120GB Intel 510 6G SSD Performance in MacBook Pro

With my freshly replaced 17" MacBook Pro showing outstanding performance with the OWC 6G SSD, I decided to retest with the Intel 510 6G SSD.

Intel 510 6G SSD 120GB model

Write speed shows severe problems. Read speed is good, but well below that of the OWC 6G SSD. The 240GB model is reportedly faster (a little) than the 120GB model, but that doesn’t change the abysmal write speed. Results with incompressible data are similar, but slightly worse than with all-zeroes.

Results after the May 4 EFI firmware update for the MacBook Pro.

DiskTester fill-volume test (1000 big files fill the volume) for 120GB Intel 510 6G SSD
MB/sec, higher is faster
2011 17" MacBook Pro, build 10J3250

OWC 6G SSD 240GB

Outstanding read and write speed (speed for writing zeroes, incompressible data will be slower).

DiskTester fill-volume test (1000 big files fill the volume) for OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 240GB SSD
MB/sec, higher is faster
2011 17" MacBook Pro, build 10J3250