Most people think that Macs are faster than PCs, but it’s hard to say without actual numbers. In case you’re looking to improve your site’s speed, then this post should help you out. What is fast for me, might not be fast for another. How do you compare the speed between two computers or operating systems? The answer to this problem is benchmarking. Benchmarking means using different applications to benchmark your devices’ performances. It specifically measures the performance of the individual components of your computer. So if you want to check if your computer’s CPU, GPU, and/or hard drive are in good running condition, read on below.
Why Should You Conduct a Mac Speed Test?
Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6' AMD Ryzen 5 3500U 2.1GHz / 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD. Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6” Intel Core i5-8265U 1.6GHz / 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD. I have a Mac Pro (early 2009 model) and recently installed an SSD drive in Bay 1 (it's a 256 GB OWC Mercury Extreme SSD-E). I've been googling and searching for any SSD benchmarking utilities or tools for Mac however I have not been able to find any. I only see utilities for windows such as HD Tune Pro, CrystalDiskMark and SiSoftware Sandra.
Performance is hard to quantify since it is a very subjective matter. Benchmarking provides you with the numbers which you can compare with other devices or machines. This way, you’ll be able to see whether your device is lagging behind the other device’s performance.
In other words, benchmarking is a method of evaluating the performance of your device. The Mac performance test will help you decide whether you need to buy a laptop or upgrade your computer’s hardware. It will also help you understand how the various pieces of hardware are performing and how you can enhance the individual pieces.
General Mac Performance Test
There are apps available in the market that are mainly used for Mac speed test. However, the easiest to use and the most widely recommended is the Geekbench 4 or GB4 by Primate Labs. Aside from Mac, you can also use it to benchmark iPhones and iPads. It also works across different platforms such as Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. Geekbench is a paid app but you use the Tryout version for general benchmarking. You need an active Internet connection for the Mac speed test because GB4 will automatically upload the benchmarking results to its website in order for you to compare with others. The main advantage of using the GB4 is that it is very easy to use and you don’t need technical knowledge to run the app. To run a computer speed test for Mac:
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/1/7/7/117780687/728463656.png)
- Close all the other apps you are currently using and open the GB4.
- Click ‘Run CPU benchmark’. GB4 will then evaluate your CPU’s performance when doing “everyday tasks designed to simulate real-world applications”. The benchmarking takes around 20 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your CPU.
- Once the speed test is done, your results will be loaded on your chosen browser. The numbers might be confusing and intimidating, especially if it’s your first time running the app. However, you only need to look at two numbers at the top – single-core score and multi-core score.
- The single-core score shows how fast your Mac is performing when a single core is taking care of everything.
- The multi-core score, on the other hand, measures your Mac’s performance when it’s using multiple cores to handle the processes.
- Once you have your scores, you can compare it with the other users and have an idea how your device fares with the other Macs or PCs. All you have to do is go the Geekbench Browser to organize and share your GB4 results with others around the world.
Here’s a tip – you can improve your CPU’s speed and performance by regularly cleaning up your computer using third party cleaning tools like Tweakbit MacRepair. The app not only deletes all your trash and unwanted files, it also optimizes your RAM boosting your Mac’s speed as a result.
Hard Drive and SSD Benchmarking
Hard drive benchmarking allows you to evaluate how fast you can read and write on your hard drive or SSD. For this test, you can use the free version of BlackMagic Disk Speed Test. The app was designed for video editors to help them check whether their hard drives are capable of handling large files, but you can also use it to check your hard drive’s read/write speeds. To use BlackMagic Disk Speed Test:
- Download and open the app, then select your target hard drive.
- If you have more than one drive, click the gear cog icon to select which drive you want to test.
- Click Start. Make sure no other apps are running for more accurate results.
Once the test is done, don’t get overwhelmed by the information on the ‘Will it Work?’ and ‘How Fast?’ charts. You only need to check out the big gauges at the top. The left gauge will show you the write speed and this will give you an idea of how fast data will be written on the drive. The right gauge, on the other hand, shows the read speed, which tells you how fast it will take for apps and files to load on your computer.
GPU Benchmarking
Another aspect you have to test on your computer is the performance of your graphics card. You can use the Maxon’s Cinebench because of how easy it is to use. Cinebench also measures the speed of your CPU, like what Geekbench does, but it doesn’t have the ability to share results so you can’t compare your results with others. However, one of its useful features is its ability to measure graphics card performance. To run the text:
- Just open the app
- Click Run next to the OpenGL test in the top left corner of the app. The test uses 3D cars running in a poorly lighted street to see how your GPU handles special effects.
- Once the test is done, you will see your final score next to the Run button.
Older versions of Mac score around 40-50fps while newer versions can hit speeds between 70-80fps. And unlike other computers, Mac graphics card can’t be upgraded on most Macs. So if you think you need a better graphics card for your computer, you’ll probably need to buy a new Mac.
These tests are important, not only because it shows how your Mac is performing, but it also shows you whether you need to upgrade the components of your Mac or worse, you need to buy a new one.
If you’re running into errors and your system is suspiciously slow, your computer needs some maintenance work. Download Outbyte PC Repair for Windows, Outbyte Antivirus for Windows, or Outbyte MacRepair for macOS to resolve common computer performance issues. Fix computer troubles by downloading the compatible tool for your device.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
MacBook Pro 16' Multiple Config FCPX Testing Vs IMac Pro
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That second command isn't going to measure the read speed of your disk at all. It's reading from /dev/zero and writing to /dev/null; both are virtual devices. The first command already wrote out a temporary file, so just read from that: For a better view of disk performance, these commands should be run with varying block sizes (bs=) and the results plotted. This is left as an exercise for the reader.
Thanks. The submission had the same command twice, and as it was anonymous, I couldn't contact the poster. I did some Googling and found that second command. It seemed to work for me, but I've changed it in the hint.
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Mac OS X Hints editor - Macworld senior contributor
http://www.mcelhearn.com
Mac OS X Hints editor - Macworld senior contributor
http://www.mcelhearn.com
The read speed test is flawed as written. Using /dev/zero as dd's input and output file doesn't hit the disk at all and will return ridiculous speeds like 15-20 GB/sec. The proper way to do the read test is to be to dd the tstfile created by the write benchmark into /dev/null (but only after clearing the RAM cache by using the 'purge' command).
This one-liner will test the write speed, clear the cache, properly test the read speed, and then remove tstfile to reclaim disk space:
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k of=tstfile count=1024 && purge && dd if=tstfile bs=1024k of=/dev/null count=1024 && rm tstfile
This one-liner will test the write speed, clear the cache, properly test the read speed, and then remove tstfile to reclaim disk space:
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k of=tstfile count=1024 && purge && dd if=tstfile bs=1024k of=/dev/null count=1024 && rm tstfile
Here's what I get using this method (and dividing by 1048576 to get Mb/sec):
Internal laptop hd (7200 rpm, sata): Write=42.99 Mb/sec, Read=38.09 Mb/sec
External G-Raid (esata): Write=134.76 Mb/sec, Read=192.32 Mb/sec
External Seagate hd (laptop drive, USB-2): Write=33.59 Mb/sec, Read=36.38 Mb/sec
External G-Raid (Firewire 800): Write=60.79 Mb/sec, Read=66.17 Mb/sec
Encrypted sparsebundle image on external G-Raid above (esata): Write=68.66 Mb/sec, Read=81.33 Mb/sec
Internal laptop hd (7200 rpm, sata): Write=42.99 Mb/sec, Read=38.09 Mb/sec
External G-Raid (esata): Write=134.76 Mb/sec, Read=192.32 Mb/sec
External Seagate hd (laptop drive, USB-2): Write=33.59 Mb/sec, Read=36.38 Mb/sec
External G-Raid (Firewire 800): Write=60.79 Mb/sec, Read=66.17 Mb/sec
Encrypted sparsebundle image on external G-Raid above (esata): Write=68.66 Mb/sec, Read=81.33 Mb/sec
That's not really very fast for Thunderbolt.
I bought a Factory Refurb LaCie Little Big Drive for $229 (LaCie.com), removed the drives and the fan, and replaced the drives with a pair of SSDs. Using RAID0, I get around 450MB/s read and 360MB/s write speeds with every test I've tried. It's much faster than the internal SSD in my 2011 iMac.
Yes, the WD My Book is a bit slower, but it has no fan, which is a big plus. I wonder, though, if I should be getting higher speeds... Oh, BTW, I'm not using RAID 0. I'm using mine as two 2 TB disks. That cuts the speed in half. I bought a Factory Refurb LaCie Little Big Drive for $229 (LaCie.com), removed the drives and the fan, and replaced the drives with a pair of SSDs. Using RAID0, I get around 450MB/s read and 360MB/s write speeds with every test I've tried. It's much faster than the internal SSD in my 2011 iMac.
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Mac OS X Hints editor - Macworld senior contributor
http://www.mcelhearn.com
Mac OS X Hints editor - Macworld senior contributor
http://www.mcelhearn.com
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The freeware Xbench's Disk Test offers a nice method for getting a few different kinds of disk benchmarks.
To obtain speed expressed in MB/sec, just append the following string to each one of the commands:
i.e: and No need to google around.
