Resolved Dual boot CONFIRMED for new Apricorn Velocity DUO X2!!!

[crjackson2134]

Congrats ShawnF! As mentioned here looking forward to your results no matter in what thread.

Wow! Things are moving too fast for me to keep up. I just got my 1st SSD 2 weeks ago, and my Apricorn Velocity-Solo-X2 2 days ago and I'm already falling behind.

I might go for one of these NGFF kits when the price goes down. Does anyone yet make a true 4 lane card (including the chipset) that only uses a single slot?

 

[Loa]

MP 3.1 non-RAID SSD Samsung 840 EVO 500GB SATA3 SOLO X2

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but how can a non-RAID EVO reach 1000MB/s write?

Loa

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but how can a non-RAID EVO reach 1000MB/s write?

Loa

Thanks for your observation. I'll be doing some more tests later.

 

[h9826790]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but how can a non-RAID EVO reach 1000MB/s write?

Loa

May be by some future technology like this

Anyway, if that test was carried out in Windows with RAPID mode activated. A non-RAID Evo can easily reach that speed. The RAPID mode in windows will use 2GB of RAM as a buffer, which make a big difference in the benchmark software.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

May be by some future technology like this

Yes read about it, that would surely be awesome!

Anyway, if that test was carried out in Windows with RAPID mode activated. A non-RAID Evo can easily reach that speed. The RAPID mode in windows will use 2GB of RAM as a buffer, which make a big difference in the benchmark software.

Strange that the same non-RAID SSD in RAPID mode in my MP 3.1 mounted on the SOLO X2 has so much slower speeds for writes?

 

[Loa]

Hello,

Well the EVO performs in the 500MB/s range, so it's impossible that it could give anything more than that. Using buffers is just misleading, just like using RAM disks to boost disk performance.

2 EVOs in RAID0 should reach about 1000MB/s, but not a single one. This is the test I'm most curious about with this DUOX2 card.

Loa

 

[h9826790]

Using buffers is just misleading, just like using RAM disks to boost disk performance.

That's exactly what RAPID mode does. It's quite benchmark orientated.

 

[Loa]

That's exactly what RAPID mode does.

I know, but it's absolutely meaningless as a way to benchmark a drive or PCIe card

Here's a parallel: let's say you want to measure a bow's power by measuring the speed of the arrow as it leaves the bow. That in itself is a very interesting way to measure the bow's power. But if the bowman is standing in the back of truck driving at 60mph, then the arrow's speed doesn't tell you anything about the bow's power.

In the end, that 508 read and 1129 write doesn't say *anything* about the EVO drive or the DUO X2's performance.

Loa

 

[m4v3r1ck]

I know, but it's absolutely meaningless as a way to benchmark a drive or PCIe card

Here's a parallel: let's say you want to measure a bow's power by measuring the speed of the arrow as it leaves the bow. That in itself is a very interesting way to measure the bow's power. But if the bowman is standing in the back of truck driving at 60mph, then the arrow's speed doesn't tell you anything about the bow's power.

In the end, that 508 read and 1129 write doesn't say *anything* about the EVO drive or the DUO X2's performance.

Loa

As I said before: "Thanks for your observation. I'll be doing some more tests later."

 

[m4v3r1ck]

DUO X2 840 EVO non RAPID

I know, but it's absolutely meaningless as a way to benchmark a drive or PCIe card

In the end, that 508 read and 1129 write doesn't say *anything* about the EVO drive or the DUO X2's performance.

Loa

Here you go!

My bad for not mentioning CLEARLY that RAPID mode was ON. Good point Loa , better for making useful comparisons.

- Cheers

 

[Loa]

Here you go!

Nice! Thanks for this one!

Would you happen to have 2 EVOs lying around? I'm very curious to see how 2 in RAID0 would perform on that card.

Loa

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Would you happen to have 2 EVOs lying around? I'm very curious to see how 2 in RAID0 would perform on that card.

Sure I have plenty of 840 EVO's 'lying around' Who doesn't

On topic: I still had some test drives left on my list:
- OS X RAID0
- Windows RAID0

My top-of-my-list test was to set up a dual boot with the DUO X2, because that would be the most used config for a MP, I gues? Keep you posted.

- Cheers

 

[crjackson2134]

BDM STUDIOS NL,

Do you notice any difference in boot times between the X2 and the X2 DUO?

