Best (Fastest) external SSD setup to use on an iMac Pro?

[Turnpike]

I'm looking to run an external hard drive on an iMac Pro at work, one where I can save my browsings, downloaded files, everything- and then just unplug it and take it with me and leaving nothing at all on the computer at work. What is the best (fastest) external SSD set up (SSD, enclosure, cable) that I would be able to buy for this type of purpose? Dependability is more important to me than savings, and I'll likely end up getting a 2TB or larger drive if it's an option.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I'm looking to run an external hard drive on an iMac Pro at work, one where I can save my browsings, downloaded files, everything- and then just unplug it and take it with me and leaving nothing at all on the computer at work. What is the best (fastest) external SSD set up (SSD, enclosure, cable) that I would be able to buy for this type of purpose? Dependability is more important to me than savings, and I'll likely end up getting a 2TB or larger drive if it's an option.

Sabrient is a good brand to consider:

SABRENT Thunderbolt 3 to Dual NVMe M.2 SSD Tool Free Enclosure (EC-T3DN)

The Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 To NVMe M.2 SSD Tool-Free Dual Enclosure is the perfect solution for your external storage needs! FEATURES: CONVENIENCE: Turn two NVMe SSDs into two independent, fast, reliable, and portable drives! Plug and play, NO drivers needed. DESIGN: Solid aluminum construction fo...

www.amazon.com

Pair it with a Gen3 nVME blade like Samsung 970 plus, and you are good to go.
The max speed in benchmark program will be 1/2 of the internal SSD of your iMac Pro, but the difference is insignificant in real life.

 

[Turnpike]

Sabrient is a good brand to consider: ....

So the SSD I'll get the exact one you showed, but for the enclosure, is a Thunderbolt rating the main thing that matters, or was that particular suggestion a faster-than-most option?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

So the SSD I'll get the exact one you showed, but for the enclosure, is a Thunderbolt rating the main thing that matters, or was that particular suggestion a faster-than-most option?

This is the same principle everywhere.
The fastest speed on a chain of devices is equivalent to the slowest device.
Inside a TB4 enclosure
TB4 = 40Gbps = 40/8 = 5GB/s (transmission speed)
vNME gen 3 = 3GB/s (sequential reading speed)

Inside iMac Pro
2 x nVME gen 3 SSD in RAID 0 configuration
Sequential Read & write speed is double of a single nVME gen 3 SSD (in theory) = 6GB/s

Even if you buy a gen 4 nVME SSD, it won't give you the gen 4 speed (6GB/s) because of the connection protocol inside the TB enclosure is just gen 3.
To achieve gen 4 nVME speed, the PC must support PCI Express 4.0, i.e Intel CPU gen 11 or later (AMD Ryzen gen 2 or later) and compatible mother board.
IMac Pro has only Intel gen 9 CPU, so their solution is to install 2 nVME blade in RAID 0 configuration to get the higher speed.

 

[gilby101]

So the SSD I'll get the exact one you showed, but for the enclosure, is a Thunderbolt rating the main thing that matters, or was that particular suggestion a faster-than-most option?

If it is not Thunderbolt, you are limited by the speed of USB 3.2: 10 Gb/s = 1GB/s (I know that is not 10/8, but 1GB/s is about the max you can get).

So for "best (fastest)" you do need Thunderbolt. See the excellent post just above for potential speeds.

 

[Turnpike]

For anyone who comes across this thread, I ended up getting a Gen3 nVME blade (Samsung 970) in a Thunderbolt enclosure, and to me it feels the same as working on my iMac Pro's internal SSD. Super handy, thanks for the input Nguyen!