Also keep in mind it's only as fast as your system's slowest bottleneck. I realized this myself when I recently upgraded my internal HDD to SSD. Obviously I didn't do proper research. I got a top of the line model and was expecting super fast speeds around 460MB/s on SATA-III, only to realize that my 2008 MBP only has SATA-I so I get about 120 MB/s.
Probably still faster than HDD, but I never did measure the speed before I upgraded.
You wouldn't save a great deal of money going sata-I or II ssd and this way you are future proof if you'll get a new mac.
That thought had occurred to me too. However if I was going to upgrade my Macbook Pro the new one would probably already have SSD and wouldn't be user-replaceable (like in the new Retina Display version)
…or you can just use a disk benchmarking tool like bonnie, which is available to be installed from MacPorts.
When I tried:
time dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k of=tstfile count=1024 2>&1 | grep sec | awk '{print 'scale = 2 ; '$(NF-1048576) '}' | bc
I got:
awk: non-terminated string }cale = 2 ... at source line 1
context is
>>> <<<
awk: giving up
source line number 2
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4
That awk line has an extra quote, it appears.
Any way, I found that this works:
time dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k of=tstfile count=1024 2>&1 | grep sec | awk '{print $1 / 1024 / 1024 / $5, 'MB/sec' }'
You don't need bc at all, awk can do the arithmetic. I am dividing the total bytes by the total seconds and by
By the way, my standard internal drive in my 27' iMac (2.8GHz, a couple of years old) did the writing at 91 MB/sec.
Even better, leave out grep also. Awk can do its own pattern matching:
time dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k of=tstfile count=1024 2>&1 | awk '/sec/ {print $1 / $5 / 1048576, 'MB/sec' }'
One additional thing that might be worth mentioning...your test file (tstfile) should be larger than the amount of physical ram.
This prevents caching and artificially inflated read speeds. Allow me to demo this on my snazzy new iMac with the PCI-e drive...
The system has 16GB of ram, a 3.5 GHz i7 and 512 GB PCI-e SSD:
madht@host (]> 01:19:24
~> time dd if=/dev/zero bs=2048k of=tstfile count=1024 2>&1 | awk '/sec/ {print $1 / $5 / 1048576, 'MB/sec' }'
732.213 MB/sec
real 0m3.278s
user 0m0.002s
sys 0m1.155s
Wow faaaast writes - love this drive...
now check the file size
madht@host (]> 01:20:12
~>ls -al tstfile
-rw-r--r--+ 1 user staff 2147483648 Jan 4 13:30 tstfile
2GB, way less than 16GB.
Now lets Read it back...
madht@host (]> 01:30:19
~> time dd if=tstfile bs=2048k of=/dev/null count=1024 2>&1 | awk '/sec/ {print $1 / $5 / 1048576, 'MB/sec' }'
6262.12 MB/sec
real 0m0.329s
user 0m0.002s
sys 0m0.329s
Mother of God!! 6.2 GB/sec!!
Hmmm....that can't be right.
So lets try a much larger test file.
NOTE: The file size does not *need* to exceed your total ram, just the amount you have free. If you feel this is a valuable use of your time ;) hint, hint -- then adjust block sizes and counts to just exceed the amount of free memory you have available.
Here Goes with a 16GB file:
madht@host (]> 01:30:44
~> time dd if=/dev/zero bs=2048k of=tstfile count=8192 2>&1 | awk '/sec/ {print $1 / $5 / 1048576, 'MB/sec' }'
728.792 MB/sec
real 0m22.583s
user 0m0.007s
sys 0m5.543s
Still bloody fast writes, yum.
Check the size (I always do)
madht@host (]> 01:42:45
~>ls -al tstfile
-rw-r--r--+ 1 user staff 17179869184 Jan 4 13:42 tstfile
Yep, that one there is a whale that can't be crammed into my ram.
madht@host (]> 01:42:49
~> time dd if=tstfile bs=2048k of=/dev/null count=8192 2>&1 | awk '/sec/ {print $1 / $5 / 1048576, 'MB/sec' }'
779.598 MB/sec
real 0m21.018s
user 0m0.006s
sys 0m4.323s
Aaaah much more like it. And still pretty performant, yo.
One more thing to add and I don't know if was already mentioned or not tl:dr -- this is a sequential test only. iow - this is as fast as it gets and in no way indicative of how your drive performs when ~30-50% of its reads and writes are random - i.e. during regular multi application usage of the OS. ioMeter is the best open source benchmarker out there however they don't fully support OSX, just the worker engine binaries -- so iometer itself would have to run on a separate machine. But it's doable ;)
Would anyone be able to tell me how to use these commands to test my USB 3.0 drives or Thunderbolt drives?