How fast should my SSD be??

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How fast should my SSD be??

I have a 27 inch i7 2.93 Ghz mid 2010 iMac. Had it since new where I used a back up of my old 2006 Dual Core iMac as a clone.

Specs are internal 120GB OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD (TRIM enabled) for boot and apps (installed around 2012) , 2TB 7200 HDD itunes etc, 32GB RAM, Radeon 5750 1024MB.

Issue is that my Boot times are slow and when I do Black Magic test I get 80-90 MB/s write and 188-190 Read. My question is, with this SSD, is this what I should expect from it? I get very similar speeds from my 2TB spinner.

As this is an old SSD, from around 2012 from memory, is it just the speed SSD's were at that time?

I've done a few things today, nothing really helped, Reset NVRAM, terminal command through recovery fsck -fy, Reset SMC.

Just interested to know, if it is what it is I was abandon my search for more usable speed. Through apps etc it is still quick enough I guess, the RAM upgrade from 8-32 (although I suspect just going to 16 would have been the same) helped a lot for usability.

iMac 27", macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 9, 2019 1:26 AM

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Answer 1

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HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

71,570 points

Jul 9, 2019 9:35 PM in response to blackvulcan3

Did you ever update the firmware on the SSD? There have been multiple firmware updates for the older OWC Electra SSDs. Check the OWC support page for the firmware updates.

https://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/OWC/SSD

Use DriveDX and post the DriveDX report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. The DriveDX report may contain important information about the drive. If the firmware is too old, then the SSD may not have any access to the SSD's built-in SMART feature. If this is the case, then you will need to update the SSD's firmware. I'm not sure DriveDX will properly assess the health of an SSD so the report is critical. I believe in the demo version of DriveDX you can also run the SSD's internal selftest (if the firmware is not too old).

If TRIM was not previously enabled, then you may need to Option Boot the system and let it sit at the Apple boot picker menu for a few hours to allow the SSD's internal garbage collection routines time to run.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

93,400 points

Jul 9, 2019 7:06 AM in response to blackvulcan3

The R/W speed of a 3G SSD should be somewhere around 250/280 MB/s.

The problem with that upgrade in the 2010 iMac, is that both SSD and HDD are connected together using a SATA splitter.

see > https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/iMac-Intel-27-Inch-Mid-2010-Dual-Hard-Drive-Kit/IF174-004?o=3

and > https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2390+Dual+HDD+or+SSD+Drive/9266

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Answer 3

Jul 10, 2019 7:08 AM in response to blackvulcan3

The SSD looks Ok from the report.

If letting the computer sit at the Apple boot picker menu for a few hours doesn't help, then I would suggest backing it up and making sure you can boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. Then I would perform a Secure Erase on the drive which will reset the SSD to factory defaults and should restore any lost performance because it resets all the NAND. I have seen the Secure Erase resolve problems with SSDs and I've found it can be especially useful after a firmware update to make sure none of the bad settings are left over from the older firmware.

The Secure Erase is a hardware feature built into many SSDs, but it requires Linux tools to take advantage of it. You can create a bootable Parted Magic USB drive using Etcher. Parted Magic uses Linux and has customized scripts to make some utilities easier to use. Option Boot the Parted Magic USB drive and select the orange icon labeled "EFI". On the Parted Magic desktop there should be an icon for erasing drives. When running the script/app, you need to make sure to select the "ATA Secure Erase" option as none of the other erase options will reset the SSD and will only cause unnecessary wear on the SSD. You can get the old free version of Parted Magic from the MajorGeeks' link here.

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

79,934 points

Jul 9, 2019 5:12 PM in response to blackvulcan3

Did you enable TRIM? When I put an OWC Electra 6G SSD in my 2012 MacBook Pro, their instructions recommended NOT enabling TRIM because they handled those functions with a proprietary method.

These are the actual r/w numbers EtreCheck reports for my drive. As den.thed points out, you should get roughly half those values:

Performance:

System Load: 1.61 (1 min ago) 1.60 (5 min ago) 2.94 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O speed: 0.15 MB/s

File system: 28.20 seconds

Write speed: 487 MB/s

Read speed: 482 MB/s

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Answer 5

Jul 9, 2019 5:00 PM in response to blackvulcan3

If your boot times are slow, check what is being loaded at boot.

