Gbps issue.

Right. But it has the nVidia chipset as well. The throttling then happened on the July MBP 13 and 15 that also have the nVidia chipset. So both may have the overheating issue with fast drives. In any event, the OCZ wont work in the MBP 17 - for the same reasons it seems.