external ssd to use while editing video constantly - all day.

[colmorley]

Hello. Please can anyone who edits video on an external ssd please give your opinions?
I want to buy a mac mini m4 but with 512gb or 1tb. Reasons for this are obvious, i want to have the best cores, best memory but cannot afford to buy lots of storage. This is a big upgrade of machine for me.. I currently use a T7 external drive when editing my videos. My current machine is very slow already and sure the speed of the T7 adds to the issues? My simple quesion is not how fast an external ssd can perform moving files. There are a million youtube videos that prove that BUT can i use a fast ssd all day long, editing my videos and it not overheating??? Once a video is fnished, i will move to a drive to back up of course.
If you edit video and use an external ssd, please let me know of your experiences. It either works or it doesn't 7hrs a day, 5 days a week, 11 months of the year.... ???
Thanks for any real working advice.

 

[PaulD-UK]

I use external Thunderbolt 3 drives for video editing (and everything else...) with complete 100% reliability.
I have never had an unintentional disconnect.
Which can't be said about USB 3.2...

They are self-powered as that is a benefit to reliability, and the ones I use have two TB3 ports so I can daisy-chain additional TB3 drives as required - I have 6 enclosures.

TB3 is older tech, so it may be possible to get good deals, all six of my enclosures + the 2TB NVMEs inside them cost not much more than a new base Mac mini - because I was able to buy them when manufacturers were clearing out old stock.

However, nowadays bus powered USB4 enclosures are probably cheaper, and for small-scale editing projects, would be the next best option.

 

[Slartibart]

My current machine is very slow already and sure the speed of the T7 adds to the issues?

What is your current setup? And what material are you editing? Other than that, the T7 should use a native format depending on the system for max speed - for many use cases it’s speed should be quite appropriate. I mean, there are a lot of people who use e.g. T7/T9 or Glyph Atom Pro’s for portable editing.

 

[colmorley]

What is your current setup? And what material are you editing? Other than that, the T7 should use a native format depending on the system for max speed - for many use cases it’s speed should be quite appropriate. I mean, there are a lot of people who use e.g. T7/T9 or Glyph Atom Pro’s for portable editing.

i have an old macbook 2017, slow as hell which is why now im workng with video, i need something fast. Sick of the spinning wheel thats for sure. I'm using FCP for videos. I saw online that the samsung T7 wasn't fast enough but you think it should be with a new Mac mini m4 pro, to work with multi layers of videos and effects? Thanks for any info you have.