I recently got a Crucial M4 SSD for my mid-2009 MacBook Pro 13" (2.53 GHz). Since I paid some money, I would like to get the best performance possible out of it. Running a speed test using app store Black Magic Speed Test, it showed 260 Mb read and 170 Mb write, although on the Crucial website it says read up to 500 Mb. Trim is not enabled and firmware is the latest (0309).
The connection speed is SATA 3 GB/s.
Is this performance normal or something is going wrong?
From system profiler :
Vendor: NVidia
Product: MCP79 AHCI
Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported
M4-CT128M4SSD2:
Capacity: 128.04 GB (128,035,676,160 bytes)
Model: M4-CT128M4SSD2
Revision: 309
Serial Number: 000000001204032BCB4A
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
disk0s1:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
BSD Name: disk0s1
Content: EFI
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 127.18 GB (127,175,917,568 bytes)
Available: 63.01 GB (63,009,751,040 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /
Content: Apple_HFS
Recovery HD:
Capacity: 650 MB (650,002,432 bytes)
BSD Name: disk0s3
Content: Apple_Boot
Best Answer
Your SSD's link speed is limited by the troughput of the SATA interface and the protocol overhead.
A document by the Serial ATA International Organisation says:
It's best to compare your throughput rates with that of other Crucial M4 users. An optimal comparison would compare disks using the same firmware, benchmark tool and SATA interface.
However, the best comparison I found is a thread on forum.crucial.com. In this thread users are comparing Crucial M4 128GB (firmware 009) speeds on a SATA 2 interface. Even though you are using a different firmware, the results should be somewhat comparable because the firmware update 0309 was not aimed improving transfer rates. Judging by this thread, I'd say that your throughput is fine.
The only way to get the promised speed of the Crucial M4 is by using a SATA 3 interface. In my MBP I'm currently using a Crucial M4 128GB (firmware 0309) with a SATA 3 interface. The Black Magic Speed Test gives me: