Dell Latitude 7490

Well, this Toshiba drive is awful. I've read some Reddit forums and the Dell forums, seems like there isn't really a fix for the terrible write speeds of this drive. Had I known about this I would've just bought a 7490 with a crappy m.2 SATA drive and bought a nice Samsung NVM-e ssd. I am so sick of returning and exchanging laptops after my awful X1C experience and frankly don't have the energy. Everything else about the 7490 is perfect. I may just suck it up and buy a proper NVM-e ssd and replace it myself, though out of principle have a real problem with doing that.



Edit: Updated to the latest Toshiba firmware on the Dell website. Write speed is better but still below advertised speed for the drive.



Did a third test and got 1044 MB/s write. Tried a 4th time and got the slow 345 MB/s write speed. So weird. Can get a Samsung 970 Pro 512gb for $229 vs the 970 Evo for $190. Seems like a no brainer to get the Pro if I want to install a new ssd.

I also have audible coil whine when the ssd is under load. Looks like this is a common issue.

Edit 2: I called into Pro Support and was told the drive is running as it should since it passed the "long test" in the Support Assist utility, and can't be replaced. Utter BS. 345MB/s is SATA 2 HDD write speed. Not sure if I want to return it or just buy an equivalent 250gb 970 Evo for $100.

 

Have you taken into account that the lower capacity SSDs have reduced performance (see Toshiba's specs)? I accept that 700MB/s is still below the rated 1050MB/s for the 256GB drive but to get the headline write speed you need the 1TB SSD. Unless your workflow is one which involves frequent writing of big files the write speed isn't going to make a big overall difference to the performance. A further possible issue is the amount of free space. SSDs tend to run better if there's at least 20% unallocated space to help with the garbage management.

John

 

I just received the laptop yesterday and have not installed anything except for the benchmark and MS Office, so space isn't an issue. Yes I fully understand that smaller capacity SSD have much slower write speeds, but 345 MB/s is not acceptable to me. Not when I specifically requested and paid for "nvm-e class 40" ssd.

Interestingly I think Dell power setting is the culprit. I switched power mode while plugged in from "better performance" to "best performance." Ran the benchmark 3 times without a break in between and the write speed was where it should be at 1000 MB/s. So it is a Dell optimization issue and not the SSD.

Still doesn't resolve the coil whine, I'll see if I can live with it.

 

Thanks for the additional clarifications. Run HWiNFO and enable Sensors (including the Dell EC) so you can check the SSD temperature for repeated runs under both power plans. Anything over around 60C might trigger a slowdown for thermal reasons. Then go into the "better performance" power plan, select the Advanced power settings and try the different options under PCI Express.

John

 

Touchpad infs attached. You need to put them into the I2Cx64 folder.
Have you figured out 100% display drivers yet? The best that i can see around the net is basic working function, but windows media player and hardware video decoding not working yet.

I ran into this with my 256GB Toshiba XG5. You can get a bit better speeds by using the program throttlestop and enabling "Speed Shift - EPP". I also underclock cpu by 120mV. But I think theres not much more to do with regard to the Toshiba, Dell says it is in spec and I tend to think it prolly is just designed that way (it being 3D TLC design doesn't help be a really fast drive).
My use case doesn't need the fastest, but i might put in a bigger MLC m2 later on.

Does anyone know if we can put in an SSD in the WWAN slot? I think its a 2242 slot, but would the BIOS recognise it?

 

My average SSD temp was 67, it peaked at 78 but mostly stayed around 70. Adjusting power to "best performance" no longer makes a difference, I still get 345 MB/s. I went in to Windows power settings and disabled link state power management under PCI express settings, no difference. I've never seen this behavior before in any other SSD- laptop or desktop. I also saw when running HWinfo for the first time on the laptop, my SSD was at 99% life remaining and now it is at 98%. My old Samsung 950 Pro in my desktop PC that has been in use for at least a couple years, is still at 100% life remaining. I know my 7490 is a refurb, but that's not good. I'll either return the laptop or buy a new SSD. Leaning toward returning.

Yes, it is probably designed to run this way. I am curious whether a clean install and not installing anything Dell related will fix it, but it could be set in the BIOS somewhere. No guarantee that this won't happen to another SSD if I swap it in.

 

I don't think clean install would help much. There's enough evidence online that many people have the same issue. It is the SSD itself, not BIOS related. Another SSD, say a good samsung, would perform much better. One thing to keep in mind though is that currently all m2 pcie ssd's tend to run hot and depending on how hard you work it, it might thermal throttle. I thought about maybe putting a heatsink/pad there to help cooling?

 

Someone will need to try. It worked for me as a storage drive when I had a Latitude E5570 with a quad core CPU but I recall that it didn't work for everyone - might have been turned off in a later BIOS update. It would be safer to go for a higher capacity SATA SSD as these are now more affordable and the real life performance gap is much less than the headline speed difference.

Recheck the speed from a cold start and after running Optimize Drives in Control Panel > Administrative Tools. I did this yesterday after a firmware update on my WD Blue SSD and it recovered the missing speed. Also try the Toshiba SSD Utility.

Is there a thermal pad on the SSD? If so, how does it help dissipate the heat (does it touch the computer base)? 70C is uncomforatably hot. That said, the Toshiba specs show that the controller is rated for up to 95C (which becomes irrelevant if Dell has coded a thermal throttle in the BIOS).

John

 

I downloaded the Toshiba utility and it isn't compatible with my SSD. Also optimized drive as you suggested. I am already running the latest firmware for the SSD.

I re-ran the benchmark after booting up where the max SSD temp was 54 during the test. I still get 345 MB/s write speed. Thermal pads won't change this. Not opening up the laptop to check or install any at this point.



As stated earlier, my 2 year old Samsung 950 Pro that I use regularly in my desktop is still at 100% life remaining. This Toshiba SSD, after 2 days of no use except MS Office and maybe 9 runs of Crystal Disk Mark, is already down to 98% life remaining.

It is just a crap SSD in combination with odd behavior from Dell optimization. Many others based on Reddit and Dell forums have the same issue. The coil whine is also a deal breaker for me, which will be present even if I replace the SSD.

I am eventually returning the laptop, done running tests, it is what it is I'm afraid. Thank you for all of your input.

 

Thanks for the further update. The reviews of the XG5 didn't encounter such problems so suspicion has to fall on Dell.

My usual approach to the Dell SSD lottery is to get a notebook with a cheap SSD which gets replaced by an SSD of my choice.

John