iMac 27 Inch 5k 2015 Blackmagic Boot with SSD Stats

[Dracoy]

I have the base 27 inch 5k 2015 model with 1 TB spinning HD.

Here is the speeds right out the box booting from internal 1 TB spinning HD.

After using CCC and here are the speeds booting from an externally attached USB 3.0 1 TB SSD. I did not choose thunderbolt due to the cost and marginal benefits after research.

Case:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FCLG65U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

SSD:
http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-MKNSSDRE1TB-Reactor-SATA-2-5inch/dp/B00PAFJJRA

Although not the apple speeds of 1k + read/write. It's great for most people's needs. This is one for my parents so they are using it for more day to day browsing. This also doesn't void warranty and allows for easier resale.

 

[maflynn]

Although not the apple speeds of 1k + read/write. It's great for most people's needs. This is one for my parents so they are using it for more day to day browsing. This also doesn't void warranty and allows for easier resale.

Wow, that is fast - for external drives or it highlights how slow the 5400 rpm drive is (or both )

Its hard to pass up TB, what was the cost difference?

 

[Dracoy]

iMac 5k 2015 1 TB Mechanical Drive Late 2015 => About $1250 with tax. (what I got it for)
+ 1TB SSD/Case => $1450.

iMac 5k with 2 TB Fusion from Apple => $1,750 with tax after discounts. (what I could of bought it for)
iMac 5k with 256 GB SSD from Apple => $2,200 with tax. (what I could of bought it for)

 

[tyche]

Congrats on getting a 5k iMac for $1250 taxes in. I'd buy a bunch at that price. Confusing how the 2tb fusion is $450 more than the 256 SSD when in my store the SSD is $120 cheaper.

 

[Dracoy]

I was never able to buy the SSD model in store as it is sold online only through apple I thought.

How I was factoring the cost is that if you buy a non-SSD model in 2015 - you can buy it with apple pay and get an effective 20% off using discover which would be the cheapest you can get it.

If I buy online I can't use the same apple pay. So SSD is inherently more expensive when I buy from apple online.

If the price differential wasn't so large, I would spring for the internal SSD for sure! Unfortunately the savings were too great at the base 1 TB model.

 

[randyharris]

I have the base 27 inch 5k 2015 model with 1 TB spinning HD.

Here is the speeds right out the box booting from internal 1 TB spinning HD.

I went the same route. Didn't want to pay the premium for the 1TB Apple SSD. The Samsung T3 1TB SSD is the drive I went with. With all my data on the drive, 765GB of data, it tests out still pretty fast.

 

[tubeexperience]

Toshiba OCZ TR150 960GB over SATA III

I wrote a guide on how to replace an internal hard drive with a solid state state drive.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-replace-the-hard-drive-in-your-27-imac-slim.1979747/

 

[varian55zx]

Here is the speeds right out the box booting from internal 1 TB spinning HD

Looks like about half what you'd get off an SATA SSD.

This is what you could've gotten if you would've opted for an internal SSD. I got the 512 SSD and this thing is really going

Still, external tb boot is not a bad option.

 

[tubeexperience]

Looks like about half what you'd get off an SATA SSD.

This is what you could've gotten if you would've opted for an internal SSD. I got the 512 SSD and this thing is really going

Still, external tb boot is not a bad option.

$500 for 512GB. It's almost $1/GB

not exactly a very economical option

 

[varian55zx]

$500 for 512GB. It's almost $1/GB

not exactly a very economical option

No, you're not correct.

The "base" top end model is $2299.

I got the very same model, the only difference being that I went for the 512 SSD upgrade instead of the 2 tb fusion default.

My total was $2499. That isn't $500!!

 

[tubeexperience]

No, you're not correct.

The "base" top end model is $2299.

I got the very same model, the only difference being that I went for the 512 SSD upgrade instead of the 2 tb fusion default.

My total was $2499. That isn't $500!!

No, I am absolutely correct.

The top end model already include the price of 256GB SSD or 2TB Fusion.

 

[varian55zx]

No, I am absolutely correct.

The top end model already include the price of 256GB SSD or 2TB Fusion.

I paid $200 more for it which is the relevant figure.

