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PB Expansion Bay Hard Drive Kit
Build Your Own Expansion Bay Hard Drive & Save $$
by Mike
Published: 4/14/2000

Benchmark Performance Tests of the New Drive

Since testing file copies to the new expansion bay drive may be limited by either the internal drive or the expansion bay drive (impossible to tell which), I used ATTO's tools to test the Toshiba 18GB drive in the expansion bay. The graph below shows the results of ATTO Tools v2.3 tests set to 8MB sample size (0-8MB test file size):

For comparison, the graph below is from my PowerBook G3/500 Firewire review benchmarks page (tests with the OEM Toshiba 12GB drive from Apple, with a minimum of files added to the drive from its as-shipped state):

The internal bus is ATA/66 on the Pismo (PB Firewire), where the expansion bay bus is not. (I think it's ATA/33, but the peaks are so low I wonder.
After seeing the results, the client asked if I'd replace the internal drive of his Pismo with the larger 18GB drive, both to get better performance and to have the larger drive internally. This required taking the expansion bay apart and replacing the internal drive (article to follow). I was able then to test the Toshiba 18GB drive on the internal bus, however at that time it had about 6GB of files on the drive.

I also ran Macbench 5.0 disk tests on the new drive. The graph below shows results with the Toshiba 18GB compared to a PB G3/500 OEM 12GB Toshiba drive running on the faster internal bus. Note that the Toshiba 18GB internal tests had about 6GB of files on the drive, where the other tests were with minimal files installed.

Since the system and drive were not my own, I could not run extensive real world tests in the time allowed (I had to return the system within hours). However in actual use, the expansion bay drive felt responsive and with the sustained rates shown, show be fine for DV use and most video capture. I've asked the owner to comment if he sees any performance issues with capture or other application use.

Other PowerBook Storage Related Articles:

PowerBook Firewire Hard Drive Install Guide
PowerBook Wallstreet Hard Drive Upgrade
IBM TravelStar 20GB performance tests
IBM TravelStar 32GB performance tests (highest capacity notebook drive ever)
Portable Firewire Drive Kit Build Articles and reviews are at the Firewire Articles page.

For PowerBook CPU upgrade reviews (including install guides), see the Systems page (Powerbook section), or the CPU Upgrades page (G3 reviews tab). There's also Powerbook 1400 and Powerbook Wallstreet, Wallstreet 2 and Lombard CPU upgrade owner reports in the Rate Your CPU Upgrade Database. (Only Sonnet makes PB 1400 cpu upgrades now, although Newer Tech and Vimage did previously). PowerLogix (Bluechip model) and Newer Tech currently make CPU upgrades for PowerBook Wallstreet (1998) and Lomboard (1999) models. I reviewed the Newer Tech G3/466 upgrade in my Wallstreet in the summer of 2000. It's linked on the CPU upgrades page, G3 reviews tab.

Index of Powerbook Expansion Bay HD Project

Intro | Mounting the Drive | Finishing the Case | Formatting the HD | Benchmarks

= or =
Back to www.XLR8YOURMAC.com

Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved,
No part of this sites content is to be reproduced in any form without written permission.
All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.


PB Expansion Bay Hard Drive Kit Build Your Own Expansion Bay Hard Drive & Save $$ by Mike Published: 4/14/2000
Benchmark Performance Tests of the New Drive
Since testing file copies to the new expansion bay drive may be limited by either the internal drive or the expansion bay drive (impossible to tell which), I used ATTO's tools to test the Toshiba 18GB drive in the expansion bay. The graph below shows the results of ATTO Tools v2.3 tests set to 8MB sample size (0-8MB test file size): For comparison, the graph below is from my PowerBook G3/500 Firewire review benchmarks page (tests with the OEM Toshiba 12GB drive from Apple, with a minimum of files added to the drive from its as-shipped state): The internal bus is ATA/66 on the Pismo (PB Firewire), where the expansion bay bus is not. (I think it's ATA/33, but the peaks are so low I wonder. After seeing the results, the client asked if I'd replace the internal drive of his Pismo with the larger 18GB drive, both to get better performance and to have the larger drive internally. This required taking the expansion bay apart and replacing the internal drive (article to follow). I was able then to test the Toshiba 18GB drive on the internal bus, however at that time it had about 6GB of files on the drive.

I also ran Macbench 5.0 disk tests on the new drive. The graph below shows results with the Toshiba 18GB compared to a PB G3/500 OEM 12GB Toshiba drive running on the faster internal bus. Note that the Toshiba 18GB internal tests had about 6GB of files on the drive, where the other tests were with minimal files installed.

Since the system and drive were not my own, I could not run extensive real world tests in the time allowed (I had to return the system within hours). However in actual use, the expansion bay drive felt responsive and with the sustained rates shown, show be fine for DV use and most video capture. I've asked the owner to comment if he sees any performance issues with capture or other application use.


Other PowerBook Storage Related Articles:
PowerBook Firewire Hard Drive Install Guide PowerBook Wallstreet Hard Drive Upgrade IBM TravelStar 20GB performance tests IBM TravelStar 32GB performance tests (highest capacity notebook drive ever) Portable Firewire Drive Kit Build Articles and reviews are at the Firewire Articles page. For PowerBook CPU upgrade reviews (including install guides), see the Systems page (Powerbook section), or the CPU Upgrades page (G3 reviews tab). There's also Powerbook 1400 and Powerbook Wallstreet, Wallstreet 2 and Lombard CPU upgrade owner reports in the Rate Your CPU Upgrade Database. (Only Sonnet makes PB 1400 cpu upgrades now, although Newer Tech and Vimage did previously). PowerLogix (Bluechip model) and Newer Tech currently make CPU upgrades for PowerBook Wallstreet (1998) and Lomboard (1999) models. I reviewed the Newer Tech G3/466 upgrade in my Wallstreet in the summer of 2000. It's linked on the CPU upgrades page, G3 reviews tab.
Index of Powerbook Expansion Bay HD Project Intro \| Mounting the Drive \| Finishing the Case \| Formatting the HD \| Benchmarks = or = Back to www.XLR8YOURMAC.com
Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved, No part of this sites content is to be reproduced in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.