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Fusion-Flash-SSD Drive Options

R

Ray&Paula

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 12, 2015
188
7
I'm currently configuring the iMac 5k for 1080 and 4k FCP X video editing.
Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
1TB Flash Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2t...

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X

I'm somewhat confused in regards to OS drives and storage drives. A lot of people throughout the forum are stating; Go for a SSD instead of the Fusion due to being faster. In addition, some are stating that the Flash drive uses SSD "in part." I'm not up on the solid state drives and I really don't see an option in the iMac configuration. I do want what's best for OS and external storage, therefore I need to do some more homework. What's your experience and/or thoughts? Thanks in advance, Ray
 
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Ray&Paula said:
I'm currently configuring the iMac 5k for 1080 and 4k FCP X video editing.
Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
1TB Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2t...

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X

I'm somewhat confused in regards to OS drives and storage drives. A lot of people throughout the forum are stating; Go for a SSD instead of the Fusion due to being faster. In addition, some are stating that the Flash drive uses SSD "in part." I'm not up on the solid state drives and I really don't see an option in the iMac configuration. I do want what's best for OS and external storage, therefore I need to do some more homework. What's your experience and/or thoughts? Thanks in advance, Ray
Click to expand...

SSD = flash storage.

Considering that you're spending so much, you might as well get a 512GB SSD. It's displayed as 512GB of flash storage in the online store.

A pure SSD gives pure speed and reliability. Think of Fusion drive as a RAID0 array of a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. The HDD is more likely to fail before the SSD, and when it does, it's no easy task to crack the iMac open just to reach the hard drive bays. Just get an SSD (also known as flash storage) and external HDD storage. Keep the more-likely-to-break parts outside of the iMac.

Oh, and just buy 16GB RAM from Apple. 32GB pricing from Apple is daft. I got 16GB on my retina iMac (i7/32/512/M295X) and added another 16GB myself.
 
Thanks for the help...... As for the RAM, what manufacturer does Apple use? Is it a simple task to add? Thanks again for the help. Ray
 
I took a look a Crucial for 16gb (2x8) of RAM $131.99. This makes 32gb of RAM at $263.98. Savings over Apple $336.02 for a couple minutes of installation. :rolleyes:
In the iMac 5k memory configuration it states "synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) — ensuring that the processor is constantly fed with data without wasting clock cycles."
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/imac-retina?product=MF886LL/A&step=config#

What's SDRAM? I don't see that in the specs of Crucial or OWC specs. Also, Not sure changing out the RAM would do in regards to warranty.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/imac-4*0ghz-quad-core-intel-core-i7-(27-inch,-late-2014)/CT6312882

OWC $374.88
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/Retina-5K/DDR3L
 
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Ray&Paula said:
I took a look a Crucial for 16gb (2x8) of RAM $131.99. This makes 32gb of RAM at $263.98. Savings over Apple $336.02 for a couple minutes of installation. :rolleyes:
In the iMac memory configuration it states "synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) — ensuring that the processor is constantly fed with data without wasting clock cycles."
What's SDRAM? I don't see that in the specs of Crucial or OWC specs. Also, Not sure changing out the RAM would do in regards to warranty.
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/imac-4*0ghz-quad-core-intel-core-i7-(27-inch,-late-2014)/CT6312882

OWC $374.88
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/Retina-5K/DDR3L
Click to expand...

RAM is considered as a user replaceable part by Apple. So the warranty won't be voided.

Just buy any 1600MHz DDR3L RAM and you'll be good to go.
 
yjchua95 said:
...
Considering that you're spending so much, you might as well get a 512GB SSD...
Click to expand...

While I advocate a balanced view of Fusion vs SSD, in this case it's very clear -- SSD is better. I have a very similar system except the ver. 1 Pegasus R4.

Editing multi-cam HD and 4k material in FCP X, I have no performance problems with the 3TB FD, but SSD would be better.

A 3TB FD does give a little more elbow room to split the I/O between R4 and internal drive, but usually mainstream editing tasks on compressed material are not I/O limited on an R4. So once the I/O bandwidth is sufficient, further increases don't translate into a real world improvement.

SSD may give more consistently fast program load times.
 
Thanks for the info...... After reading throughout the forum, I have to agree about Flash SSD over Fusion. I've been running Sony Vegas with two other 2TB internal drives in RAID 0.
My configuration on my PC is as follows;
Hard Drive 1: C/drive OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, software/hardware (1TB Samsung HD103UJ SATA2 7200rpm 32MB)
Hard Drive 2: Raw un-edited pre-rendered video, pictures and music (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Hard Drive 3: Rendered events for final output. (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB

Having four 2TB external drives would definitely help with storage. With that being said, what in your opinion would be the optimal RAID setup with the imac and the Pegasus R4? Also, what do you use each drive for? Thanks again, appreciate the help. Ray:)
 
Ray&Paula said:
Thanks for the info...... After reading throughout the forum, I have to agree about Flash SSD over Fusion. I've been running Sony Vegas with two other 2TB internal drives in RAID 0.
My configuration on my PC is as follows;
Hard Drive 1: C/drive OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, software/hardware (1TB Samsung HD103UJ SATA2 7200rpm 32MB)
Hard Drive 2: Raw un-edited pre-rendered video, pictures and music (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Hard Drive 3: Rendered events for final output. (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB

Having four 2TB external drives would definitely help with storage. With that being said, what in your opinion would be the optimal RAID setup with the imac and the Pegasus R4? Also, what do you use each drive for? Thanks again, appreciate the help. Ray:)
Click to expand...

I can't comment on the Pegasus R4, but here's my own setup:
1. Promise Pegasus R6 12TB, RAID 10 (all blocks mirrored and striped). This is where my scratch space and storage is (pre-production, during production and post-production). Connected to the first Thunderbolt port. Excellent redundancy as all blocks are mirrored.

2. A LaCie Rugged enclosure connected to the second TB2 port. I stuck a 500GB Samsung 840 Evo into it. This is used as a Windows boot drive for Windows software.

3. Several USB 3 external drives for backups of the contents in the Pegasus R6.
 
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Awesome! I just received my Sony PXW-X70 XDCAM with 4K on the way (as promised) and Canon 7D :)
 
Here's a "No Brainer" Re-cap:
I took a look a Crucial for 16gb (2x8) of RAM $131.99. This makes 32gb of RAM at $263.98. Savings over Apple $336.02 for a couple minutes of installation. All this and sell the 2x4gb ram that came with your iMac!
Also if you're interested in the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System you can save $45.00 through B&H Photo. Oh, I almost forgot, you get a FREE 256GB Pegasus J2 SSD Thunderbolt Storage Solution that normally sells for $449.00 (Check out the link below)!
$381.02 Saved over Apple configuration
"PLUS" FREE 256GB Pegasus J2 SSD Thunderbolt Storage Solution! :eek: :D :)

Apples Configuration:
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/im...A&step=config#

Crucial $263.98 32gb ($336.02 savings over Apples $600.00)
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/imac-...7cb&cm_mmc=CJ-_-2617611-_-7667028-_-Skimlinks

OWC $364.99 32gb ($235.01 savings over Apples $600.00)
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1600DDR3S32S/

B&H Photo $1454.00 ($45.00 savings over Apples $1499.00) PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System "PLUS" FREE 256GB Pegasus J2 SSD Thunderbolt Storage Solution
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...s_promise_pegasus2_r_4_bay_4x2tb_t_bolt2.html

My dream station for 4k video editing;
Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
8gb from Apple (Replaced w/ Crucial 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB)
1TB Flash SSD
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X
 
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