Category: Benchmark
May 4th, 2009
Runcore Pro IV SSD benchmarks
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post I’ve completed some quick real-world benchmarks of the Pro IV 2.5-inch SATA SSD in my MacBook Pro 2.4GHz with 2GB RAM running Mac OS 10.5.6 with all updates applied. The SSD was set up from the HDD using Apple’s Migration Assistant.
They aren’t particularly scientific, just a snapshot of how I use my Mac on a daily basis, and as you can see the Pro IV SSD smokes the HDD.
On the left is the 128GB Runcore Pro IV SSD, on the right a 500GB WD Scorpio Blue 5400RPM HDD. All times are in seconds. Lower numbers are better, obviously:
| Runcore SSD | WD 5400 HDD | |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Photoshop | 4.68 | 17.14 |
| Launch Acrobat | 1.47 | 6.69 |
| Launch Mail.app | 2.96 | 53.51 |
| Launch Firefox 3 | 3.44 | 26.34 |
| Open 14 tabs | 20.88 | 38.62 |
| Open 5k FM10 db | 4.37 | 9.19 |
| Launch Tweetdeck | 10.15 | 26.47 |
| Launch Word ‘08 | 3.32 | 16.53 |
| Launch Excel ‘08 | 3.09 | 14.40 |
Cold boot, restart and shutdown were about the same with SSD and the HDD, but everything else is much, much faster.
May 3rd, 2009
Hands-on: Runcore Pro IV 2.5-inch SATA SSD
If you’re a fan of netbooks you’ve undoubtedly heard of Runcore. It’s a leading manufacturer of solid-state drives (SSDs) out of Hong Kong with a reputation for super-fast products. I purchased a Runcore SSD for my Dell Mini 9 (not once, but twice) because they consistently benchmark as much as 4x faster than the SSD that comes from Dell and have earned high praise from MyDellMini forum members. In fact, the Runcore SSD makes the Dell Mini 9 a very usable computer – it lags with the Dell SSD.
Building on the success of their netbook SSDs, Runcore has released its line of Pro IV 2.5-inch SATA SSDs for notebooks and they’re incredibly fast. As in life changing fast. The Pro IV SSD (pictured) comes in an aluminum enclosure the same dimensions as a standard 2.5-inch, 9.5mm SATA drive, allowing you to drop it into any notebook computer – including any of the SATA MacBooks.
The RunCore Pro IV Series features the world’s fastest MLC SSD, reaching speeds up to 240MB/sec read and 160MB/sec write. RunCore Pro IV Solid State drives also offer superior random read and random write speeds compared to the other main stream SSD on the market today. With in/outs per second (IOPS) of over 7000 read and 300 write it will process large amounts of data allowing you to simultaneously run a number of applications simultaneously with virtually no lag.
I’ve been testing the new 128GB Pro IV in my MacBook Pro for about two weeks and the results are amazing. In fact, after using the Pro IV SSD in my MacBook Pro I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to go back to a standard hard drive again - it’s that fast. Apps fly open and large documents save even faster thanks to the Pro IV’s 160 MB/second write speed. Boot times are also noticeably faster than my HDD (more benches to follow).
I benchmarked the Runcore Pro IV (128GB) in a 2.4GHz unibody MacBook Pro running Mac OS 10.5.6 with all the latest updates and was blown away by the results:
March 26th, 2009
Boot time shootout: MacBook Air v. Dell Mini 9
A friend forwarded me this video that compares the boot time of the MacBook Air to that of a Dell Mini 9 netbook and the results are pretty astonishing.
Keep in mind that this test is unscientific and that the MacBook Air is using a standard SATA hard drive whereas the Dell Mini 9 is using Solid State Drive (SSD). It’s also worth noting that the MBA’s Core 2 Duo processor is much faster than the Atom processor for day-to-day use. Anyone with a MBA/SSD want to do a test?
The more that I use my Mini 9 the more I realize how much Apple is missing the boat by not releasing a netbook. Apple could capture a lot of incremental revenue that they’re currently ceding to Acer, Asus and Dell by releasing a netbook. At minimum, Apple should release a mini-tablet/larger iPhone and with Bluetooth accessory support for keyboards and mice as this could possibly stem the tide.
I don’t buy for a minute that Apple’s not interested in the netbook space, it would simply be bad business for Apple to ignore this white-hot market. Unless you believe that Apple can’t make a computer under $500 that isn’t a “piece of junk” in which case, it’s admitting that its computers are overpriced. Because Dell makes a pretty darned good computer that starts at around $250.
Tip: Tycho
November 23rd, 2008
New MacBook Pro performance degrades with the battery removed
Gearlog has discovered a weird issue with the latest generation (Late 2008) MacBook Pros – they run like dogs when the battery is removed. To the tune of a 37-percent drop in speed without the battery.
Zach Honig benchmarked a 2.53GHz MacBook Pro with Maxon’s Cinebench R10. With a battery the MacBook Pro scored 5,549, without 3,504.
An Apple support article (HT2332) claims that the performance drop in both the MacBook and MacBook Pro “prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide.” It also warns again using the notebooks without the adaptor connected because “accidentally bumping the A/C adaptor could disconnect power and shutdown the computer.”
Why would anyone want to use a MacBook without the battery, anyway?
