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Coz007

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2017
9
2
Just wondering if anyone has tested the read/write for the new 256 GB SSD. I'll be using the imac more for everyday stuff like web browsing, neflix etc. Id love to save some money but if the 512 Gb is noticeably faster I may have to upgrade. Storage amount is not an issue because I will end up getting an external drive anyways. Im only concerned about speed. Thanks for all the help!!
 
Flash chips work in parallel so 512GB will be quicker. Don't get me wrong though, the 256GB will still be a screamer.

Speeds will always fluctuate depending on what you're copying, how much you're copying, etc. But the read speeds will be soaring either way.
 
I got the i7/1tbSSD/8gb config, their third one with 580gpu-8gb

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Flash chips work in parallel so 512GB will be quicker. Don't get me wrong though, the 256GB will still be a screamer.

Yes, but the gains aren't linear, and it varies depending on queue depth and block size, and which chips are used. When you hit 256, the gains from going to larger SSDs has reached the point where it's, what I would call, rather minor. At least with current technology. Though this is a general observation, and may not apply to all SSDs.

OP - What kind of work will you be doing? If it's "everyday stuff", I assure you, you will not notice the speed difference.
 
Yes, but the gains aren't linear, and it varies depending on queue depth and block size, and which chips are used. When you hit 256, the gains from going to larger SSDs has reached the point where it's, what I would call, rather minor. At least with current technology. Though this is a general observation, and may not apply to all SSDs.

OP - What kind of work will you be doing? If it's "everyday stuff", I assure you, you will not notice the speed difference.


So given the choice in terms of speed and performance would I benefit more from spending the extra $200 on upgrading the 256 to a 512 or moving up a tier from the base 3.4ghz i5 with Radeon 570 to the 3.5 i5 with Radeon 575?
 
So given the choice in terms of speed and performance would I benefit more from spending the extra $200 on upgrading the 256 to a 512 or moving up a tier from the base 3.4ghz i5 with Radeon 570 to the 3.5 i5 with Radeon 575?

What kind of work do you do? It all depends on that. Performance isn't one thing. It's context dependant
 
Your only question should be "Do I need 256 or 521 GB?". The difference in speed is minimal and you won't notice any difference in everyday use. You would notice a it only from fusion drive to ssd.
 
All of these new drives (256/512/1tb) are so fast, that I doubt one would ever perceive the actual differences between them in real-world usage.

Buy the size that's most practical for your wallet and needs, and don't worry about the speeds!
 
All of these new drives (256/512/1tb) are so fast, that I doubt one would ever perceive the actual differences between them in real-world usage.

Buy the size that's most practical for your wallet and needs, and don't worry about the speeds!

According to other threads the 256 GB test show: 1400 MB/s write and 2100 MB/s read
While the 512 Gb test shows closer to 2000 write and 2350 read.

Is the difference big enough to notice? Seems pretty considerable.
 
Is the difference big enough to notice? Seems pretty considerable.

You still have not answered the question what you will be doing? If you are making the next Pixar movie on there and moving around 40GB video files, you may see a noticeable difference. But for other more run of the mill, less demanding work, you will not likely see any difference.

I know if I did not really need the xtra space of the 512GB, I sure would never spend the money just for the extra potential small speed increase.
 
According to other threads the 256 GB test show: 1400 MB/s write and 2100 MB/s read
While the 512 Gb test shows closer to 2000 write and 2350 read.

Is the difference big enough to notice? Seems pretty considerable.

Most everyday tasks that can see a benefit to disk performance is read, not write. The read difference is 12%. And what I usually say is that most people won't notice the difference (unless side-by-side) when you go above 500mbps
 
Most everyday tasks that can see a benefit to disk performance is read, not write. The read difference is 12%. And what I usually say is that most people won't notice the difference (unless side-by-side) when you go above 500mbps
I assume you mean 500 MB/s. Cuz 500 Mbps isn't very fast.
 
It is not too hard to observe. Fire up Activity Monitor and see how many data actually gets read from and write to the SSD during your daily net surfing & streaming. You will be surprised that the rate is so low that it doesn't matter. Sufficiently large system memory also absorbs a lot of reads and writes.

I mean, don't chase performance unless you know you need it. If you question it, it is pretty high chance that you don't need it at all.
 
If storage is not any concern you could likely bump performance in other ways for the same money. I don't know what iMac you are planning on, or where you are, but for example, here on the UK Apple Store the difference for the top-end 4K iMac between 256GB SSD and 512GB SSD is £180 - which is the *exact* same amount of money it costs to either boost the CPU or double the RAM, either of which would probably be more noticeable performance increases depending on what you're doing than getting the 512GB SSD would bring you over the 256GB SSD.

Edit: OK, I see you mention $ and the same model I was talking about. If I was you (with your stated needs) I would either get the extra RAM for the same $200 or save the money.
 
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