Fusion Drive: Worth it?

[Rob.G]

I'm looking to order a new Retina 27" iMac this Fall after the new ones come out... or maybe grab a refurb of the 2014 model, I dunno. In any case, I'm wondering... is the 3TB Fusion drive worth it, or should I just go ahead and get a 512 gb SSD? I've been using nothing but SSD's for the last few years, but with an external larger hard drive for storing music, photos, etc. So I'm not sure about the Fusion drive. Since it's a PITA to replace the hard drive in an iMac, I want to make the right decision the first time.

Thanks!

Rob

 

[nutmac]

I'm wondering... is the 3TB Fusion drive worth it, or should I just go ahead and get a 512 gb SSD? I've been using nothing but SSD's for the last few years, but with an external larger hard drive for storing music, photos, etc. So I'm not sure about the Fusion drive.

Take a look at Bare Feat's Shootout: iMac Retina 5K Flash Storage versus Fusion Drive. For typical reads, Fusion drive is indeed fast, but write performance is closer to disk-only counterpart.

Since iMac will be desk bound, I frankly would shell out more for flash storage and attach external disk if needed.

 

[Rob.G]

Thank you! That's exactly what I need to know. I'll go with the SSD.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Thank you! That's exactly what I need to know. I'll go with the SSD.

Great move....
I got all SSD and its sweet......fusion drive is fine but total SSD is so much better for almost everything you do in the iMac.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[cynics]

Comes down to your usage. How much storage do you need? Is external storage out of the question? Do you plan on using Windows?

SSD is the way to go if possible. It will provide the most noticeable improvement to performance for every day task. However the Fusion drive is a very good compromise between cost, storage and speed.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong either way and comes down to usage and your priorities. Personally I can't quite justify Apples price tag on 1tb SSD however I need more then 512gb. So in my case the Fusion has be covered, however YMMV.

 

[NattochDag]

Take a look at Bare Feat's Shootout: iMac Retina 5K Flash Storage versus Fusion Drive. For typical reads, Fusion drive is indeed fast, but write performance is closer to disk-only counterpart.

Since iMac will be desk bound, I frankly would shell out more for flash storage and attach external disk if needed.

Apple seem to upgraded their fusion drives. The read AND write speed is now ~750mb / s.

 

[nutmac]

Thank you! That's exactly what I need to know. I'll go with the SSD.

You might also want to wait a week or two for rumored 21.5" retina iMac. It may be a long shot, but who knows? 27" iMac maybe revised, too and/or receive a slight price drop.

 

[fathergll]

I've been using nothing but SSD's for the last few years, but with an external larger hard drive for storing music, photos, etc. So I'm not sure about the Fusion drive. Since it's a PITA to replace the hard drive in an iMac, I want to make the right decision the first time.

Thanks!

Rob

The simple answer is "Are you ok with using an external drive with your iMac"?

If you are then get the SSD.

If you are not then get the fusion drive.

 

[Rob.G]

I've been using an external 4tb drive on my Mini for years.. I see no difference in using it with an iMac. USB 3 makes external drives just as good as internal ones, so yeah, SSD for the most-used stuff, and the big ext for everything else.

Now, if the iMac had room for a second drive, I'd go out of my way to install one just to keep things more compact.

 

[Novus John]

Get an SSD. If you need external storage get a NAS device, they're fairly cheap, and that thing will serve you for many years. Or get an external drive, but they have a habit of failing just when you really need them.

The whole Fusion tech seems very provisional to me. SSD is obviously the way forward.