NUC9i7QNB (Ghost Canyon) slow Thunderbolt performance

[Horent4711]

Hi,

I am wondering about a slow (write) performance on my external Samsung X5 SSD.

Some Data:

- Ghost Canyon: Latest Bios, Clean install of Win 10 Pro 20H2, latest drivers, no additional software.

- Samsung X5 1TB external Thunderbolt SSD upgraded with SSD 970 Pro (one of the fastest drives available)

- Also internal SSD in NUC is Samsung 970 Pro 1 TB

- Latest Samsung NVME drivers installed

- Write cache in device manager for external SSD activated

- Windows manual file copy 100GB file: Sustained speed about 1,3Gb/sec

- Samsung magician benchmark result: about 1,45GB/sec

I know , this really sounds not bad, BUT:

- Same setup with my "old" Hades Canyon:

- Windows manual file copy 100GB file: Sustained speed about 1,8GB/sec

- Samsung magician benchmark result: about 2GB/sec

So the thunderbolt port on my Hades Canyon outperforms my Ghost Canyon by about 25%

This is really disappointing, and am am not sure if this is as it should.

Any suggestions?

Best Regards

Andreas

[Horent4711]

Just to add some infos I found:

- Ghost Canyon is using Titian Ridge controller

- Hades Canyon is using Alpine Ridge controller

- Samsung X5 is using Alpine Ridge controller.

Maybe some compatibility issues between Alpine and Titan?

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Horent4711,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

To better assist you please provide the following report and information to continue with your support request.

1-Please run the following tool and attach the report generated.  

-Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU)

Download link: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-

•          Open the application and click on "Scan" to see the system and device information

•          By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View".  

•          Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  

•          To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save".

2-Please provide the following information so we can have a better understanding of your situation. 

-We would like to request from your end, screenshots of the tool you are using and the results you are getting for both units, if possible please redo the test with both the original SSD that came with the X5 and the upgrade you now have in it.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician 

[Horent4711]

Hi Victor,

attached you can find the requested files and informations. 

Hope this will help to track down the reason for slow write performance.

Best regards,

Andreas

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Horent4711,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Please let me know if you need further assistance.  

Best regards,

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Horent4711,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

We appreciate the information provided, we actually believe that the difference that you have found is really interesting and we will use it to do further research about it and we will update this thread as soon as possible.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician  

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi Horent4711,

We are still investigating this issue internally,  I don't have the same TB device for testing but and I am doing some more digging and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Regards,

Ronny G

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi Horent4711,

We are still investigating this issue, we still can't see a clear reason for the discrepancy, but here are typically a few causes of transfer performance differences between systems.

Digging through the SSU I see:

CPU Freq & Cores
Ghost Canyon = 2.60 to 4.5 GHz, w/ 6 cores, 12 threads, 12MB Cache
Hades Canyon = 3.10 to 4.20 GHz w/ 4 cores, 8 threads, 8MB Cache

Memory Speed
Ghost Canyon = 2666
Hades Canyon = 2400

HD speed
Hades Canyon = I see two in the system
NVMe SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0 SCSI Disk Device
NVMe Samsung SSD 970 SCSI Disk Device
Ghost Canyon = <?>

OS Power Profile
Ghost Canyon =<?>
Hades Canyon =<?>

BIOS Power Profile
Ghost Canyon =<?>
Hades Canyon =<?>

For testing:

Ensure the Samsung* SSD 970 is installed in the Compute Element (not the M.2 on the Chassis base board. Remove the Samsung* MZVLB1T0
Ensure both system's OS Performance Profile is set to Performance/Ultimate
Ensure both system's BIOS processor Turbo Boost and Real-Time Performance tuning Enabled

Please send me SSU from the Hades Canyon unit for further analysis.

Thanks,

Ronny G

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Horent4711,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Please let me know if you need further assistance.  

Best regards,

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello @Horent4711,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Please let me know if you need further assistance.  

Best regards,

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Horent4711,

We have not heard back from you.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored 

Victor G. 

Intel Technical Support Technician