Best SSD portable

[Macintosh1984]

Hi!

I have a iMac 27 "Late 2012 with USB 3.1 Gen 1 + Thunderbolt 1.

I would like to buy an external SSD portable hard drive.

I was thinking of the Transcend StoreJet 500 because it seems to me the only one with a Thunderbolt 1 port that reaches theoretically:
Read: 440 MB / s
Write: 300 MB / s

Then there are an infinite number of other SSDs like the
- Samsung T5
- Western Digital My Passport SSD
- SanDisk Extreme SSD

But I'm confusing myself with the real performance they achieve compared to the Transcend StoreJet 500 because they always mention USB 3.1 Gen 2 and therefore I can't understand connecting it to USB 3.1 Gen 1 what performance you get.

I believe I should choose Transcend StoreJet 500 because Thunderbolt 1 is superior to USB 3.1 Gen 1, don't you think?

 

[Stephen.R]

Based on the speeds mentioned it's a SATA SSD, so USB 3/3.1G1 is not going to be noticeably slower than USB3.1G2 or TB3 for a single drive.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I was thinking of the Transcend StoreJet 500 because it seems to me the only one with a Thunderbolt 1 port that reaches theoretically:
Read: 440 MB / s
Write: 300 MB / s"

NOPE.

Any decent USB3 SSD will yield about 430mbps reads and writes in the 325-375 range.

You DON'T NEED to pay extra for Thunderbolt for this.

 

[richpjr]

I'd go with a T5. Fast, cheap and works with about everything.

 

[Macintosh1984]

OK, I think I go for Samsung T5 or SanDisk Extreme SSD, anyway USB.

Samsung T5 with USB 3.1 Gen 1 get top performance, or better when connected to USB 3.1 Gen 2?

Last question, what about the situation about Thunderbolt 1 and double channel about simultaneous Read/Write data?

 

[Macintosh1984]

Samsung T5 ordered, hope the best decision.

 

[richpjr]

Samsung T5 ordered, hope the best decision.

Good choice!

 

[Macintosh1984]

HFS+ or APFS format?

 

[Fishrrman]

My preference is for HFS+.

Others' opinions will be different.

 

[Macintosh1984]

Incredibly satisfied with my new Samsung T5, even faster than my internal Fusion Drive, maybe because it's still full of data.

I formatted it in APFS making it also bootable.

I hope to continue to appreciate it with time.

At the passage of Apple's new macOS in September-October, I believe I will split the Fusion Drive.

 

[calibru_2good_4u]

Samsung T5 is amazing ! I’ve got 2 of them and I can say it’s the best external ssd I’ve ever had

 

[richpjr]

Incredibly satisfied with my new Samsung T5, even faster than my internal Fusion Drive, maybe because it's still full of data.

I formatted it in APFS making it also bootable.

I hope to continue to appreciate it with time.

At the passage of Apple's new macOS in September-October, I believe I will split the Fusion Drive.

Good to hear it’s working out for you. What size did you get?

 

[Macintosh1984]

500 GB. I want to use SSD for normal use ad an old Western Digital 1 TB as data archive for documents which I don't use frequently.

 

[kis]

I'd go with a T5. Fast, cheap and works with about everything.

Yup, been using one of those for my extensive Light Room library. Has never failed me me once and it’s lightning fast