Menu > Apple > System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items

Also the SSD is small, how full is it, if it has less than 10-15% free OSX will struggle.

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Answer 6

Rudegar

Level 10

182,208 points

Jul 9, 2019 2:14 AM in response to blackvulcan3

this one? https://www.storagereview.com/owc_mercury_extreme_pro_ssd_review_120gb

more

https://www.google.com/search?ei=vlokXb-xGYrPwQKstL6YAQ&q=120gb+owc+mercury+electra+3g+ssd+benchmark&oq=120GB+OWC+Mercury+Electra+3G+SSD+bench&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.33i21.9256.10172..10725...0.0..0.136.407.4j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......33i160.oexWPmm5Ebk

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Answer 7

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 9, 2019 3:02 AM in response to Rudegar

Not the pro, its the Electra 3G.

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Answer 8

Jul 9, 2019 5:43 PM in response to blackvulcan3

Have you looked in Activity Monitor to see if there is anything else going on?

Maybe time to take this to a Genius Bar.

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Answer 9

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 9, 2019 4:26 PM in response to den.thed

Thanks for the speed information.

The upgrade only splits power, not data cables, it uses the port on the logic board for data that it would have used if I had chosen to install the SSD from Apple direct, since the power draw from the SSD is minimal this shouldn't be a concern and shouldn't lessen read/write speeds.

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Answer 10

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 9, 2019 5:49 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Unfortunately my nearest Genius Bar is 1500 miles away (just over 2000kms).

I will check activity monitor but unsure how that would influence boot times, any advice appreciated, off to work so I cant check for about 8 hours.

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Answer 11

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 10, 2019 12:16 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks HWTech, I have a gen2 drive with firmware that is recommended to be updated, so I will, thank you for the advice, I never even thought to consider that. I had done an option boot but will do it again once firmware is corrected. SMART was verified but again, firmware update may help.

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Answer 12

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 10, 2019 3:02 PM in response to HWTech

Thanks for taking the time to respond HWTech.

I left the iMac on the boot picker menu all night last night, I haven't noticed a change.

My boot is unchanged, 20 seconds from power on chime to the Apple logo appearing and then a further 85-90 seconds to become usable, so 1 minute 45-50 seconds from power on chime to usable. This is with no programs reopening on restart/shut down. The black progress meter on boot is frustrating as it moves pretty fast for about 70% then stops for a while, to about 90% where it changes colour to a grey then a further delay. I'd love to know what processes it is going through, but not sure.

I have a time machine backup and also a second SSD Clone I made two days ago. I will look to erase and start again, if I do that, will the clone be sufficient do you think or should I use time machine to reinstall personal data from a clean install? My first imac was Tiger in 2006 and as I did a backup to this machine I have been updating that OS since that time across two devices, so I have been really hesitant to do a clean install. I used to do them on Windows all the time, OS has never needed it.

Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 13

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 10, 2019 6:51 PM in response to HWTech

Not sure why but I cant get the mac to see the my Parted Magic USB on the Option Boot. So I used Etcher which I have used before and flashed the Parted Magic 2013_08_01 iso file to it. I didnt see an option make it bootable I just followed the three Etcher steps, select the iso, select the drive, Finish. As I disconnected all other drives I only saw my Macintosh Hard Drive under option boot. What did I miss? In the interim I may try a different USB, I have tried a 4GB so far.

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Answer 14

blackvulcan3 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 10, 2019 10:22 PM in response to Glen Doggett

thanks Glen, I had seen that OWC external SATA port and I had considered it & although I have taken the imac apart, with my massive hands I vowed never to do it again as some of the ribbon cables were very hard for me to manipulate. I have managed to get a noticeable decrease in boot times and increase in write speeds thanks to HWTech whose advice was spot on.

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Answer 15

Jul 11, 2019 6:19 AM in response to blackvulcan3

@blackvulcan3, It has been a while since I tried out Parted Magic so there is a slight chance I modified the .iso image to allow booting to USB. I'll have to check it out again. I always have a couple of Linux systems which I use, so I don't use Parted Magic myself, but Parted Magic is easier for most people to use for a task like this one.

I'm glad you were able to resolve the issue.

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How fast should my SSD be??

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