(Tip: Chuck Freedman, Wired Gadget Lab)
November 17th, 2008
3D gaming benchmarks for all three late-2008 MacBooks
Rob-ART over at BareFeats.com has tested the new ‘late 2008′ MacBook 2.4GHz against the 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz MacBook Pro at its native 1280×800 and concludes:
The fastest “late 2008″ MacBook Pro* (2.8GHz) is about 20% faster than its fastest predecessor (”early 2008″ MBP 2.6GHz) when it comes to 3D accelerated Game benchmarks. However don’t expect it to be faster than the fastest iMac or Mac Pro with roughly comparable graphics processors. A fast laptop Mac is not the equal of a fast desktop Mac. Unless portability is king, hard core gamers (and professional 3D modelers) will want a Mac Pro with the fastest GPU option they can afford…
When it comes to 3D accelerated graphics, the “late 2008″ 13″ MacBook 2.4GHz (with its integrated GeForce 9400M) is not as pathetic as the previous models of MacBook with the integrated GMA X3100 or 950. But its integrated GeForce 9400M is still no match for the dedicated GeForce 9600M GT (or 8600M GT) in the 2007 and 2008 MacBook Pros.
Read the rest at Bare Feats.
October 30th, 2008
USB 2.0 is faster on MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
In his Storage Interface Shootout (USB 2.0 vs FireWire 400 vs FireWire 800 vs Serial ATA on the ‘Late 2008′ MacBook Pro) Rob-ART Morgan at BareFeats documents the improvement in USB 2.0 speed on the “Late 2008″ MBP:
Up until now, every time we tested a USB 2.0 storage device on a Mac, the transfer rate was about half that of FireWire 400 even though it had a higher theoretical speed rating (480Mbit/s). Though it’s still not quite as fast as FireWire 400, it’s close enough to explain why Apple did away with the FW400 port on all new MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
October 22nd, 2008
MacBook Pro late-2008 3D gaming benchmarks
During the next few days Bare Feats will be posting a series of articles with benchmark results for the “late 2008″ MacBook Pro 2.8 versus other Macs. The first set of benchmarks posted are for 3D gaming.
We now have the 2.8GHz MacBook Pro in the lab which comes with the GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor. In this first session, we tested it using three 3D accelerated games at 1280×800 and 1440×900 (native). We wanted to see how it stacked up against the previous fastest 15″ MacBook Pro (2.6GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce 8600M GT) as well as the fastest iMac (3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce 8800 GS), and fastest Mac Pro (3.2GHz 8-core Xeon, GeForce 8800 GT).
May 15th, 2008
Geekbench: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)
Yesterday I posted Xbench benchmarks of the Psystar Open Computer against the latest shipping Mac mini and all three Apple notebook computers and the Open Computer beat the Mac mini 147 to 99.
Some suggested Geekbench 2 benchmarks should also be run. If you’re not familiar with Geekbench 2, scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 1000, the score of a Power Mac G5 running at 1.6GHz. One thing to keep in mind is that Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance, which is why, for example, MacBook and MacBook Pro scores are so similar, despite both having radically different GPUs.
Configurations are as follows:
- Psystar Open Computer, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
- Mac mini, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
Higher scores are better.
Again, the Psystar beat the Mac mini 3244 to 2936. You can can compare these results to all shipping Macs, and most shipping PCs on the Primate Lab blog.
Update: Geekbench 2 results from all three shipping MacBooks are after the jump…
May 14th, 2008
Xbench: Psystar v. Mac mini (and all three MacBooks)
I’ve completed some initial Benchmarks of the Psystar Open Computer. The results below are from Xbench 1.3 running on the following systems:
- Psystar Open Computer, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
- Mac mini, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 10.5.2
| Open Computer 2.4 | Mac mini 2.0 | |
| Results | 146.87 | 99.35 |
| CPU Test | 133.49 | 125.63 |
| Thread Test | 192.73 | 187.97 |
| Memory Test | 137.86 | 129.88 |
| Quartz Graphics Test | 201.00 | 180.70 |
| OpenGL Graphics Test | 173.80 | 295.74 |
| User Interface Test | 286.67 | 266.94 |
| Disk Test | 74.01 | 27.16 |
Higher scores are better.
In short, the Psystar pretty much trounces the closest price Mac available from Apple – the Mac mini – in both overall results and the CPU test.As a point of reference, I also benchmarked Apple’s current notebooks, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
February 14th, 2008
MacBook Air Diary-Day 15: Temperature benchmarks
A big concern for anyone using a notebook computer for any length of time is the heat it generates. It actually came to a head a few years ago when the lawyers at most notebook computer manufacturers replaced the term “laptop” with “notebook” for fear of litigation.
Apple recommends that their notebook computers only be used on a flat, stable surface – not on your lap. They go so far as saying the following on their MacBook care Web site and in the user guide:
When you’re using your MacBook or charging the battery, it’s normal for the bottom of the case to get warm. For prolonged use, place your MacBook on a flat, stable surface. Do not place your MacBook on your lap or other body surface for extended periods of time. Prolonged body contact can cause discomfort and potentially a burn. The bottom of the MacBook case functions as a cooling surface that transfers heat from inside the computer to the cooler air outside. The bottom of the case is raised slightly to allow airflow, which keeps the unit within normal operating temperatures. In addition, warm air is vented from the slots in the back of the case.
(emphasis mine)
To measure the heat generated by the MacBook Air I created 12 temperature zones on the bottom plate. I flipped over the MBA and mapped locations in three rows and four columns. Zones 1 to 4 are across the top from left to right. Zones 5 to 8 are in the middle row and 9 to 12 are the bottom row.
I measured the temperatures (in degree Fahrenheit) on the bottom of an MBA (1.6GHz HDD) and MBP (2.4GHz Santa Rosa) after approximately three and five hours of use using a Mastercool 52224 infrared thermometer. Both machines were attached to AC power and sitting on a cloth upholstered ottoman.
Take the jump to compare the MBA to the MBP temperatures after three and five hours of use.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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