 

[hfg]

On topic: I still had some test drives left on my list:
- OS X RAID0
- Windows RAID0

My top-of-my-list test was to set up a dual boot with the DUO X2, because that would be the most used config for a MP, I gues? Keep you posted.

- Cheers

If this single-slot card can dual boot OS X and Windows
... and have RAID-0 as well
... ... ... OK - I want one!!

Looking forward to your findings.


-howard

 

[m4v3r1ck]

BDM STUDIOS NL,

Do you notice any difference in boot times between the X2 and the X2 DUO?

Both cards cycle 1.5 time at Apple Logo bootscreen (when SSD is selected as bootdisk in prefs pane). My total boot time for OS X pressing the on-button is ~ 35 seconds till my desktop appears.

~ Cheers

----------

If this single-slot card can dual boot OS X and Windows
... and have RAID-0 as well
... ... ... OK - I want one!!
Looking forward to your findings.
-howard

It does boot both OS X and Windows on each mouted SSD. The Raid-0's for both OS's I'll be testing soon.

~ Cheers

 

[ShawnF]

Hi everyone! So as promised here is my Blackmagic test scores for the Addonics Quad mSata with 2 Crucial M500 240GB running in RAID0:



The screen capture is one of many but I should clarify that I am actually getting the following peak scores for sequential:

Write: 545MBs
Read: 680MBs

This is witihin my expectation as the Crucial M500 240GB only has a rated max write speed of 250MBs. So far I am happy and I plan to start using this is my Final Cut Pro X scratch drive. I hope it can handle those large RAW files from my Magic Lantern hacked 600D - fingers crossed!

 

[Loa]

Hello,

BDM studio, can you confirm that the DUO X2 card is PCIE X2? If so, we already know its absolute max speed, no?

(Try searching for X2 in this thread and you'll get an overload!)

Loa

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Hello,

BDM studio, can you confirm that the DUO X2 card is PCIE X2? If so, we already know its absolute max speed, no?

(Try searching for X2 in this thread and you'll get an overload!)

Loa

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/19136487/

pci1b4b,9230:

  Type:	AHCI Controller
  Driver Installed:	Yes
  MSI:	Yes
  Bus:	PCI
  Slot:	Slot-2
  Vendor ID:	0x1b4b
  Device ID:	0x9230
  Subsystem Vendor ID:	0x1b4b
  Subsystem ID:	0x9230
  Revision ID:	0x0011
  Link Width:	x2
  Link Speed:	5.0 GT/s

~ Cheers

 

[Loa]

Ah! Thanks!

Loa

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Hi everyone! So as promised here is my Blackmagic test scores for the Addonics Quad mSata with 2 Crucial M500 240GB running in RAID0:

Thanks for reporting back ShawnF!

View attachment 474050

The screen capture is one of many but I should clarify that I am actually getting the following peak scores for sequential:

Write: 545MBs
Read: 680MBs

This is witihin my expectation as the Crucial M500 240GB only has a rated max write speed of 250MBs. So far I am happy and I plan to start using this is my Final Cut Pro X scratch drive. I hope it can handle those large RAW files from my Magic Lantern hacked 600D - fingers crossed!

The specs of the Crucial M500 240GB: W = 250MBs / R = 500MBs so I think your reads are falling a bit behind. But overall it's a much better score then SATAII and as you write you are happy with the results. Let us know how your findings are when using it as a Final Cut Pro X scratch drive.

Additional members review on Addonoics Facebook: "Fantastic product... just wondering if it would be possible to add or bridge a second Marvell 9320 on there so that each set of drives would get its own 10 Gb/s bandwidth making it a true x4 card? This would add a bunch of bandwidth for the mSata SSD folks (allowing them 20 Gb/s or 1750 MB/s in RAID), and as a side effect of it having 4 lanes would also benefit folks that are still on PCIe 1.0 (by giving them 10 Gb/s or up to 875 MB/s). Other than that - fantastic product!!!"

I mailed Addonics for it's Sales Rep (The Netherlands) to contact me for shipping two to me. I want to test this card as well myself. Keep you posted!

~ Cheers

 

[ShawnF]

Thanks for reporting back ShawnF!



The specs of the Crucial M500 240GB: W = 250MBs / R = 500MBs so I think your reads are falling a bit behind. But overall it's a much better score then SATAII and as you write you are happy with the results. Let us know how your findings are when using it as a Final Cut Pro X scratch drive.