The fact is it costs an additional $200. You of course get the default storage options by default, there isn't an option not to.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Looks like about half what you'd get off an SATA SSD.

This is what you could've gotten if you would've opted for an internal SSD. I got the 512 SSD and this thing is really going

Still, external tb boot is not a bad option.

The m.2 pcie SSD speed is amazing. My 13" MacbookPro computer has the 256GB SSD in it, blazing fast. Definitely going to be ordering my iMac with the internal SSD. Might opt for the 1TB SSD option.

 

[tubeexperience]

I paid $200 more for it which is the relevant figure.

The fact is it costs an additional $200. You of course get the default storage options by default, there isn't an option not to.

What you are trying to do is to justify paying $500 for 512GB, but because that's a lot of money, you have to fool yourself into thinking that you've only paid $200.

 

[varian55zx]

What you are trying to do is to justify paying $500 for 512GB, but because that's a lot of money, you have to fool yourself into thinking that you've only paid $200.

This is an intriguing comment.

I don't even view it that way I just know the entire package costed what it did and I have no problem with the price.

With Macs you should expect to pay more and this is the way it has always been and likely will stay.

I won't deny that $500 seems steep when you phrase it that way, but it's barely even optional.

I'm not going to service it myself, and I'm not going to get a Mac without an SSD (or else I would've wasted all of my money).

I would never think to try and figure out the cost of each individual component because that doesn't matter at all.

The only thing that matters is the overall price for the whole thing.

You can make up a value and assign it to any component you want , still wouldn't change the final price of the final package.

The further intriguing point is there isn't any alternative route I would've preferred. Knowing every possible option for storage available to me (either involving user servicing or not), I still would go for the same option directly from Apple that I did.

I don't have anything even remotely close to buyer's remorse, and I don't feel like I have thrown away my money in the least.

I imagine you'll find roughly 0.00000 people who regret going with the 512 internal SSD option that I did.
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The m.2 pcie SSD speed is amazing. My 13" MacbookPro computer has the 256GB SSD in it, blazing fast. Definitely going to be ordering my iMac with the internal SSD. Might opt for the 1TB SSD option.

I think the 1TB SSD is even a little faster than the 512.

I love the performance of these SSDs and think it is one of the few areas that Apple is actually delivering right now.

My media library far exceeds 1tb so I couldn't find justification for the 1tb, but I knew down the road I would feel limited by a mere 256.

I found 512 to be a good compromise and I am very happy with the speed.

It's also supposed to be slightly faster than the 256.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I love the performance of these SSDs and think it is one of the few areas that Apple is actually delivering right now.

My media library far exceeds 1tb so I couldn't find justification for the 1tb, but I knew down the road I would feel limited by a mere 256.

I found 512 to be a good compromise and I am very happy with the speed.

It's also supposed to be slightly faster than the 256.

I thought the same thing about the 1TB SSD being faster but there was a video posted that showed the speed was identical to the 512GB, crazy fast.

 

[Taz Mangus]

This is what you could've gotten if you would've opted for an internal SSD. I got the 512 SSD and this thing is really going

I got my 27" iMac today with the 1TB SSD. This is what the speed test looks like compared to the 512GB SSD.

 

[varian55zx]

I got my 27" iMac today with the 1TB SSD. This is what the speed test looks like compared to the 512GB SSD.

Hey Taz thanks for posting, very interesting.

In the screens we posted up I see that it appears that my write speed has dipped just below yours, whereas my read speed has gone just above yours.

I think it's safe to say in repeated tests each of our scores have both gone above and below what is posted, further supporting the notion that the speed difference between the two is negligible.

 

[dylin]

$500 for 512GB. It's almost $1/GB

not exactly a very economical option

I think for that speed, it doesnt sound like a bad trade off. Even an internal SSD over SATA 3 can only peak out at 550 MB/s.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Hey Taz thanks for posting, very interesting.

In the screens we posted up I see that it appears that my write speed has dipped just below yours, whereas my read speed has gone just above yours.

I think it's safe to say in repeated tests each of our scores have both gone above and below what is posted, further supporting the notion that the speed difference between the two is negligible.

I think the same thing. Still amazing how fast the SSD is. I imagine that the SSD speeds will only continue to get better.