OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 115GB in MacBookPro3.1 running OSX 10.5.8

I'm a little confused here. Things are so much easier with SSD's and Windows 7.

I convinced my business-owner friend to upgrade her manager's hard drive on her MBP3.1 to an SSD. Their tech guy raved about OWC and I couldn't find reason to disagree. I know that OSX 10.5.8 does not support TRIM, but he'll upgrade the machine the next time around. Here's the link to the SSD:
OWC SSDMX115 115GB Mercury EXTREME Pro 3G SSD 2.5"... in stock at OWC

Anyway, it was recommended to simply move the data from the HDD using SuperDuper! It worked without any issues. The partition starting sector is 409640 (offset = 209,735,680), which is aligned when it comes to file allocation unit size, but not necessarily aligned for NAND Page and NAND Erase Block size. Not sure if it matters according to SSD Alignment Calculator | techPowerUp

Anyway, it seems impossible to find tools of any decent use for OSX, but I finally found AJA System Test, which does I think a decent job.

Well, the numbers are sorely disappointing:
128MB sequential file size
write = 120mbps
read = 125mbps

The read rate should be MUCH higher, shouldn't it? Is it because it's OSX 10.5.8? Is it the method in which the data was moved? So long as the partition starts in the right place, the method of transfer shouldn't be an issue.

What gives?

 

Not a Mac head per se, but the best method I've seen is doing a full time capsule backup, clean install the O/S and then doing a TC restore for your programs and data. Huge performance gains even from a mechanical to a mechanical HDD (to a 2 yr newer HDD... same 7200RPM speed). How huge? At least 60% and coming close to your SSD scores you're posting now.

In your case, I would SE the SSD, and follow the above procedure - assuming you/the boss has access to a TC backup solution for the Mac in question.


(Btw: one reason that the performance jumped so high is the 3 or 4 generations difference between the two HDD's - the other is the fact that the 'proper' re-install greatly decreased the free space fragmentation that kills Mac performance over time.

I am willing to bet that your method of moving/cloning the drive has resulted in such bad 'scores' - SSD alignment is very important not only for performance, but also for reducing Write Amplification (WA) too. Even if the SSD is aligned, a clean OS/X installation is still highly recommended).

 

Not sure if Garry is game for the TC solution, though that did just get set up, so it does exist.

Emailed with OWC and they pointed out that the MBP3.1 is only a SATA 1 machine and the numbers I'm getting are spot on. Grrr...

Well, when the machine is upgraded, it will be a "FAST" SSD. Until then, it's just going to be "fast".

 

Whoa! SATA1, back from prehistoric earth!

Then the speeds must seem/feel awesome then.

 

Yeah, the speed is pretty fast relative to what she stared with (120GB 5400RPM). When they upgrade in a year or two, then the drive will really be able to shine.