Additional members review on Addonoics Facebook: "Fantastic product... just wondering if it would be possible to add or bridge a second Marvell 9320 on there so that each set of drives would get its own 10 Gb/s bandwidth making it a true x4 card? This would add a bunch of bandwidth for the mSata SSD folks (allowing them 20 Gb/s or 1750 MB/s in RAID), and as a side effect of it having 4 lanes would also benefit folks that are still on PCIe 1.0 (by giving them 10 Gb/s or up to 875 MB/s). Other than that - fantastic product!!!"

I mailed Addonics for it's Sales Rep (The Netherlands) to contact me for shipping two to me. I want to test this card as well myself. Keep you posted!

~ Cheers

Yeah - I tried several times but I can't seem to push the read speeds beyond that. Not sure if it's my Mac, the drives or the controller. But given that my speeds have almost doubled from my Plextor M5S, I am quite satisfied for what I paid for. My concern now is to see how well this striped pair holds up.

Hope you enjoy your Addonics adapter too - and yes please share you scores, especially if you are using the EVO mSatas! I bought the Crucial because I figured since I am not going to break the 800MBs ceiling, I might as well save $180 by getting the Crucial. Yes, in Singapore the EVO 256GB mSata sells for almost $100 more than the Crucial M500 240GB!

 

[m4v3r1ck]

DUO X2 -> 2x SSD 840 EVO 500GB RAID-0

2 EVOs in RAID0 should reach about 1000MB/s, but not a single one. This is the test I'm most curious about with this DUOX2 card.

Loa

As promised the DUO X2 -> 2x SSD 840 EVO 500GB RAID-0

My observations for now to the (previous) tests are, that the DUO X2 is a great PCIe card for booting both OS X and Windows with a single SSD giving both almost the max R/W ~ 500MBs speeds. I could install OS X on the RAID-0 and keep the Windows SSD in one of the SATA-II bay's. The 1000GB will be big enough to use it as scratch disk too.

I tested the Tempo SSD Pro back in 2013 and is - AFAIK - a better (at a higher cost) option for a RAID-0 scratch disk as it reaches ~ 1000MBs R/W speeds. I had some serious boot problems i.c.w. the Windows SSD in SATA-II bay #1 so I returned it.

So, for now back to normal operations on my MP and I'll be using the following setup:

SATA-II bay's: #1 + #2 SSD OS X and SSD Windows (OS)
SATA-II bay's: #3 + #4 HDD 2x WD 2TB (DATA)
SATA-III DUO X2: 2 SSD RAID-0 (SCRATCH)

Perhaps I'll be tossing around the SSD's some more next week, but I don't expect mind blowing better results. Thanks for reading and you feedback in this thread.

~ Cheers

 

[Loa]

Thanks for the tests.

I think that the current options point to one thing: we really need a cheap, 2+ drives, single slot **X4** PCIe card. (Maybe even more if we think about a RAID0 of Samsung's XP941 512GB...)

Loa

 

[shindom]

Thanks for the tests.

I think that the current options point to one thing: we really need a cheap, 2+ drives, single slot **X4** PCIe card. (Maybe even more if we think about a RAID0 of Samsung's XP941 512GB...)

Loa

Thanks BDM for all the reviews, I have enjoyed reading your posts.
Are there any x4 PCIE card out there working with SATA based SSD ? I wonder if those cards are only made for m2 pcie based ssd

 

[Durex]

My observations for now to the (previous) tests are, that the DUO X2 is a great PCIe card for booting both OS X and Windows with a single SSD giving both almost the max R/W ~ 500MBs speeds.

Thanks BDM for all your tests! I like that the DUO X2 might be the simplest and best approach for booting two OSs: one from each SSD installed to the card.

You've mentioned earlier that the DUO X2 can boot OS X and Windows, with each installed on a separate drive, but I am a bit confused by "booting both OS X and Windows with a single SSD..."

Are you confirming here that one OS on each SSD, or are you suggesting you have one OS on the DUO X2 partitioned into two, and able to boot each OS that way? In that case, what is the second SSD on the DUO X2 doing?

I would like to think I just have this mixed up and you're still going with the "single OS on each SSD" being a great use of the DUO X2. Hopefully this product will make it to market!!